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Author: Viktoriia Hvozd

Five Ukrainian Women Make the Junior IBU Cup Overall Top 20 After the First Stage

Five Ukrainian Women Make the Junior IBU Cup Overall Top 20 After the First Stage
Kseniia Prykhodko. Photo: Ukrainian Biathlon Federation

The best result — Prykhodko, with bronze in the mass start.

Team Ukraine's women's squad won two medals at the first stage of the 2025/26 Junior IBU Cup, held December 11–14 in Goms, Switzerland. As a result, five Ukrainian women made the championship's overall top 20, as reported by the International Biathlon Union's official website.

Kseniia Prykhodko, who took third place in the mass start in the weekend's final race, placed ninth overall, Iryna Shevchenko 11th, Tetiana Tarasiuk, with silver in the first sprint, 14th, Viktoriia Khvostenko 17th, and Polina Putsko rounded out the top 20.

Among the men following the Goms stage, Dmytro Kriukov stood out — making the top 10 and setting a new personal best — along with Taras Tarasiuk, who twice made the flower ceremony following the sprint races.

How the First Stage of the 2025/26 Junior IBU Cup Went for Team Ukraine's Women

  • In the first sprint, Tetiana Tarasiuk shared second place with France's Maela Correia. Valeriia Sheihas finished eighth, and Viktoriia Khvostenko and Polina Putsko made the race's top 20. Iryna Shevchenko finished 21st, Alina Khmil — 31st, and Kseniia Prykhodko did not finish.
  • The national team's leaders, Tetiana Tarasiuk and Valeriia Sheihas, didn't take the start line for the second sprint. Iryna Shevchenko, meanwhile, made the top 10 with one miss, while Khvostenko, Prykhodko, and Khmil finished the race in the top 20, and Putsko finished 24th.
  • Mass start participants were selected based on the sprint races held Thursday and Saturday. Ukraine was represented by Kseniia Prykhodko, Iryna Shevchenko, Alina Khmil, Polina Putsko, and Viktoriia Khvostenko. Tarasiuk and Sheihas again did not take part in the race.
  • The best result among the Ukrainian women came from Kseniia Prykhodko — third place, with three misses and trailing the leader by 9.7 seconds. Iryna Shevchenko and Alina Khmil also made the top 10 — eighth and tenth, respectively. Polina Putsko finished 14th, and Viktoriia Khvostenko 22nd.

Junior IBU Cup Mass Start in Goms, Girls: Results

1. Lou-Anne Dupont Baillet-Bas, France (0+0+1+2) 25:26.6

2. Selina Gasser, Austria (1+0+1+0) +4.5

3. Kseniia Prykhodko, Ukraine (1+1+1+0) +9.7

…

8. Iryna Shevchenko, Ukraine (2+0+1+0) +36.8

10. Alina Khmil, Ukraine (0+1+1+1) +37.7

14. Polina Putsko, Ukraine (0+2+1+0) +52.3

22. Viktoriia Khvostenko, Ukraine (0+1) +1:15.2

Overall Junior IBU Cup 2025/26 Standings After the First Stage (Junior Women)

1. Lou-Anne Dupont Baillet-Bas, France — 255 points

2. Maela Correia, France — 195

3. Louise Roget, France — 180

…

9. Kseniia Prykhodko, Ukraine — 91

11. Iryna Shevchenko, Ukraine — 88

14. Tetiana Tarasiuk, Ukraine — 75

17. Viktoriia Khvostenko, Ukraine — 75

20. Polina Putsko, Ukraine — 68

22. Alina Khmil, Ukraine — 66

30. Valeriia Sheihas, Ukraine — 37

The second Junior IBU Cup stage runs December 18–21 in Italy's Val Martello. The opening race will be the girls' individual event, starting at 11:30 Kyiv time on the first competition day.

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.

#Biathlon#Junior IBU Cup