Canada's Derek Zaplotinsky wins 1st career Para Nordic World Cup title

Canada's Derek Zaplotinsky is on the board.

The 38-year-old Para nordic skier won his first career World Cup title on Thursday in Prince George, B.C., racing to top spot in the men's sitting five-kilometre individual start event.

Zaplotinsky, of Smoky Lake, Alta., crossed the finish line in 12 minutes 59.7 seconds, comfortably ahead of China's Mengtao Liu, who took silver in 13:04.7. Brazil's Cristian Westemaier Ribeira rounded out the podium with bronze at 13:07.3.

''It's been a lot of years of work to get here and it feels amazing,'' Zaplotinsky said. ''I've been feeling really strong all week and I knew I had the speed.

"We're all so close right now at this level that it was always one second here or there that was costing me. But I finally put one together.''

The Canadian has competed at each of the past two Paralympics, with his best finish an eighth-place result in the middle-distance biathlon in 2022.

Zaplotinsky, who is paralyzed from the waist down, first started his career as a Para athlete in cycling before moving to cross country.

Zaplotinsky, centre, poses on the podium alongside Mengtao, left, and Westemaier Ribeira. (Nordiq Canada)

Wilkie, Arendz claim medals

Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., claimed silver in the women's standing category with a time of 16:07.2, finishing behind Ukraine's Liudmyla Liashenko, who edged Prince Albert, Sask.'s Brittany Hudak for bronze by just 0.1 seconds in 16:14.2.

Norway's Vilde Nilsen captured gold in 15:11.7.

The 23-year-old Wilkie was initially unsure if she would race on Thursday while dealing with foot pain.

''To get the silver is awesome,'' Wilkie said. ''It was painful this morning when I put my boot on but once the race started I decided to go for it and eventually forgot about it.''

Hartsville, P.E.I., native Mark Arendz continued his podium streak with a third-place finish in the men's standing race, clocking 14:15.2 to place behind Japan's Taiki Kawayoke (13:41.3) and Poland's Witold Skupien (13:52.8).

Arendz capped a perfect biathlon season on Wednesday, winning the men's 10km race for the Crystal Globe.

''The hardest thing today was just switching techniques,' Arendz said. ''I haven't really touched my classic in awhile to focus on the freestyle for biathlon, so it was really trying to feel that finesse that you need in these softer snow conditions.''

Christina Picton of Fonthill, Ont., nearly added to Canada's medal haul in the women's sitting race, finishing just over a minute away from the bronze medal.