She reached the finish line third, but after adjusting the time of the German Leonie Marie Walterová, she fell to fourth place.
However, after the protest of the Czech expedition, the jury returned her to third place and awarded two bronze medals. Walter’s judges adjusted the time by 51 seconds due to shooting problems. Another Czech representative, Carina Edlingerová, won the race.
“Please don’t do this to me again next time… We waited an awfully long time, I almost gave up hope. I found out that it went well on the way to the toilet, when I heard how everyone suddenly started to rejoice in our waxing booth. But it’s great that it turned out this way and everyone is happy,” said 17-year-old Bubeníčková in a press release.
Walter’s judges adjusted the time by 51 seconds due to shooting problems. After the Czech protest, the competitors did not find out about the “divided” third place until an hour and a half after crossing the finish line.
For Bubeníčková, after two silver medals in the biathlon and cross-country skiing, it meant her third Paralympic medal.
“Until yesterday, we didn’t know if we were going to go. This medal is really unexpected. Simča was flying on the track, we were celebrating at the finish line, it was a very beautiful euphoria, plus the team joy with Carina and Alex (tracker Alexandre Paťava). Then came a big disappointment and now it’s a very strange mix of feelings. But I’m very happy that we have the medal,” said the tracker David Šrůtek.
Edlingerová won the first Czech gold at the Winter Paralympics since 2002 in the pursuit sprint of biathletes. She added it to her cross-country triumph from Beijing 2022, where she still competed in Austrian colors.
“Now I can probably call myself a biathlete. I’m thrilled that Alex and I won the first gold for the Czech Republic after such a long time, I’m very happy. It’s a sensational feeling,” she said.
When she received Czech citizenship, she promised the chairman of the Czech Paralympic Committee that she would learn the national anthem.
“I’m thrilled that it came out, I’m already a proud Czech and I think I sang it decently. I just could have hit the note better,” she laughed.
Tracer Alexandr Paťava felt that they were running a golden race. “We already knew after qualifying that it was really close. It’s true that after two missed shots I started to get a little worried. But Carina performed a sensational running performance,” he declared.
