Canada's Mark Arendz claims 4th career Para nordic world title
Fellow Canadian Brittany Hudak battles to bronze in standing competition
Canada's Mark Arendz is back in a familiar place — atop the podium at the Para nordic world championships.
The Hartsville, P.E.I., native won gold in the 10-kilometre standing biathlon on Wednesday in Oestersund, Sweden, with a time of 27 minutes 56.2 seconds.
It's the fourth gold medal at worlds of the 32-year-old Arendz's career, and his 16th overall podium appearance. He is also the owner of 12 Paralympic medals.
Arendz was the lone competitor to shoot a perfect 20-for-20 on the range. He previously earned silver in the shorter sprint event.
A pair of Ukrainians rounded out the podium, with a single missed shot dropping Grygorii Vovchynskyi to silver at 28:29 while Serhii Romaniuk brought home bronze at 29:24.6.
Arendz credited a composed approach for his victory.
"I started skiing steady, and each lap I was able to increase my pace. I worked on being patient, and not rushing the skiing," he said.
Double medal day at Para Nordic World Championships 🥇 for <a href="https://twitter.com/markarendz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@markarendz</a> and 🥉 for <a href="https://twitter.com/brittanyhudak93?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@brittanyhudak93</a><br><br>Exciting 4th place for <a href="https://twitter.com/Derek_zap?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Derek_zap</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NordiqCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NordiqCanada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CDNParalympics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CDNParalympics</a> <a href="https://t.co/r5MuLNHiWR">pic.twitter.com/r5MuLNHiWR</a>
—@Kate_Boyd5Hudak dashes to bronze
Meanwhile, fellow Canadian Brittany Hudak bagged her third medal of the competition with bronze in the women's standing 10-km event.
After two early misses, it didn't appear that another podium appearance would be in the cards for Hudak. But the Canadian battled to complete her five loops in a time of 34:40.7.
"Today felt a bit tougher for me, but I'm happy that I was able to refocus after a less than ideal first bout of shooting," Hudak said.
"It was very windy at times on the course so that played with my mind a bit in the range, but I trust our staff and focused on what I can control. I felt like some of the pressure was off, and I actually relaxed more, which seemed to help."
Ukraine's Liudmyla Liashenko won gold at 32:16.4, while fellow Ukrainian Bohdana Konashuk claimed silver at 33:34.8.
Derek Zaplotinsky, the third and final Canadian in competition Wednesday, placed fourth in the men's 10-km sit-ski race.
The world championships continue Friday with the biathlon distance races.
