By Liam Morgan

Andrew Soule set a new record for US skiers at an IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships by taking his fifth medal in Cable ©Getty ImagesAmerican Andrew Soule etched his name into the history books today as he claimed his fifth medal of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Championships on home snow at Cable, Wisconsin.

Soule took silver in the men's middle distance 10 kilometres cross-country sitting event to set a new medal record for a United States skier at a Nordic World Championships as he finished just behind eventual winner Aleksandr Davidovich of Russia.

The Russian took gold in a time of 27min 45.3sec, while teammate Alexey Bychenok claimed bronze, winning his fifth medal in the process.

Meanwhile, history was also made by Germany's Andrea Eskau as she sealed a clean sweep of the cross-country events with gold in the women's 5km sitting, powering home in a time of 16:02.3.

America's Oksana Masters was 5.2 seconds adrift of the German as she took silver, earning her a second medal at the Championships, and Norway's Mariann Marthinsen captured bronze.

"It was close, all races, but in the end I have the luck to win," Eskau said.

In the women's 5km standing, the imperious Ukraine's Oleksandra Kononova continued her dominance of the cross-country and biathlon events by taking her sixth gold medal of the Championships as she maintained her superb unbeaten run in Cable.

Kononova claimed the victory by virtue of a blistering 15:53 run, which proved too strong for compatriot Liudmyla Liashenko who was 36.9 seconds behind, while Helene Ripa took bronze.

"This race was much tougher for me," Ripa said.

"I had in my mind [Kononova] could be tired after all those races, but I still know that she's very hard to beat."

Oleksandra Kononova continued her dominance of the championships with her sixth gold medal in Cable ©Getty ImagesOleksandra Kononova continued her dominance of the championships with her sixth gold medal in Cable ©Getty Images



Russia enjoyed a particularly successful day as they took five of the six visually impaired medals available, with Stanislav Chokhlaev, guided by Evgenii Fatkhullin, leading a clean sweep for the Russian men in the 10km. 

Teammates Nikolay Polukhin and guide Andrey Tokarev took silver and the duo of Vladimir Udaltcov, guided by Ruslan Bogachev, rounded off the podium by claiming bronze.

The women nearly repeated the feat in the 5km as the team of Elena Remizova and Maksim Priogov took gold in dominant fashion in a time of 16:00.4, 24.9 seconds in front of nearest challengers Iuliia Budaleeva and guide Tatiana Maltseva.

Ukraine's Oksana Shyshkova (17:40.3) and guide Lada Nesterenko denied the Russians another clean sweep as they finished third to take bronze.

Vladislav Lekomtcev of Russia, who claimed silver in the 15km biathlon event the previous day, went one better this time around as he sealed gold in the men's standing in a time of 25:41.4, while fellow Russian won silver and Ukraine's Ihor Reptyukh captured the bronze.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2015:
 Ukrainian biathletes at the double on fifth day of IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships
January 2015: Russia reign supreme at IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships
January 2015: Kononova captures third gold at IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships on day of Russian domination
January 2015: Canada and Germany pick up first golds of 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships
January 2015: Major shock on opening day of IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships as Petushkov fails to medal