Kazakhstan's Yerbol Khamitov wins gold at 2026 Paralympic Games
Yerbol Khamitov of Kazakhstan has won the gold medal in the para biathlon event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Italy, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Khamitov won the biathlon pursuit race at the Winter Paralympics, missing once at the second shooting stage after hitting all targets at the first.
The Kazakh athlete also showed excellent speed, clocking the distance in 9 minutes and 39 seconds. Ukraine’s Taras Rad claimed silver, finishing 21.9 seconds behind Khamitov, while China’s Liu Zixu took bronze, 21.5 seconds back.
This marks Kazakhstan’s first gold medal at the Winter Paralympics since 2018. Yerbol Khamitov also became the first Kazakh athlete in history to win gold at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.
To note, Kazakhstan secured its first bronze medal of the Games on March 10. Yerbol Khamitov finished third in the final of the sitting sprint event.
On March 11, Kazakh athletes recorded three top-10 finishes in the 10 km cross-country race with individual start.