Four Ukrainian Women Make the Scoring Zone in the Second Junior IBU Cup Stage's Individual Race

The best result — Viktoriia Khvostenko, with just two misses.

The second Junior IBU Cup biathlon stage has begun in Val Martello, Italy. The competition's opening race was the girls' individual race, following which four Ukrainian women finished in the scoring zone.

The December 18 individual race was the first of its format this junior season. Earlier, at the Goms stage, sprints and mass starts took place, with the national team's top results being silver for Tarasiuk on the first competition day and bronze for Prykhodko on the last.

The first race in Italy featured Iryna Shevchenko, Kseniia Prykhodko, Viktoriia Khvostenko, Polina Putsko, and Alina Khmil, as well as Valeriia Sheihas and Tetiana Tarasiuk, who skipped the last two races in Switzerland.

How the Girls' Individual Race Went at the 2025/26 Junior IBU Cup Stage in Val Martello

• Shevchenko and Tarasiuk, who started the race in the first group, both shot the first firing stage clean. Iryna, however, missed five times at the following stages, while Tetiana picked up three penalty minutes at the first standing stage.

• Khvostenko and Prykhodko struggled with the first stage — missing two and four targets, respectively. Overall, Kseniia missed eight times during the race, while Viktoriia, with three clean stages that followed, finished in the top 15.

• Polina Putsko missed three times each at the first and second prone stages, then missed once at each standing stage. Her teammate, Valeriia Sheihas, with four penalty minutes, also finished outside the scoring zone.
• The best shooting among the Ukrainian women came from Alina Khmil — three clean stages in a row. At the 8.4 km checkpoint, the Ukrainian was in third place, but two misses at the final standing stage dropped her outside the top 15.

Junior IBU Cup Individual Race in Val Martello, Girls: Results

1. Carlotta Gauthier, Italy (0+0+0+1) 39:00.1

2. Naiely Mariotti Cavagne, Italy (0+0+1+0) +12.2

3. Juliette Oliva, France (1+1+0+1) +16.5

…

11. Viktoriia Khvostenko, Ukraine (2+0+0+0) +1:52.8

15. Tetiana Tarasiuk, Ukraine (0+0+3+0) +2:01.9

20. Alina Khmil, Ukraine (0+0+0+2) +2:25.0

32. Iryna Shevchenko, Ukraine (0+2+1+2) +3:44.2

41. Valeriia Sheihas, Ukraine (1+2+1+0) +4:53.9

48. Kseniia Prykhodko, Ukraine (4+1+1+2) +5:42.4

49. Polina Putsko, Ukraine (3+3+1+1) +5:53.1

The Val Martello Junior IBU Cup stage's next race is the men's individual race, taking place December 18 at 15:20.

DeTalks is covering Ukrainian athletes' results throughout the 2025/26 Junior IBU Cup season. Follow text coverage in the 'Pulse' section and news on the Telegram channel of the editorial team.