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John Morton, seven-time Olympian, inducted into United States Biathlon’s Hall of Fame

Published: Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

Updated: Sat Jun 21, 2008 7:19 AM MDT

Pineland Farms, Maine. The United States Biathlon Association (USBA) is
pleased to announce the induction of John Morton to their national Hall of Fame. Morton
has represented the United States at 7 Olympics, dating back to the Sapporo Games in
1972, as an athlete, coach and Team Leader.

John has modeled the spirit of the Olympic movement for generations of athletes
over his 30 years of involvement with the US Biathlon Team, and set a standard for
humility, integrity and success, said Larry Pugh, Chairman of United States Biathlon.

Morton was an outstanding collegiate skier for Middlebury College, sweeping all
the Eastern Carnival races in 1966. He was named to the US Cross Country Ski Team in
1968 and the US Biathlon Team in 1969. He remained on the US Biathlon team from
1969 through the 1976 season (With the exception of a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1971,
winning the Bronze Star). In that span of time he represented the US at the Sapporo and
Innsbruck Olympics as an athlete. From 1976 through 2002 Morty served as an assistant
coach and Team Leader for the US Team, including at 5 more Olympic events.

Mortons career has also included serving as the head coach for the Dartmouth ski
team from 1978-1989 and being a co-founder of the Maine Winter Sports Center.

John has been and continues to be a great source of inspiration for the biathlon
community, said Max Cobb, Executive Director of US Biathlon. As an athlete, coach,
team leader, author, chief of course, and trail designer he has given something to all of us.
This is but a small thank you for a man who continues to do so much for biathlon.

Morton will be inducted at a formal presentation at the US National Biathlon
Championships, scheduled for March 2009 in Fort Kent, Maine.

Source: USBA

The North American Cup Series

By Kevin Brooker
Published: Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

This is the latest installment of Kevin Brooker's journey into the land of Biathlon. Kevin has documented his experience over the course of his first summer of training and has now finally gotten up the good part - getting on snow….

The best way to place the level of competition for the NorAm Cup races is to think of it a double A baseball. The athletes in the elite divisions are vying for a spot on national teams competing in the Europa Cup and on the World Cup level. Races are held in the US and Canada beginning in December at the Canmore, AB facility. The next stop is West Yellowstone Montana before heading back to Canada for NorAm Cup 3. Fortunately for me, I live no more then 5 hours drive from series races 4 through 7.

NorAm Cup 4 is held at my home training area, the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, Vermont. I know the range well and was glad to enter the national races at a venue I am familiar with. This event was combined with the Eastern National Guard Biathlon Championships so the fields were relatively large. There were over 100 athletes in all categories competing for various reasons. Some for their home state, others for a slot on a national team along with a handful of field fillers like myself.

Overall, my races went very well. Both days I grabbed the final NorAm Cup finishing spot awarded points. I had a national rank! The course at the Ethan Allen Firing Range is wonderful to say the least. The track will accommodate two skiers racing side by side with ample room between them. The hills vary in length and steepness. The downhill portions are fast with sweeping curves requiring flat skis but no tap dance footwork to remain upright. Abundant snowfall and fantastic grooming made the skiing straightforward. The range is world class with trails leading up to the entry.

One aspect of the race which was really fun was meeting people who have read bits Ive written for Fasterskier.com and other sites. Some found my biathlon website 6qbiathlon.com and wrote asking about housing for the races. I also spent a good bit of time talking to the Maine Winter Sports Center who have planned a biathlon club in the Portland, Maine area. This venue will be near a population center (not huge by most standards but big for northern New England) and should continue the tradition of excellence started in Fort Kent. I felt like a celebrity.

Lake Placid, NY was the host for NorAm Cup 5. Saturday's 10k Sprint was held in marginally legal temps. It was -10 at the start and warmed to -5 or so at the finish. They delayed the start ten minutes to look like they cared but temps remained low. Pressure from the commercial ski area to clear the trails of gun carrying skiers might have contributed to the rush but this is just speculation on my part.

