Sit skier Andrea Eskau won the first gold medal for Germany at the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Solleftea, Sweden, on Tuesday (26 February), finishing the women's sitting cross-country 12k race in a time of 38:50.0.
Just last year, Esaku won two gold medals in handcycling at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Norway's Mariann Marthinsen added a silver medal to her bronze from the sprint race with a time of 39:16.3, beating Ukraine's Lyudmyla Pavlenko, who clocked a time of 40:17.0.
"Andrea is very strong, and I know there is still quite a way for me to go to catch her," Marthinsen said of Eskau. "I did my best today and tried to reach her, but it was not possible.
"My next race is the 5k. I now have a bronze and a silver medal, so maybe it will be gold next time."
The men's sitting long distance race was once again dominated by Russia's Roman Petushkov, gold-medal winner of the sprint race the day prior. Petushkov led throughout the whole race, putting more than 47 seconds between him and second-place finisher Enzo Masiello of Italy. Petushkov finished in a time of 41:02.4.
Masiello, bronze medallist at the 2011 World Championships and the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games over the 15k distance, and Japan's Kozo Kubo, the IPC's Athlete of the Month for January, were within just a few seconds throughout the race, with the stronger finish for Masiello.
Kubo, who finished in a time of 42:02.0, said after the race: "I am very happy, this is my first medal at a World Championships in a cross-country skiing race. I will train hard to also win a medal in Sochi next year."
Russia's Irek Zaripov who was expected to be the strongest competitor for Petushkov in the day's race finished in a disappointing 18th place.
All events from the Championships will be streamed live on the IPC's YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/ParalympicSportTV.
For more information on the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships, please visit the event website at www.ipcnordicskiingworlds.org.
You can also follow the action on Twitter @IPCNordic and like the sport's Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/IPCNordicSkiing.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to develop sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality. For further information, please visit http://www.paralympic.org.
To watch videos on demand from Paralympic Games and to subscribe to ParalympicSport.TV, please go to www.youtube.com/ParalympicSportTV. Also, you may follow the Paralympic Movement on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ParalympicGames or on
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/paralympic.
