“WITH the winter sports season over for another year, two local biathletes have cause to reflect on outstanding winter campaigns
Hawthorn 20-year-old, Grigorii “Greg” Kazantcev dominated this year’s Australian Biathlon Championships, winning gold in three of four Australian selection races.
Kazantcev, a first year student at RMIT studying project management, was one of five athletes vying for top place in the under-21 men’s events. The event was a hotly-contested one with Kazantcev edging out silver medallist Jeremy Flanagan by a matter of seconds.
Biathlon is a multi-discipline Winter Olympic sport that combines cross-country skiing with target shooting on an on-snow rifle range.
Biathletes ski loops of between 2.0 to 2.5km then come in to the range to shoot five targets.
For each target missed, a penalty loop must be skied.
Competitors need to be extremely fit for the sport as a pounding heart rate does not allow accurate target shooting.
Kazantcev started cross-country skiing as a child in Kamchatka, Russia and took up biathlon five years ago.
As well as his cross-country skiing training, Kazantcev hones his target shooting, weekly, at the Melbourne International Shooting Club.
When not on the snow, you’ll find Kazantcev training on his roller skis at Westerfolds Park and Fishermans Bend of a weekend.
Meanwhile, Kew 16-year-old Jethro Mahon took top place for nomination to the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
The Trinity Grammar student dominated the under-19 Victorian Sprint Championships with accurate shooting, missing just one target out of 10 despite very windy conditions with poor visibility.”
Reprinted from: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-east/boroondara-skiers-celebrate-an-outstanding-winter-season/story-fngnvmox-1227572452089
Tagged: Australia, Australian Biathlon, australian olympic committee, Australian Sports Foundation, biathlon, Boroondara, cross country ski trails, Cross-country skiing, fun, Grigorii Kazantcev, Hawthorn, IBU, Jethro Mahon, Kew, Lillehammer 2016, Melbourne, Mount Hotham, Mt Hotham, news, Nordic, Olympic sports, Russia, Ski, Skiing, snow, sport, Sports, Victoria, Whiskey Flat, winter, winter olympic games, Winter Sports, Winter Youth Olympic Games, WYOG 2016
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