Day 1 at the Paralympics: Russia Shoots to Top of Medal Table
All of Russia's wins came in biathlon, as the hosts streaked past early leader Germany to the top of the standings, suggesting Russia could end the March 7-16 Paralympics as the most successful nation, matching its achievement at last month's Olympics, RIA Novosti informs.
The host nation also has six silver and four bronze medals to its name from other biathlon and Alpine skiing events. "Of course, we expected such a successful performance. Our team is very well prepared," Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told R-Sport. "There are very many races ahead of us, so we're expecting more medals. Our athletes will please us yet further." Meanwhile, a day after ruling out a boycott of the Games for now, Ukraine won a gold medal with five-time Winter Paralympian Vitaliy Lukyanenko's victory in the men's 7.5km visually impaired biathlon event. Russian President Vladimir Putin flitted between venues, congratulating several Russian athletes on their medals and wishing a happy International Women's Day to female members of the team. However, the day ended in bittersweet style for Putin as he watched Russia's sledge hockey team lose 3-2 to South Korea on a shootout. Russia led 2-0 early in the second period as Vasily Varlakov scored one goal and assisted Evgeny Petrov for the second, but the Koreans soon fought back. In the other game in Group B, youth was the key to victory for the U.S., which beat Italy 5-1 on two goals from 15-year-old Brody Roybal and a 1+1 game from 16-year-old Declan Farmer.