The cold made skiing super hard. The two best analogies I heard about the conditions were “skiing on sandpaper and velcro. The snow on the shaded hillsides was so cold and dry you could almost classic up with parallel skis. It was more efficient to run the hills then try to skate them. The overnight temps were -20 and the snow didn't warm up at all. My face was so cold feeling the rifle cheek comb was impossible. I have never shot in temps so low and the wind chill on my face going downhill must have been -30 or -40. Trying to find the normal rifle feel I pushed the comb too hard and sent my shots right. I'm a lefty so the pivot around the trigger moves the muzzle right. I didn't shoot as well as I'd have liked. I'm better then the results show and cold weather aside, I am a bit disappointed in my performance on the range.

To combat the cold and avoid frostbite, I greased the hell out of my earlobes, nose and cheeks so no damage but they were all numb. After the race I had a hard time speaking as my cheeks were stiff and I couldn't annunciate too well. I finished 5th in age group less then 1 second out of 4th spot. I was about 2 minutes off the podium.

Sunday it was warmer, maybe 15 above but the wind was ripping. Flat calm with 30+ mph gusts and blowing snow on the range made shooting not hard but extremely difficult and frustrating.

Skiing into the wind was like going uphill. The poles swung wildly and one gust grabbed my ski and pushed it into a V-board marking the P-loop almost causing me to crash. I think the wind actually pushed me back up! I was a 50% shooting effort which I was told fantastic considering the conditions.

My zero was set neutral and in an effort to hit as many targets as possible Id wait for a lull to set it. During a moment of calm I just shoot and don't have to make adjustments. My prone went well and the first offhand was in a blinding windstorm. It was difficult to hold the rifle remotely steady. Out of a sense of pride I didn't just “machine gun” the targets to send the lead to save time waiting, get onto the P-loop and get skiing. I couldn't do it although the last shot I just sent and got out. I spoke with two former Olympians who shot worse than I did! There were only five clean stops from all competitors all day.

Deb, one of the Olympians, mentioned the feeling of not wanting to quit on the range but mentioned it is a race and if the wind is going to hurt you send the lead and get skiing. Maybe next time. I finished 4th in age, 2:30 off the podium.

NorAm Cup race 6 was held in La Patrie, Quebec, a small town just 15 k north of the New Hampshire border. The plan was to pack up the car Friday evening and leave at 4:30 AM for the sprint race on Saturday. While packing I went to look for my passport only to discover it would expire on the Saturday of the race. The new rules for crossing the border back into the U.S. allow citizens to reenter with a drivers license and a copy of their birth certificate. Unfortunately, my proof of existence and citizenship of the U.S. was at my mothers in Connecticut and not immediately available. Without documentation I would be allowed into Canada but not granted permission to re-enter my own country.

Ill admit being frustrated with, as I see it, the knee-jerk over reaction of the U.S. governments plan to keep our borders safe. Im all for security but not the shortsightedness of the ideas and poor execution of the plan makes me think we are just cowering and becoming paranoid as a nation. The idea of a piece of paper, a birth certificate, which has no standardization coupled with a picture I.D. guarantees I am a U.S. citizen is just absurd. Give me a half dozen motivated high school kids, a decent photocopier and Photoshop and see how many undetectable forgeries can be produced.

Even with the absurd rules not getting to the race falls squarely onto my shoulders. I should not have waited until the last minute to see if my paperwork was in order.

The week off from biathlon was frustrating but did allow me to enter the Ford Sayre Silver Foxtrot 10 k ski race held at Oak Hill in Hanover, NH. I had a late start and most of those behind me were much faster and soon I was skiing alone. I was a bit depressed and found it difficult to stay at race levels of effort seeing I had no one to chase or remain ahead of. I was down on myself and not having too much fun.

