Pulse #Biathlon
Author: Andrii Nikitonok

Ukraine Closes Out the Girls' Sprint With a Double Podium at the Junior IBU Cup in Madona

Ukraine Closes Out the Girls' Sprint With a Double Podium at the Junior IBU Cup in Madona
Kseniia Prykhodko. Photo: Grega Valancic/VOIGT

This marks the national team's fifth and sixth medals of the junior season.

Team Ukraine's biathlon squad won two Junior IBU Cup medals in a single race for the first time this season. It happened during the girls' sprint, held January 16 at the Madona stage. Tetiana Tarasiuk and Kseniia Prykhodko claimed silver and bronze, respectively.

Earlier, at the Latvia stage, Ukraine won its fourth medal of the junior biathlon season — Tetiana Tarasiuk finished third in the sprint. In the morning race of the second competition day, Ivan Steblyna and Oleksandr Bilanenko shared sixth place, making the flower ceremony.

How Team Ukraine Ran the Second Girls' Sprint at the Junior IBU Cup Stage in Madona

  • Valeriia Sheihas was the first Ukrainian to take the course. The athlete missed twice at the prone stage, later adding four more misses at standing. Her result: 35th place.

  • Iryna Shevchenko also started in the first group. The biathlete missed once at each firing stage, finishing 19th.
  • Kseniia Prykhodko also missed at the prone stage, but after a clean standing stage, secured bronze, finishing two minutes behind the leader, Latvia's Estere Volfa.
  • Tetiana Tarasiuk, Polina Putsko, and Viktoriia Khvostenko started near the back of the pack, ninety seconds apart. Tarasiuk and Khvostenko both shot clean at the first stage, and Tetiana also closed out all five targets at the second firing range, claiming another medal at the stage. Khvostenko finished in the top 10, while Putsko finished right at the edge of the scoring zone.
  • Alina Khmil had the last bib number, 67. The athlete shot clean at the prone stage, putting her in the top five alongside Tarasiuk and Khvostenko, then missed twice at standing. Alina finished in the top 10 — her second time this season.

Junior IBU Cup Sprint in Madona, Girls, 7.5 km: Results

1. Estere Volfa, Latvia (0+0) 22:31.5 2. Tetiana Tarasiuk, Ukraine (0+0) +1:15.2

3. Kseniia Prykhodko, Ukraine (1+0) +2:00.2

…

8. Alina Khmil, Ukraine (0+2) +2:42.7 9. Viktoriia Khvostenko, Ukraine (0+2) +2:43.6

19. Iryna Shevchenko, Ukraine (1+1) +3:24.7

35. Valeriia Sheihas, Ukraine (2+4) +4:45.7 38. Polina Putsko, Ukraine (2+2) +5:02.3

With that, Ukraine has now won six medals this junior IBU Cup season. Tetiana Tarasiuk has three individual medals to her name, and Prykhodko has two.

The junior IBU Cup's final races for the 2025/26 season will be the mass starts, taking place Saturday, January 17. The boys go first, at 10:45 Kyiv time.

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 editorial team's Telegram-channel.

#Biathlon#Junior IBU Cup