The Para Nordic skiing World Cup in Vuokatti, Finland, wrapped up on Friday (16 December) with third wins in cross-country for the USA’s Oksana Masters and Ukrainian teammates Maksym Yarovyi and Oksana Shyshkova in the short distance free technique.<br /><br />Masters (8:15.8) was the victor in the women’s sitting, completing a 100 per cent win record which included maximum points in the sprint classic and long distance classic.<br /><br />“This 2.5km is so tricky because it’s not a sprint, but you can’t go the same pace as the 5km - you’ve got to go faster, so it hurts but I love it,” Masters said.<br /><br />“I feel pretty good that I’m basically not right where I left off last season, but I’m getting there and hopefully when Finsterau [2017 World Championships] comes round I’ll be in a good prime.”<br /><br />Belarus’ Lidziya Hrafeyeva (8:36.3) and Norway’s Birgit Skarstein (8:45.3) were second and third respectively.<br /><br />Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi (14:28.5) also concluded his campaign with his third men’s cross-country sitting win. He now leads the World Cup standings by 90 points.<br /><br />Norway secured another podium thanks to Trygve Steiner Larsen (15:08.2) with his second top three finish of the week. South Korea’s Eui Hyun Sin (15:15.4) was third.<br /><br />Sweden’s Zebastian Modin (11:16.3) sealed his second consecutive win in the men’s visually impaired, following up on the long distance classic from Thursday (15 December) with guide Johannes Andersson.<br /><br />“I was very tired from yesterday and I tried to make a long warm-up but still I felt quite tired,” Modin said. “I tried to start slow today and then I was fourth, and I got some energy and had some power to use on the last 2.5km so I didn’t expect this, at least in the warm-up!”<br /><br />France’s Thomas Clarion (11:24.6), guided by Antoine Bollet, doubled his podium haul in second.<br /><br />On his World Cup debut, 20-year-old Belarusian Yury Holub (11:31.2) produced his first top three finish with third, guided by Dzmitry Budzilovich.<br /><br />Ukraine blocked out the women’s visually impaired as Shyshkova (6:35.3) skied to her third win with guide Vitalii Kazakov, cementing her lead in the World Cup standings. Olga Prylutska (7:03.3) was second, guided by Borys Babar, followed by Natalia Rubanovska (7:07.5) with guide Lada Nesterenko.<br /><br />France’s Benjamin Daviet (11:00.00), a medallist from the 2015 World Championships in the sprint classic and long distance classic cross-country, claimed his first victory of the season in the men’s standing.<br /><br />He managed to beat Ukraine’s Ihor Reptyukh (11:01.8), who won the long distance 24 hours before. Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset (11:18.7) completed the top three.<br /><br />The women’s standing was a Ukrainian sweep, led by Liudmyla Liashenko (6:31.4). The 23-year-old finished ahead of Oleksandra Kononova (6:34.9) and Iuliia Batenkova (6:47.1) in second and third respectively.<br /><br />“I feel really excellent, it was my hope for today’s race and I really tried to win the gold medal,” Liashenko said. “I just tried my best to go as fast as possible.”<br /><br />Ukraine will get the chance to compete on home snow at the next biathlon and cross-country World Cup, taking place in Western Center from 13-20 January.<br /><br />“I am really happy because it’s my motherland and I really hope we will capture more victories,” Liashenko concluded.<br /><br />After Western Center, skiers will travel to Finsterau, Germany, for the 2017 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships from 10-19 February.<br /><br />Full results and current rankings are available at World Para Nordic Skiing’s website.<br /><br />Live results are available from all World Cups and the World Championships throughout the season at Para Nordic skiing website. https://www.paralympic.org/nordic-skiing/live-results/info-live-results/nskr16/index.html