I crashed in a fast downhill sweeper 400 meters from the finish. The calf on my right leg cramped pretty hard and it took a minute or so to work out. I limped into the finish demoralized. Turns out, even with the crash and subsequent delay it was only thirty seconds off my fastest 10 k ever. The snow was variable, the racecourse hilly and I was on pace to set a new PR. My depression transformed to elation.

The next and final NorAm of the 08 season was held in Valcartier, Quebec. My paperwork was in order and the family was coming along. We would stay in the old city of Quebec where Jill and the kids were able to walk to attractions while I took the car to the race.

Saturday's race was super fun. Darrell, the guy starting :30 behind me had a better prone shoot than I did and moved into the lead. 2 k later he was shooting offhand when I arrived at the range and I slotted in the next point to his right. He shoots right handed and I'm a lefty so we were looking right at each other. He was 3 shots in when I arrived and also 3 misses and I dropped the first two targets. I was hoping my arrival might pressure him into mistakes and soon I'm back in it. I go two better then him and leave the P-loop 10 seconds ahead but he is still 20 ahead on race time since he started behind me. It's now a ski race to the finish. I shot my way back into contention. I ski like mad with the intent of winning or blowing up big and losing. Uphill I suffer and going down I try to recover and not puke.

I cross the finish line first. Darrell arrives but I was too shot to look at the clock and see what happened. When the results are posted turns out he got me by 5 seconds! I was so bummed but the race was really fun. Due to some rule quirk we were scored as 2 and 3. The guy who won was in our age group but shooting an air rifle so he didn't have to carry it (not a big handicap for us) but his P-loop was 50 meters per lap shorter so he skied about 300 total meters less then the rest of the field. Darrell was :01 back and I was :06 off the win. Filing a protest would have been whining but I feel we both were ripped off.

Sundays race was fun too but not the nail biter of yesterday. Darrell won and I was second. I had one bad shoot and that was the race. I'm faster on skis but not enough to make up for the error. Good day though. Getting back across the border with the rifle was a piece of
cake. I have been told it can be a nightmare. Maybe sleeping kids in the back seat helps.

I raced well this weekend. I wish I had shot better but this will always be true. Saturday's race made the training, money and effort worth it. The only way to have made it better was to have won.
Traveling to races with the family is interesting and somewhat frustrating. When I asked them to come along it seemed like a good idea at the time. The kids really enjoyed Lake Placid during the summer and Quebec is a fantastic place to visit. While I race, there is something for the kids to do. Should be a win/win situation, right?

Not always. On race days I have my own routine from awakening through leaving the venue. Upset this routine and I start getting tense. Arriving ninety minutes before the first start is minimal and allows for warming up, zeroing the rifle, previewing the course, and accommodating any unexpected headaches or gear fixes. Im not too concerned about eating a proper breakfast as nerves and pre-race jitters keep me from putting down a normal amount of food. I dont worry about it as the races are usually under forty-five minutes duration and I have the energy for that almost right out of bed.

The kids dont adapt so well. Keeping them in their routine requires getting up earlier to drive to a food outlet, eat and get ready to go about the day. Now their out of synch setting up a new series of problems to deal with.

If the family attends the race its better if I am dropped off and they arrive sometime near my projected start. This worked in Lake Placid. They eat while I prepare for the race unencumbered by untied boots; bathroom breaks (they both dont need to go at the same time), being hungry, or wandering off. After the event I like to ski a bit to cool down and relive the race with other competitors while standing around swapping stories and telling lies. The family wants to leave almost as soon as I cross the finish line.

Why are they invited? Is it to do something together or does having them along allow me to attend the race? Im not really sure and such narcissistic thinking bothers me. Racing and training is difficult enough without the additional worries of family. As with all things I must learn to strike a balance between selfish and generous expenditures of my time with the family. Learning about life after the arrival of kids not being all about me is more difficult than the toughest climbs in rotten snow on poorly waxed and prepped skis. I can fail while skiing but to fail as a dad is unacceptable. Ultimately they are more important so the warm-up interruptions to take a five year old to the bathroom are okay with me.

