Yulia Dzhima and Dmytro Pidruchnyi secured seventh place in the 2024 Christmas Biathlon Race.

Ukraine was represented in the Christmas race by Olympic champion from Sochi 2014 in the relay, Yulia Dzhima, and the 2019 world champion in pursuit, Dmytro Pidruchnyi. The Ukrainian duo finished the mass start stage in third place, trailing behind the Norwegians and the French. Their first shooting stage was disappointing, landing them in sixth place. They managed to recover thanks to Dzhima's flawless shooting. During the pursuit stage, the Ukrainians even climbed to second place after Pidruchnyi's prone shooting. However, they couldn't maintain that high position and ultimately finished seventh, finishing 2 minutes and 7 seconds behind the leaders.

https://zaxid.net/yuliya_dzhima_ta_dmitro_pidruchniy_finishuvali_somimi_v_rizdvyanih_biatlonnih_peregonah_2024_n16007472024-12-29 10:35:45

On Saturday, December 28, the traditional 24th Christmas Biathlon Race took place in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Ten duos participated in the event, which resembled a single-mixed format and was divided into two stages: first, the biathletes competed in a mass start, followed by a pursuit based on the results.

Ukraine was represented in the Christmas Race by Olympic champion in the relay from Sochi 2014, Yuliya Dzhima, and the 2019 world champion in the pursuit, Dmytro Pidruchnyi. The Ukrainian duo finished the mass start in third place, trailing behind the Norwegians and the French. The first shooting stage was disappointing, resulting in only sixth place. However, they managed to recover thanks to Dzhima's perfect shooting. In the pursuit stage, the Ukrainians even climbed to second place after Pidruchnyi's prone shooting. Nevertheless, they couldn't maintain their high standing and crossed the finish line in seventh place, finishing 2:07 minutes behind the leaders.

Interestingly, for the first time in the last five seasons, representatives from Norway won the Christmas Race. The second and third spots were taken by two German duos.

Top 10 Christmas Race 2024:

1. Karoline Knotten / Sturla Laegreid (Norway) 33:56.7 minutes
2. Anna Weidel / Justus Strelo (Germany) +30.4
3. Franziska Preuss / Philipp Navrat (Germany) +33.1
4. Lotte Lie / Florent Claude (Belgium) +34.8
5. Anna Magnusson / Jesper Nelin (Sweden) +36.1
6. Julia Simon / Fabien Claude (France) +1:56.3
7. Yuliya Dzhima / Dmytro Pidruchnyi (Ukraine) +2:07.7
8. Polona Klemenčič / Jakov Fak (Slovenia) +2:10.5
9. Jessica Jislova / Michal Krčmar (Czech Republic) +2:14.3
10. Baiba Bendika / Andrejs Rastorgujevs (Latvia) +2:37.1

It is worth noting that Ukraine participated in the exhibition race for the 17th consecutive time, and Pidruchnyi and Dzhima teamed up for the third time. Previously, they placed eighth in 2021 and finished fifth in 2023. Additionally, Dzhima has experience competing with Ukrainian Anton Dudchenko and German Michael Rösch. Pidruchnyi achieved his greatest success in 2019 when he and Anastasia Merkushina finished second.

It should be mentioned that Ukraine has two victories in the Christmas Races: in 2008, Oksana Khvostenko and Andriy Derizemblya were the best, and in 2014, there were no rivals for Valya Semerenko and Serhiy Semenov.