Anton Smolski
MINSK, 24 January (BelTA) – Belarusian biathlete Anton Smolski became the winner of the pursuit race at the fourth leg of the Commonwealth Cup in biathlon held in Raubichi, BelTA has learned.
A field of 40 biathletes took to the start line for the men’s 12.5 km pursuit, with twelve of them representing Belarus. In the prone shooting stages, Smolski made ten accurate shots out of ten, moving up from his third starting position to second. At the first standing shoot, the top athlete of the Belarusian team incurred two penalty loops and dropped to fourth place. Unfazed, Anton delivered a perfect final shoot to reclaim the race lead. On the final lap, Smolski maintained his lead, finishing eight seconds ahead of Savely Konovalov, who took second place.
The podium was rounded out by another Russian representative Karim Khalili who delivered flawless shooting throughout the race. The top 15 were completed by Belarusians Stsipan Danilau and Maksim Varabei, while Mikita Labastau also made it into the top twenty, finishing 19th. As for the results of other Belarusians, Dzmitry Lazouski posted the 29th time, Pavel Belko finished right behind him, Denis Yeremov was 32nd, Gleb Orlovsky – 34th, and Aleksei Logvinov, Konstantin Baburov, and Pavel Matsul placed 37th through 39th, respectively. Vitaly Kazachenok did not finish.
The pursuit medal is Smolski’s second in Raubichi, as Anton won bronze in the sprint on 23 January. Earlier on 24 January, Hanna Sola secured silver in the women’s pursuit race. The program of the fourth leg of the Commonwealth Cup in biathlon will conclude on 25 January with the mixed relay.
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