About the author: Kevin is 42 years old, married with two children and living in Post Mills, Vermont. He began racing bicycles at sixteen and continued pursuing individual sports. After a six-year layoff, Kevin is returning to athletics racing in biathlon events and will write about the pitfalls and triumphs of mounting a comeback to competition. You can read more about Kevin at www.6qbiathlon.com.

Sponsors:

Izhmash Rifle: Russian American Armory www.raacfirearms.com

Skis: Ski Trab www.chi-townsports.com

Boots and bindings: GoFaster www.chi-townsports.com

Clothing: Reliefwear: www.reliefwear.com

Cobble Mountain Hammock: www.cobblemountain.com

Plant Furniture Company: www.theplantfurniturecompany.com/

New England Radon Control: www.neradon.com

Fiocchi Ammunition: www.fiocchiusa.com

Infinity Ski Poles: www.nordicskipoles.com

Maine Winter Sports Center Seeks Community Development Coach

Published: Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

Updated: Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:23 AM MDT

The Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) is looking for a multi-talented Community Development Coach to join its staff in Aroostook County Maine. The candidate will be responsible for creating and implementing introductory and development ski programs to participants at all ages, but focused primarily on youth and junior community and race programs. In addition, this coach will share direct responsibility for community outreach and ski club building in remote communities around Aroostook County. These grassroots community outreach efforts may include meetings, speaking engagements, trail building, ski park design, community races and events, learn to ski clinics, learn to shoot clinics and on-snow school visits. The candidate will need to develop biathlon skills in order to run learn to shoot programs with live ammunition rifles as well as with laser rifles. Candidate will need to play a supportive role in MWSC XC and Biathlon training sessions designed primarily for youth and juniors, including biathlon range support. Candidate will have some travel responsibilities, including coordinating and transporting athletes to events and camps. Candidate will be expected to create strong relationships with local and regional coaches, Community Ski Clubs, municipal recreation directors, and the organizing committees of our two World Class Nordic/Biathlon Venues. The MWSC Community Development Coach will manage the deployment of the Healthy Hometown Ski Trailers to communities and events to provide ski equipment and instruction to people of all ages. Skilled and effective communication, creativity, initiative, self-direction, as well as inspired leadership are all critical pre-requisites for the position of MWSC Community Development Coach. A four-year college degree, experience as a coach and Nordic skier are requirements for the position. All MWSC Coaches will be involved in the initiation and implementation of other programs and events and other duties that will advance the MWSC toward its mission. Responsibilities can be negotiated depending on experience. Female coaches are strongly encouraged to apply.

This position is a full-time position to begin on June 1, 2008. Applicants should send a short cover letter and resume with three professional references to eileen@mainewsc.org or to Eileen Carey, Program Coordinator, Maine Winter Sports Center, 552 Main St, Caribou, ME 04736

Shepard, Currier, Spector and Nordgren Win Second Titles at US Biathlon Nationals

Published: Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

Coleraine, MN. Walt Shepard (Brunswick, ME), Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME), Laura Spector (Lenox, MA), and Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix, MN) all won their second National Championship of the week in the Pursuit Format competitions at the North American/US National Championships.

Shepard continued his strong showing today with another excellent day on the shooting range at the Mount Itasca Biathlon facility. After recording one penalty in the Sprint yesterday, he came back to shoot clean in both prone stages and followed with just three penalties, in the two standing stages. He finished in 35:00.5, putting him 12.5 seconds ahead of Brendon Green (Hay River, NT Canada), who had six penalties. Third went to Zach Hall (Lake Placid, NY) of the National Development Team. Hall had the best result of his career with three penalties, 35.5 seconds back. The Bronze medal in this Senior Mens 12.5K went to Jesse Downs (Jericho, VT) of the National Guard, with six penalties, 1:29.5 back.

