On the evening of March 8, the award ceremony for the Paralympic Biathlon men's middle distance (standing) final was held at Zhangjiakou Awards Square. Standing at the center of the stage is the winner of the event, Canadian athlete Mark Ahrenz. He had only one hand. Just as the host announced the runner-up and third-place winners, Arrance used the only one to gently pat his thigh to "applaud" and greet his opponent. This scene touched everyone present.
Born in 1990 in Charlottetown, a city in southeastern Canada, Ahrenz had to have his leg amputated at the age of 7 due to a farm accident, and the community helped his family out of the haze, so he maintained a sense of gratitude and sunshine. In public, Ahrenz did not shy away from his mutilations—there were no long sleeves, but were level with the broken arm. When the host announced that "the Paralympic Biathlon men's mid-distance standing champion is Mark Arrance of Canada", he clenched his right fist, waved one arm and jumped onto the podium while cheering.
"It's great to get the gold medal!" Ahrenz said. Because just the day before the middle distance race, Ahrenz had just competed in the long distance (traditional technique) standing group and finished fourth. "I'm not sure if my body can eat up after a tough fight, but it's a real surprise to win the title." He said.
As he said, the day's game didn't go well. Ahrenz was the first to start, slipped on the first lap and finished in 7th of the 13 players. With accurate shooting, after two rounds of shooting, he came to the second place. At this point, there was only one step between him and the gold medal. He wants to defeat the 2nd Winter Pole (standing) champion at the Winter Paralympics, Ukraine's Wolfczynski. The two were very glued one after the other, and this situation lasted until the last lap. "At that point I wanted to know how much I was behind, until I saw Wolfczynski off target and was penalized, and I knew my chance came."
But at the moment, Ahrenz was not sure if he could win the first place, the only thing he could do was to concentrate, because the next round of shooting was not allowed to think about anything more. It's five shots again! Ahrenz eventually won the gold medal with his invincible performance in shooting, surpassing Wolfchensky. After the game, the two looked at each other and smiled, they were opponents and friends.
At the awards ceremony that night, Arenz sent his most moving blessing to Wolfchensky – when the Ukrainian player received the medal and flowers from the guests, accompanied by applause, Arrance also gently patted his thigh with his right hand: no applause, just express congratulations in this way.
At the age of 10, when Ahrenz first watched the Salt Lake City Winter Paralympic Games on television, he was attracted by the sport of biathlon that combines endurance, explosiveness, precision and adaptability. "In biathlon, it's almost impossible to win just by excelling in skiing or shooting. Often, you have to juggle both to be successful. Even though I know I'm still far away, I try to be the best I can be every day. ”
Next, Ahrenz will also compete in the long distance event. Fighting continuously, can the body eat up? Do you regret doing this? "I think I'll regret it if I don't do it." Arrance laughed and said, "I enjoyed the game very much. Sometimes all you have to do is push yourself a little more and see how much potential you still have. ”