Canada earned three more medals to wrap up the Para biathlon world championships on Sunday in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
In their respective 12.5-kilometre individual sitting races, Mark Arendz and Natalie Wilkie were victorious, while Derek Zaplotinsky captured silver in men’s 12.5 km individual sitting, his first-ever medal at worlds.
Arendz’s 35-minute 10.8-second performance followed Thursday’s victory in women’s 7.5 km standing to open the competition.
At the end of January, the 34-year-old Hartsville, P.E.I., native and four-time Paralympian won two gold in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Wilkie, 24, was fifth after being penalized one minute for a miss in the shooting range. A self-proclaimed slow shooter, she took her time later in the race and didn’t miss on the way to victory in 40:20.3 over Zhiqing Zhao of China (40:40.8).
Before the last bout of shooting, Canada’s Brittany Hudak and Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova sat 1-2.
“I heard them miss beside me before I took a shot,” Wilkie, who placed third at last year’s worlds in the 12.5 km event, told CBC Sports. “I was sitting with my rifle and thinking, ‘Don’t mess this up. You’re a world champion if you hit everything,’ and I took my time.
“I skied a fast last lap and managed to win by [20.5] seconds.”
Wilkie, who hails from Salmon Arm, B.C., was sick last weekend but recovered well this week. She won her first world championship two years ago in women’s 7.5 km standing.
Hudak, from Prince Albert, Sask., was fourth (41:14.4) for the second time this week after finishing fourth in women’s 7.5 km standing on Thursday.
Zaplotinsky, 39, stopped the clock in 35.36.3, over seven seconds behind winner Yerbol Khamitov of Kazakhstan (35:29.1).
The Smoky Lake, Alta., native understand the top-three athletes were close late in the race but made up for Saturday’s mistakes in the shooting range to grab silver.
“It feels amazing. It’s been 10 years of hard work,” he said. “I wanted to dig deep as hard as I could.
“I was pushing for the win, but it still feels good to come away with second.”