Currier had the fastest time of the day over the 12.5K distance as he captured the Junior National Championship in 34:53, with six penalties. (Shepard would have had a faster time, but skied an extra penalty loop, as his final target closed so slowly that he had left the position before it recorded the hit). Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN), also with six penalties was second again today, just 7.8 seconds behind Currier. Marty Smith (Steamboat Springs, CO) took third while matching Currier and Roberts on the shooting range. He finished 3:54.8 back.

For the second day in a row, Spector had the top time among all women, as she captured the Junior 10K title. She had five penalties (four prone, one standing) to finish in 34:34.3, putting her 40.9 seconds of the top Senior Woman, Ekaterina Vinogradova (Auburn, CA),who had a time of 35:15.2. Second place in Junior Womens division went to Brynden Manbeck (Grand Rapids, MN), with three penalties, 1:49.9 back. Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska, ME) of the Maine Winter Sports Center also had three penalties, 3:19.9 back.

Vinogradova topped the Senior Womens Division with seven penalties. Second went to Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN) with ten penalties, 51.7 seconds back. Third went to Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), with four penalties, 1:53.8 back.

World Youth medalist Nordgren won the Youth Mens 10K today for his second title of the week. His time of 31:52 put him 47.1 seconds ahead of Ethan Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT). Nordgren had five penalties to Dreissigackers three. Third went to Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN) with 11 penalties, 3:42.9 back.

In the Youth Womens 7.5K, Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) took the title over the Sprint titlist Addie Byrne (Grand Rapids, MN) in a time of 28:47 to Byrnes 30:57.6. The MWSC athlete had five penalties, while Byrne had eight. Andrea Mayo (Winterville, ME) with five penalties was 3:50.7 back in third.

Competitions in the Masters divisions found several repeat winners today. In the 30-39 Women, Jill Troutner (Matthews, NC) took her second covering the 7.5K in 29:50, while recording three penalties. She also won the Sprint in 21:55, with four penalties. Madeline Fairchild (Boulder, CO) placed second in both competitions.

Arminda Phillips (Seattle, WA) took both 40-49 crowns, winning the Sprint in 31:05 with three penalties and the Pursuit in 46:01, with 11 penalties. Judy Geer (Morrisville, VT) matched her in the 50 plus division, with a 28:54 victory in the Sprint with seven penalties and a 42:18 win today, with 15 penalties.

In the Mens 30-39 division, US Biathlon Athlete Development Director Piotr Bednarski (St. Louis Park, MN) took the Sprint crown in 22:43, with three penalties, a mere three seconds ahead of Tom Moffett (Peru, NY) with one penalty. Moffett reversed the table on Bednarski today scoring a 36:57.8 win with five penalties. Bednarski finished 54.8 seconds back, with nine penalties.

Tony Carter (Coleraine, MN) captured the 40-49 title today in 36:52 with four penalties. Second went to the Sprint Champion Paul Peterson (Hastings, MN) 3:07.4 back with 14 penalties. Peterson won the Sprint in 28:03 with five penalties.

Bill Quinlan (Boulder, CO) took the Sprint and Pursuit 50 plus titles, with a 26:34 win and four penalties yesterday and a 44:52 win with 12 penalties today. Lou Chouinard (Minneapolis, MN) took second today in 45:31 with nine penalties, while John Neal (Marshfield, WI) took second in the Sprint with four penalties, 1:18 back.

Source: USBA

Laura Spector Leads All Women in Biathlon Sprint at US Nationals

Published: Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

Coleraine, MN, March 20 - Laura Spector (Lenox, MA), competing in the Junior Division posted the top result today in the 7.5K Sprint at the North American/US National Championships at the Mount Itasca Biathlon facility.

On a day that featured clear skies, minimal wind and temperatures in the lower thirties, Spector shot clean in prone and despite two standing penalties. She covered the 7.5K course in 21:29. This time put here 26 seconds ahead of the top Senior Division woman, Annilies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY). Cook, a former member of the National Junior Team shot clean.

