On Sunday, August 25, the IBU Summer Biathlon World Championships in Otepää ended
with junior pursuit races and adult mass start races. To the delight of spectators and
supporters, Rene Zahkna of the Estonian team was crowned world champion in the mass
start race.
Rene Zahkna, who won the world champion title, did a total of three penalty loops. The
silver medal went to the Czech athlete Jonas Marecek (3; +7.9) and the southern neighbour
Andrejs Rastorguyevs (5; +19.7) took bronze. The win came unexpectedly for Zahkna, but he
was very happy about it nevertheless. "Awesome! The first race here showed that there are 20 people competing for gold. Luckily, I was the best one today," Zahkna summed up the competition. According to him, the cheering and support of the home audience helped a lot. "Right after the first lap, I kind of felt like I was a little child again, watching Saku Suverull. Everyone cheered me on,” Zahkna praised the support of the audience. "To top it all off, of course, I was handed the Estonian flag when crossing the finish line. It’s an unreal feeling!"
In the women's category, the fastest in the mass start race was the Latvian Baiba Bendika,
who had four misses in the shooting range. She was followed in the second place by the
Finn Suvi Minkkinen (2; + 24.2) and in the third place by the Czech Tereza Vobornikova (1;
+30.3). Susan Külm finished the race in the 6th place (5;+1:28.7) and Johanna Talihärm in
the 26th place (10; +5:09.0).
In the men's junior category, the gold medal once again went to the Ukrainian Vitalii
Mandzyn, who had four misses in the shooting range. The second and third place went to
the Norwegians Sivert Gerhardsen (4;+18.8) and Kasper Kalkenberg (4; +22.5), respectively.
Of Estonians, the best was Mark-Markos Halva, who finished the race in the 6th place (2;
+36.2). Karl Rasmus Tiislär (3; +54.3), who finished in the 8th place, also had a good race.
They were followed by Karl Ramses Tiislär in the 38th place (5; +4:41.4), Rasmus Vainomäe
in the 49th place (7; +7:00.2) and Oskar Orupõld in the 51st place (6; 7:09.6).
In the women's junior category, the winner of the pursuit race was yesterday's sprint
winner, the Bulgarian Valentina Dimitrova, who had to do four penalty loops. The second
place also went to a Bulgarian athlete, Lora Hristova (5; +23.9), and the Czech Ilona
Plechacova took the third place (3; +37.3). Vibeke Marie Välbe had to settle for the 22nd
place (10; +4:00.4), Kretel Kaljumäe for the 33rd place (7; +6:13.6) and Mia Mai Huik was the
48th (6; +10:30.2).
Several international biathlon competitions will be held in Otepää in the coming years. In
March 2025, the final two stages of the IBU Cup will be held. In 2026, a BMW IBU World Cup
stage will be held at Tehvandi Sports Center, and in 2027, the BMW IBU World
Championships.
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