Meenagh delighted after strong biathlon showing

There’s not much that could ruin the mood for Scott Meenagh after he put in a display that bodes well for the future in the men’s 15km biathlon sitting at PyeongChang 2018.

In his penultimate race of competition Meenagh found his groove early at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre shooting clean on his first two trips to the range and sitting within the top ten heading into the midpoint of the race.

With windy conditions to contend with, Meenagh picked up three penalties on his third prone stage and another two on his final shoot.

That set the Scot back and he eventually crossed in a time of 58:58.1 to finish 14th – gold going to Germany’s Martin Fleig while USA’s Daniel Cnossen took silver and Canada’s Colin Cameron snatched bronze.

“You couldn’t slap the smile off my face today,” said Meenagh. “I’m really happy. It was on after two shoots, I really thought I was in a strong position.

“It was great, I know what I’ve got wrong today and I’m going to go and work on it but I’m really happy with that.

“I’m extremely inspired and I feel that tomorrow if I hit it with the same intent and I can push a little bit harder then there is no reason why I can’t be up there.

“I feel like I skied really well and I was in a really nice place for the first couple of shoots. The third and fourth shoots caught me out a little.

“I can’t afford to not shoot well in this field because these guys are just incredible.”

After five tough days at the Biathlon Centre only one race remains for Meenagh as he gets set to bring the curtain down on his first Paralympic Games in the men’s 7.5km cross-country on Saturday.

But there is no doubt in Meenagh’s mind that this is the first step on a journey and certainly not the final destination.

“We’ve seen a glimpse of what can be today and it’s awesome,” added Meenagh. “That’s a sight of what can be possible.

“These Games have taught me lots of lessons but they have also shown me a glimpse of the level we can be at and if we get it right on the day. We are no worse than any of these guys out here.

“We know what we are here to do and we have a lot of work to do in the next four years but I’ve seen a lot of positives here.”