Poland’s Grzegorz Galica and Slovakia star Michaela Strakova both picked up their second gold medals of the week as the individual biathlon competitions drew to a close at the WInter European Youth Olympic Festival Bakuriani 2025.
Galica was the first to add to his tally, finishing first in the Boys’ 7.5km Sprint race to go with his Boys’ 12.5km Individual victory. He finished ahead of Esteban Moreira from France and Italy’s Julian Huber, who pipped Switzerland’s Levin Janis Kunz to the bronze medal by less than a second.
Strakova then emulated Galica’s exploits by following up her 10km Individual success with a gold medal in the the Girls’ 6km Sprint race.
She finished more than 34 seconds ahead of Slovenia’s Ajda Spitalar in the silver medal position, with Lucie Jandurova finishing third, adding to the silver medal she won in the single mixed relay on Wednesday.
France remain firmly at the top of the medal table after Ilona Charbotel’s Girls’ Slalom victory in Alpine skiing on Friday morning. She topped the standings after the first run and was quickest second time around too.
Charbotel said: “I’m super proud to represent France in this event. It was a really big day. It was amazing – I produced my best run and I’m super happy.”
Italian Marta Giaretta won the silver medal, her second of the week, and compatriot Victoria Klotz finished third, to help Italy sit second in the medal table behind France.
Friday saw the final figure skating action at the Batumi Ice Arena, with Ukraine’s Yehor Kurtsev winning gold ahead of Vladislav Churakov (Estonia) and Gion Schmid (Switzerland) in the Boys’ Junior Figure Skating competition. Kurtsev’s stunning score of 130.15 in the Free Skating saw him keep first place after leading following the Short Program.
In in the boys’ Ice Hockey preliminary phase, Ukraine beat Latvia 5-4 and Switzerland thrashed Austria 12-4, while there were also qualifying rounds for the Boys’ and Girls’ Freeski and Snowboard Big Air competitions.
Snowboard Slopestyle gold medallist Unai Lopez Sousa (Spain) scored highest in the Boys’ Big Air, while Switzerland’s Lura Wick was top of the tree in the Girls’ Big Air qualifying.
In the Freeski, Great Britain’s Sandra Caune scored a huge 94.75 in the Girls’ competition and Victor Knutsen led the Boys’ qualifying scores.
