Ostersund 2020: Ones to Watch – Men’s vision impaired

Hosts’ biggest medal hope to face Paralympic and world champion 09 Mar 2020

The home crowd in Ostersund is hoping to celebrate gold through Zebastian Modin

ⒸJens Schörnich

By World Para Snow Sports

Sweden’s biggest hope in the Para Biathlon World Championships will be competing in the men’s vision impaired (VI) disciplines.

Here are the ones to watch in the class:

Yury Holub (BLR) vs. Zebastian Modin (SWE)

Two-time world champion Yury Holub fell short of a triple crown, taking runner-up in the long distance last year in the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Prince George, Canada. That can change in Ostersund.

Middle distance appears to be his strongest discipline, having claimed both the Paralympic and World Championship titles.

But the city of Ostersund takes pride in their very own Zebastian Modin.

The vision impaired Swede is very much a cross-country specialist, but he will try to carry the home country’s flag and finish on the podium. Modin focused on the sprint discipline in his last World Cup.

The preparations for the World Championships includes a participation in Vasaloppet, the oldest cross-country ski race in the world and one of Sweden’s most traditional sport events.