Wicker, Mao and Bubeníčková earn maiden titles in Toblach as Nilsen, Kawayoke and Adicoff claim repeat wins on Day 1 of the Para Cross-Country Worlds

Anja Wicker (GER), Zhongwu Mao (CHN) and Simona Bubeníčková (CZW) secured first titles, as Vilde Nilsen (NOR), Taiki Kawayoke (JPN) and Jake Adicoff (USA) added to their gold tally at the start of the FIS Para Cross-Country World Championships in Toblach, Italy.

Wicker secured her first Para Cross-Country world title on Wednesday with an all-the-way success in the Sitting 10km Interval Start Classic.

The 33-year-old German set a strong early pace and just kept extending her lead. In the last couple of kilometres, Wicker cancelled out the one-minute deficit on the track to Brazil’s Aline dos Santos Rocha as she charged to victory.

Her winning margin was almost a minute and a half with Rocha beating USA’s Kendall Gretsch - who won three golds at last week’s Para Biathlon Worlds in Slovenia - for silver by just 3.5 seconds.

“I really really wanted this,” said Wicker who has won Paralympic and world titles in biathlon but finished behind Gretsch each time in Slovenia. “I felt the whole season that my form on the track was really good, and today I just gave it my all. It’s unbelievable that I would, at some point in my life, win a 10km race in Cross-Country. It’s insane."

She won in front of her parents and dedicated the victory to them. “They are supporting me in everything I do,” Wicker said. “My dad was training with me every day during the summer, so it’s all for them.”

Reigning Paralympic champion Zhongwu Mao led a one-two for People’s Republic of China in the men’s Sitting race. Mao trailed early leader Cristian Westemaier Ribera (BRA) on the clock at around midway, but produced a strong second half to claim his first world title by 17 seconds.

Peng Zheng also saved his best for the latter stages, beating the Brazilian by six seconds to match his silver from the Beijing 2022 Games. A “happy and tired” Ribera held on for bronze to add to his Sprint silver from Lillehammer 2021.

Vilde Nilsen won her duel with Natalie Wilkie (CAN) to claim her eighth world title in the Standing category. Last to start, Nilsen passed her Canadian rival on the track early on, but needed a convincing real-time advantage to prevail.

Three-time Paralympic gold medallist Wilkie crossed the line over two minutes after the Norwegian, and that equated to 37 seconds in adjusted time as she took silver. China’s Zhiqing Zhao was a distant third.

Nilsen could not hold back the tears as she thanked her team for keeping her spirits high. “It’s just emotional because it’s always extra nerves before the first World Championships race, but I just did everything I could today,” she said.

The 24-year-old was also grateful for the Norwegian support in the crowd, and admitted she had one eye on the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics having won two silver medals and a bronze at two previous Games. “My goal is for next year to take gold in the Paralympics,” she revealed. “So it’s important for me to have good races before that time to build up good feelings. Every race is important.”

Wilkie commented, “I’m very satisfied. Coming second, I’m very happy to know that I’m the fastest one-pole athlete at least. It was a tough course and everyone was working super-hard. It was a really good race.”

Taiki Kawayoke claimed his first world title since 2019 in the men’s Standing category race. The 23-year-old Japanese, who won 20km gold at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics, produced a strong second quarter to take a significant halfway lead. And he eventually won by just over six seconds from France’s fast-finishing Karl Tabouret.

Early leader Mark Arendz collected bronze with the Canadian recovering from taking two biathlon golds and a bronze in Pokljuka. “After last week, that was a tough one to open up with,” he admitted. “I’ve done well on this course before so I was just trying to find what worked then, and seeing what I could do against some of these guys. It’s tough to compete against guys using two poles, but I’m really happy with how it went.”

Czechia’s Simona Bubeníčková took gold on her World Championship debut in the Vision Impaired (VI) category. The 16-year-old, who has two World Cup wins to her name, powered into a big lead on the clock in the second quarter of the race and continued to increase her advantage on a field packed with world and Paralympic gold medallists.

With guide David Srutek, Bubeníčková won by just under a minute and a half on adjusted time with Austria’s Carina Edlinger (guide Jakob Kainz) in second. Guided by Michael Huhn, Leonie Maria Walter - who won two biathlon golds and a silver last week in Slovenia - took bronze for Germany.

When interviewed afterwards, the new world champion still seemed stunned by her achievement. “It’s amazing, it’s fantastic,” she beamed.

USA’s Jake Adicoff made it three golds at three World Championships in the men’s VI. The 29-year-old from California, guided by Reid Goble, was the last athlete to start but soon set about closing on his rivals on the track.

He eventually won by a minute and 11 seconds from Norway’s Thomas Oxaal (guide Geir Lervik) who added to his two bronze medals from previous World Championships. Inkki Inola (guide Arttu Kaario) took third ahead of Sweden’s four-time world gold medallist Zebastian Modin to earn a first medal at his fifth World Championships.

“It’s really fun to take that top spot today,” said Adicoff afterwards. “A really hard race, but I love Toblach. It’s maybe my favourite place to ski.”

Inola was overjoyed at securing a first major global medal. “It’s a fantastic feeling,” he remarked. “It’s something I’ve been working towards for many years. The skiing didn’t feel very good but it’s a fantastic start to the competition.”

The action continues in Toblach on Thursday with the Open and Mixed Relays.