Parabiathlete Suyarko wins bronze at the Paralympics in his “least favorite” competitive discipline
8 March 19:57
At the 2026 Paralympic Games, an individual race was held among athletes in the visually impaired class. Despite one mistake, Ukrainian Dmytro Suyarko took third place, trailing leader He Sun Dan from China by 2:19.2 minutes.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Suspilne.
After the race, Suyarko gave an exclusive comment in which he shared his impressions of his second start at the 2026 Paralympics. Prior to this, the 29-year-old athlete finished fifth in the sprint.
In addition to biathlon, Suyarko competes in para-cross-country skiing. According to the Ukrainian, the individual race is his “least favorite” event, and he even considered not participating in it.
- About the unexpected medal in the individual race.
“To be honest, it was very unexpected, because today I didn’t want to start, but we thought about it and decided that the distance was reasonable, I needed to shoot, and I didn’t have to run as fast as yesterday. So we worked it out, and this was the result. Before I shot the last stage, I asked them not to tell me where I was and what my results were. And only after the last stage did my guide say to me: “Do you want me to tell you what our standings are? We were fourth, two seconds behind third place. Let’s get to work.” And that’s how it turned out. I’m very happy.”
- Motivation to participate in competitions
“Like many Ukrainians, my loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and relatives are also on the front lines right now. And one of our relatives wrote yesterday: Dima, when possible, Donbas is watching you compete. It just touched my heart. And I couldn’t let them down. It was a huge motivation, so I want to thank every soldier, every person involved in defending our borders, for what they are doing and for the fact that we are here. Thank you very much for that.”
- On his reluctance to compete in the individual event
“It’s my least favorite distance. I don’t perform at my best in biathlon, but the individual race is something for me. But today everything has changed, thank God and all the circumstances.”
