Pol Makuri finishes fourteenth in the 20-kilometre cross-country ski classic

MADRID, 7 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Spanish skier Pol Makuri made his debut this Monday at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games with a fourteenth position in the classic 20-kilometre cross-country skiing event, which was held at the Zhangjiakou Biathlon Center.

The Catalan skier was the first in the starting order and started strongly, marching very evenly with two other rival skiers, the Japanese Keigo Iwamoto and the Mongolian Ganbold Batmunkh, between the second and third laps, in which he changed skis.

“I started the race with great enthusiasm, knowing that it was a long race, but with very good feelings from the warm-up on the track. The climbs, where I was worried about how the body would respond, went well. I have always been skiing inside the track enjoying every step and every swipe,” Makuri said.

Finally, he finished fourteenth with a time of 1:05:08, ahead of the Ukrainian Serafym Drahul (1:08:42). The Japanese Taiki Kawayoke, with a time of 52:52, was proclaimed Paralympic champion and topped a podium in which he was joined by the Chinese Jiayun Cai and Mingyang Qiu, silver (54:27) and bronze (54:29), respectively.

The Catalan will compete again on Wednesday, March 9 in the skating modality sprints, where a qualifying round will be played first and then the final, and he will close his participation in the Games on March 12 in the middle distance test, covering 12, 5km on this same circuit.