Russian athletes won eight medals, including two golds, at Vancouver Paralympics biathlon events on Thursday.

Russian cross-country skiing athlete Irek Zaripov finished first in the Men's 12.5 km Sitting. Russian athletes Vladimir Kiselev and Roman Petushkov won silver and bronze medals in the same event.

Maria Iovleva won gold at the Women's 10 km Sitting event and Anna Burmistrova, who has already won two gold medals, finished second in the Women's 12.5 km Standing.

Nikolai Polyhin, who is visually impaired, won his third silver medal in the Men's 12.5 km Free. He finished some 4.1 seconds behind German athlete Vilhelm Brem.

In the Women's 12.5 km Free, German athlete Verena Bentele won gold, and Russian athletes Liubov Vasilyeva and Mihalina Lysova won silver and bronze.

Russia is top of the medal table at the Vancouver Paralympics. So far it has obtained eight gold, ten silver and five bronze medals. The German team, which has 12 medals, is the closest Russian rival.

MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti)