This is the best shooting result in a distance race that an Australian has produced in over 15 years, with only two years into the sport it certainly shows what potential the 19-year-old has.
In the last biathlon racing for the year Australians Alex Almoukov and Mark Raymond contested the 20km individual and 10km sprint events at Pokljuka in Slovakia.
With temperatures well below freezing most athletes suffered cold fingers that make it extremely difficult to feel the trigger on the rifle.
Almoukov however excelled in the conditions to post his stand-out performance for the season. He dropped only one shot out of 20 in the longer event to finish a very credible 76th out of a field of 123.
This is the best shooting result in a distance race that an Australian has produced in over 15 years, with only two years into the sport it certainly shows what potential the 19-year-old has.
Raymond was one of a number of athletes that failed to finish.
The sprint race two days later saw the conditions remain very cold and around 8cm of fresh snow on the track made a real nightmare for the wax technicians.
Alex’s father Nick is the wax tech and jack of all trades for his son whereas Raymond prepares his own when he doesn’t have the service team of TOKO to support him.
Almoukov could not repeat a near perfect shoot this time around and shot three penalties to place 101st with Raymond shooting four penalties back in 114th from the field of 122.
So, now with a Christmas break in the season Almoukov and his father have gone back to their native Russia to see their family. Raymond heads back to Obertilliach in Austria to meet a bunch of other Aussies that are training.
The battle for the one available spot for an Australian male biathlete at the Games will continue in January. Both athletes are scheduled to race at the next world cup in Germany from 4 January.
AOC and Biathlon Australia
