The Latvian Biathlon Federation informs that the first stage of the Latvian Summer Biathlon Championship took place last weekend at the skiing and biathlon center in Cēsis. The participants competed for two days, taking part in different distances.
On Friday, the individual distance on roller skates was held, where most of the age groups had to do five laps and four shootings. Almost all athletes of the national team participated in the elite groups. Renārs Birkentāls won the men’s competition at a distance of 15 kilometers with excellent shooting, Aleksandrs Patrijuks took the second place and Edgars Mise took the third place. On the other hand, Annie Keita Sabule won the women’s 12.5 kilometer distance with four mistakes in shooting, Sanita Buliņa came in second, and Sandra Buliņa came in third.
On Sunday, the athletes continued to fight in the sprint. The men covered a distance of 10 kilometers, where Aleksandrs Patryuks won the championship title with one penalty lap, who was only 15 seconds behind Renārs Birkenthal with two penalty laps. Also in the sprint, Edgars Mise won third place, losing 34 seconds to the leader. The women had to cover a distance of 7.5 kilometers. Sandra Buliņa won with one mistake in prone shooting, just four seconds ahead of her sister Sanita Buliņa, while Annie Kate Sabule took the third place. It should be mentioned that juniors also showed competition for women. In the individual distance, Ester Wolff was second behind Annie with three faults. On the other hand, Elsa Bleidel, who showed good shooting and speed on the track in the sprint, showed an equal final result to Sanita.
This was also the selection competition for the world championship in summer biathlon, which will take place from August 24-27 in Slovakia. The Latvian national team will be represented by Andrejs Rastorgujevs, Renārs Birkentāls, Aleksandrs Patrijuks, Annija Keita Sabule, Sanita Buliņa and Sandra Buliņa.
Information prepared by:
Latvian Biathlon Federation
