Final Olympic biathlon mass start: Ukrainian enters top 10, overtakes leader
Vitalii Mandzyn (photo: instagram.com/vitalii.mandzyn)
The Ukrainian team wrapped up its Olympic campaign with the men’s mass start. Debutant Vitalii Mandzyn managed to break into the top 10, outperforming experienced team captain Dmytro Pidruchnyi, according to the competition results.
Historic debut for Mandzyn and Pidruchnyi’s experience
The biathlon program at the Olympics concluded with the mass start, which included 30 elite athletes. Ukraine was represented in this prestigious race by two biathletes.
For team captain Dmytro Pidruchnyi, this was his second mass start at the Olympic level (four years ago in Beijing, he finished 24th).
Meanwhile, Vitalii Mandzyn competed in an Olympic mass start for the first time in his career, having completed the full schedule of distances in the current tournament.
Events at the shooting ranges
The start of the race proved polarizing for the Ukrainian athletes. Mandzyn executed the first prone stage perfectly, hitting all targets and moving up to 11th place.
Pidruchnyi, on the other hand, made two mistakes, dropping him to 27th.
By the midpoint of the course, Mandzyn continued to impress: flawless shooting allowed him to rise to 7th place. Even two misses at the first standing stage did not remove him from the leaders’ group; thanks to mass errors from competitors, he remained 8th.
The decisive moment came during the final shooting stage. Mandzyn incurred three penalty loops but, maintaining a high pace, entered the final lap in 11th.
At that point, Pidruchnyi had managed to climb to 17th place.
Final results and the Olympic podium
On the finishing straight, Mandzyn managed to gain one more position, entering the top 10, which became his personal best in the main four-year cycle of competitions.
Pidruchnyi finished 17th, significantly improving his previous Olympic result in this discipline.
The gold medal was won by Norwegian Johannes Dale-Schevdal, who demonstrated phenomenal accuracy, hitting 20 out of 20 targets.
Silver went to his compatriot Sturla Laegreid, while the podium was completed by France’s Quentin Fillon-Maillet.
Olympics – Men’s Mass Start:
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Johannes Dale-Schevdal (NOR) – 39:17.1 (0+0+0+0)
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Sturla Laegreid (NOR) – +10.5 (0+0+1+0)
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Quentin Fillon-Maillet (FRA) – +25.6 (1+0+2+1)
…
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Vitalii Mandzyn (UKR, 0+0+2+3) +2:30.7
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Dmytro Pidruchnyi (UKR, 2+0+2+1) +3:14.6
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Earlier, we reported on the historic debut of Ukrainians in Nordic combined at the 2026 Olympics.
