Photo: biathlon.com.ua
Ukrainian national team biathlete Anastasiia Merkushyna won the gold medal in the individual race at the 2026 European Biathlon Championships.
The competition is taking place in Shushen, Norway.
Alongside Merkushyna, Ukraine was represented in the individual race by Valeriia Dmytrenko, Nadiia Belkina, and Liliia Steblyna.
Merkushyna claimed victory after finishing the race without a single shooting miss, crossing the line first. Despite shooting penalties, Italy’s Samuela Comola and France’s Voldiia Galmas-Polen completed the podium.
Results (top positions):
Anastasiia Merkushyna (Ukraine) — 0+0+0+0, 45:33.9
Samuela Comola (Italy) — 0+0+0+1, +3.0
Voldiia Galmas-Polen (France) — 0+1+1+0, +4.8
Other Ukrainian results:
19th: Valeriia Dmytrenko — 1+0+0+0, +2:26.5
31st: Nadiia Belkina — 1+0+1+0, +4:05.0
79th: Liliia Steblyna — 2+3+1+1, +8:25.0
“It’s incredible — I’m on cloud nine. At first it felt unreal, like a dream, but I’m extremely happy. When I realized I had won, I just screamed — many people heard me,” Merkushyna said, as quoted by Tribuna.com.
“I thought it was a good race, but there were many strong athletes and I had an early старт number. I wasn’t sure about the podium. Then it finally sank in — the emotions came in waves.”
For the 31-year-old Merkushyna, this is her second gold medal at the European Championships. She previously won continental gold at Euro 2023, where she triumphed in the sprint race.
