Three Ukrainian Women in the Top 5 of the 2025 Junior Worlds Biathlon Mass Starts for Shooting Speed: Results of the Youth Men's Races

No Ukrainian athlete made the top 10.

The mass starts of the 2025 Junior World Championships in biathlon kicked off in Östersund, Sweden. Following the youth men's and women's races, three Ukrainian biathletes finished in the top 5 for shooting speed — Iryna Shevchenko (No. 1), Polina Putsko (No. 3) and Alina Khmil (No. 5).

At the same time, none of the national team members finished in the top 10 of the mass start. The best of them was Iryna Shevchenko, who finished 15th.

Overall, on the seventh day of youth competition, Ukraine was represented by eight athletes. Taras Tarasiuk and Oleksandr Bilanenko raced for the men's team, while Shevchenko was joined on the women's side by Polina Putsko, Alina Khmil and Valeriia Sheihas.

How the youth men's and women's mass start 60 races went at the 2025 Junior Worlds in biathlon

Youth Women

• The Ukrainian women dropped down the field right after the first shooting — Valeriia Sheihas, Alina Khmil and Iryna Shevchenko each missed one target, while Polina Putsko covered an extra 300 metres. After the second prone stage, Shevchenko and Sheihas were already 40 seconds behind the leaders, while Putsko and Khmil were fighting for a top-30 spot.

• After the third shooting, though, Valeriia left the range in fourth position, just two seconds behind the athlete in third. But three misses on the final shooting knocked her out of the top 20. The highest-placed Ukrainian was Iryna Shevchenko, finishing 15th with three penalty laps in total.

Youth Men

• In the men's mass start 60, Ukraine had two representatives — Oleksandr Bilanenko and Taras Tarasiuk, both of whom qualified for the race on the points earned at the world championships.

• Oleksandr Bilanenko was out of the medal race almost immediately — missing three targets on the very first prone stage. After missing five more targets over the next three shootings, the athlete finished more than four minutes behind the leader, in 36th place.

• Taras Tarasiuk stayed near the front of the field longer — he left after the second prone stage in fourth place, 16 seconds behind second position. But three misses on the third shooting dropped him to 14th, and two more on the final one left him 17th at the finish.

Youth men's sprint at the 2025 Junior Worlds in biathlon in Östersund: results

1. Léo Carlier, France (2+0+1+1) 35:52,2

2. Flavio Guy, France (0+0+3+3) +20,4

3. Camille Grataloup-Manissolle, France (1+1+2+2) +33,3

...

17. Taras Tarasiuk, Ukraine (0+0+3+2) +2:27,8

36. Oleksandr Bilanenko, Ukraine (3+1+2+2) +4:19,9.

Youth women's sprint at the 2025 Junior Worlds in biathlon in Östersund: results

1. Louise Roger, France (0+1+0+1) 27:39,1

2. Lena Sigmund, Germany (1+0+0+0) +8,8

3. Ilona Plecháčová, Czechia (1+2+0+0) +9,2

...

15. Iryna Shevchenko, Ukraine (1+0+1+1) +1:31,9

19. Polina Putsko, Ukraine (2+2+0+1) +2:03,0

23. Valeriia Sheihas, Ukraine (1+0+0+3) +2:27,3

34. Alina Khmil, Ukraine (1+1+2+2) +3:42,8

The competition day in Sweden on March 3 does not end there. Indeed, two more mass start races will take place on Monday — among junior men and junior women.

DeTalks covers the results of Ukrainian athletes at the 2025 Junior World Championships in biathlon in Östersund. Follow our written coverage in the "Puls" section and news updates in the Telegram channel of the editorial team.