The season for Ukrainian skeleton racers began with mixed results. At the first stage of the World Cup in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy), both of our athletes, Vladyslav Heraskevych and Yaroslav Lavreniuk, managed to qualify for the second run. However, the second planned stage in Innsbruck, Austria, was cancelled by the organisers due to the poor condition of the track.
On the eve of the next stage of the World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway, Ukrainian skeleton racers gained competitive experience by participating in the 2025/26 European Cup. In the two stages of the European Cup, Vladyslav Heraskevych showed the best results, taking eighth place in the first race and finishing just one step away from the podium in the second race. Yaroslav Lavreniuk also finished in the top 15 twice, taking 11th and 13th places.
In Lillehammer, unlike in the first stage of the World Cup, only Vladyslav Heraskevych managed to break into the top 25 and qualify for the second run, finishing 23rd with a time of 51.87 seconds. His teammate, Yaroslav Lavreniuk, finished after the first run, taking 29th place with a time of 52.32 seconds.
In the second run, Heraskevych managed to improve his time to 51.77 seconds, but finished in 22nd place. This repeated his worst result at the World Cup in almost two years (which he last achieved in Lillehammer in January 2024).
Earlier, the Swedish Open Biathlon Championships began in Idre.
