On the strength of a sparkling performance, Mark Arendz is now the best ParaNordic biathlete on the planet.
Four podium finishes powered by extremely fast ski times have powered the Canmore-based skier to the top of the World Cup rankings.
He won the 7.5 kilometre men’s standing ParaNoridc biathlon race on Friday (Jan. 18) by five seconds over top rival Erik Nils Ulset in the race to claim gold.
He carried a medal haul fit for a king back to Canmore on Sunday (Jan. 20).
“The overweight (luggage) charges were a little worrying,” Arendz joked. “The skiing is really coming together and I had a really good block of training before the races. I felt faster and sharper and the results showed,” Arendz said.
He shot clean in his win, although he’s still tweaking his performance in the range.
Arendz already has more than 20 World Cup medals to his name, despite the fact he’s only 22. The scary fact is he’s still improving, and benefitted tremendously from training with Brian McKeever and Erik Carleton.
“With Brian, I really learned how to train. He’s one of the best at just getting it done,” Arendz said.
Coach Robin McKeever said Arendz is now able to train harder, which has led to more top finishes.
“Training and planning – the amount he can handle now has changed,” coach McKeever said. “The World Cup team, I’m very happy with all around.”
Brian McKeever won three gold medals against a weaker field in Wisconsin, downing the competition by more than two minutes in some of his races. He followed that up with a win in the Reino Keski Salmi loppet in Salmon Arm. The Russian and Ukrainian teams – two of the top ParaNordic teams – did not make the trip to the United States.
Arendz said he’d like to maintain his top ranking, but there are other focuses, such as a Sochi test race. That will give him the first glance at the Olympic course, which is his main goal. He’ll have the Paranordic world championships beforehand, but coach McKeever said Sochi will be a bigger focus.
“I’m feeling more mature with my training. I see how Brian and Erik train and get the experience Robin shares. He’s helped me with how to perform on race day. That was one of my weaker points,” Arendz said.
He’ll rest at home and spend some down time skiing trails in Kananaskis Country and Lake Louise. However, rest will be short-lived as he has a tough train schedule ahead.
“I’m still young and working on training, changing the little things that will make me faster. I have to stay on top of those. The same with shooting,” Arendz said.
“The most important part is ski speed. We can change shooting easier than ski speed,” coach McKeever said.
Sit-ski athlete Colette Bourgonje also performed well, but battled infection during her races.
In other ParaNordic news, sit-ski athlete Chris Klebl remains on the sidelines after suffering a broken ankle in the first race of the year.
