Canada's Arendz adds a silver at para-nordic worlds

Canada's Mark Arendz reached the podium for a second time this week, earning a silver medal at the para-nordic ski world championships on Tuesday in Finsterau, Germany.

Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I., was in the hunt to claim back-to-back world championship titles, but a lone missed target in his fourth and final round of shooting dropped him to second in the men's 15-kilometre individual biathlon event. The two-time Paralympic medallist clocked a silver-medal time of 38 minutes, 33.7 seconds.

"After crossing the finish line, all I could initially think about was the single miss [in shooting], and the fact I let the gold slip through my fingers," Arendz said. "But I quickly warmed up to the fact that I had won a world championship silver medal."

Benjamin Daviet, of France, topped Arendz by winning the gold medal with a time of 38:33.7. Norway's Nils-Erik Ulset locked up the bronze medal with a time of 40:26.7.

Arendz near perfect

Arendz, 26, executed his race tactics to near perfection, with sharp shooting and strong skiing.

"The plan was to shoot clean today. I was capable of that, but there was a single lapse in concentration, and as a result, a miss," Arendz said. "I likely thought this race would be won on the range. I started a touch slower in the first lap so I had to put in an extra effort to kickstart the body into firing."

It was the fourth career para-nordic world championship medal for Arendz. He captured his second-career para-nordic title earlier this week in the middle distance biathlon event.

"It is one of the toughest fields there has ever been in men's standing biathlon so to podium again today is proof of the shape I am in, and the excellence our staff prides itself on, and provides me each race," said Arendz following the medal ceremony.

Strong showing for Canadians

Career-best performances continued throughout the day for the Canadians.

Derek Zaplotinsky, of Smokey Lake, Alta., had the race of his life in the men's 15-km sit-ski division. The second-year member of the Canadian squad clocked a fifth-place time of 53:28.1.

Canada's Brittany Hudak had a fifth-place finish of her own in the women's 12.5-km standing race. One miss in her second stop at the range may have cost the Prince Albert, Sask, resident a spot on the podium.

Hudak clocked-in at 44:14.9.