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Author: Viktoriia Hvozd

Ukrainians Share Sixth Place in the Junior IBU Cup Sprint: How It Happened

Ukrainians Share Sixth Place in the Junior IBU Cup Sprint: How It Happened
Oleksandr Bilanenko. Photo: IOC / William Lucas

Ivan Steblyna and Oleksandr Bilanenko finished the course with identical times.

Ukrainian biathletes Ivan Steblyna and Oleksandr Bilanenko shared sixth place in the sprint at the Junior IBU Cup stage in Madona. The athletes covered the 10-kilometer course in 26:33.7 minutes. This marked the first flower ceremony of the season for both Ukrainians.

In the previous junior men's race, three Ukrainian representatives finished in the scoring zone. In the girls' sprint, meanwhile, Tetiana Tarasiuk won her second individual medal of the 2025/26 season — bronze.

How the Second Sprint of the Madona Junior IBU Cup Stage Went for Team Ukraine

  • Taras Tarasiuk was the first Ukrainian to start. The biathlete missed once at the prone stage and shot clean at the second stage. Tarasiuk finished 19th, 1:56.5 minutes behind the sprint's winner — Croatia's Matija Legović.
  • Ivan Steblyna, with the same shooting result, shared sixth place with another Ukrainian — Bilanenko. Oleksandr, meanwhile, missed twice across the stages. The two finished the course 1:23.2 minutes slower than the leader.
  • Dmytro Kriukov started under bib number 33. The Ukrainian shot clean at the prone stage but missed four times at standing, dropping him to 29th place.
  • Kyrylo Kulchytskyi and Zakhar Kykot, each with two misses, finished the sprint 36th and 54th, respectively. Bohdan Bohach, with one miss at the prone stage, finished 51st.

Junior IBU Cup Sprint in Madona, Boys: Results

1. Matija Legović, Croatia (0+1) 25:10.5

2. Matthias Schennegger, Austria (0+2) +56.8

3. Vladimír Kochmánek, Czech Republic (1+0) +57.6

...

6. Ivan Steblyna, Ukraine (1+0) +1:23.2

6. Oleksandr Bilanenko, Ukraine (1+1) +1:23.2

19. Taras Tarasiuk, Ukraine (1+0) +1:56.5

29. Dmytro Kriukov, Ukraine (0+4) +2:45.8

36. Kyrylo Kulchytskyi, Ukraine (1+1) +3:10.1

51. Bohdan Bohach, Ukraine (1+0) +4:18.4

54. Zakhar Kykot, Ukraine (1+1) +4:41.7

The Madona Junior IBU Cup stage's next race is the women's 7.5 km sprint, taking place January 16 at 14:20 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 Telegram-channel.

#Biathlon#Junior IBU Cup