Spectors National Junior title today comes in her final season as a Junior Level competitor. This year, she competed in the Youth/Junior World Championships in Ruhpolding, Germany and the next week jumped to the Senior Level at the Biathlon World Championships in Ostersund. Sweden. In her senior debut, she placed 62nd in the 15K Individual and competed in the Mixed Relay. She most recently placed 6th in the Junior Pursuit at the European Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. The 6th place was the best international result of her career.

US Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb commented on Spectors top performance, It is great to see Laura have this kind of a performance. It shows that the work she put in over the past year has paid off. With the season she had this year, she has now moved into the top group of women in our program.

Following Spector in the Junior Womens 7.5K today was Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska, ME), also with two penalties, 2:14 back. Brynden Manbeck (Grand Rapids, MN, with three penalties) was third, 3:31 back.

In the Senior Womens 7.5K Sprint, Cook claimed the US Championship title, with her victory over US Biathlon Development Team member Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN). Compton, just back from Europe for just three days, finished 15 seconds behind Cook today. Compton had four penalties. She tied for second in the Senior Womens 7.5K Sprint with Ekaterina Vinogradova (Auburn, CA), with five penalties, also 15 seconds back. Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), also with the Development Team finished fourth, with three penalties, 58 seconds back.

Brendon Green (Hay River, NT, Canada) won the Senior Mens 10K Sprint, with one penalty in a time of 25:21.

As Green is a Canadian, the US Championship title went to Walter Shepard (Brunswick, ME) also with one penalty. Shepard, in winning the 2008 Senior National Championship finished just 20 seconds behind the Canadian athlete. Shepard who is currently studying and skiing at Bowdoin College was a member of the 2005 World Championships Team. He also competed in several Youth/Junior World Championships as a member of the US Junior National Team. Third went to National Guard athlete Jesse Downs (Jericho, VT), with three penalties, 1:28 back.

Like Spector, Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) also competed in both Ruhpolding and Ostersund. Currier won the Junior 10K Sprint title today in 26:16 with one prone and two standing penalties. Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN), also with three penalties followed Currier by 30 seconds, with Newt Rogers (Fort Kent, ME), with four penalties, 2:06 back.

The host Mount Itasca Biathlon and the Maine Winter Sports Center each had two National Champions today from the National Junior Team. Currier and Spector from the MWSC took the Junior Championships, while Mount Itasca, with Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix, MN) and Addie Byrne (Grand Rapids, MN) won the Youth titles.

Leif Nordgren, who won the Bronze Medal in the Youth Pursuit at the Youth/Junior World Championships, won the Youth 7.5K Sprint handily today. Nordgren had one standing penalty on his way to a time of 20:11. He was 1:47 ahead Michael Gibson (Stowe, VT), who had four penalties and Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN) with six penalties who tied for second place.

Local athlete Addie Byrne won the Youth Womens 6K Sprint in 20:10. Byrne had three penalties. She led two of her teammates from the Youth/ Junior World Championships Team across the line. Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) with five penalties, finished 43 seconds back, while Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME) with three penalties finished 53 seconds back.

Pursuit competitions in all divisions are on Fridays program, with competitions starting at 11 AM CDT.

The US Biathlon website has an RSS feed, available by clicking the RSS logo on our homepage to get the address and all of the latest biathlon news.

Source: USBA

Coaches Around the Country: Chad Salmela

Published: Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:00 AM MST

Chad is head ski coach for the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota.

1. Skiing Background?

I grew up on the Iron Range of Minnesota, and as a 100% Finnish kid, we obviously skied. I was chubby and didnt like it all that much, but my older brother Cory ate it up. When I was 13, the State of Minnesota used tax money from the decades of iron mining to build a world class ski area to boost tourism. It was Giants Ridge. My immediate access to guys like Peter Graves, Gary Larson, and the US Ski and Biathlon Teams training and racing there regularly, got me into ski racing. I began to train, trim down, and got better every year.

I didnt race high school. My high school wouldnt allow me to compete even as an individual, but I was competitive with the best kids in the state and Peter Graves introduced us to USSA races. I was decent, but never did better than 11th at JOs. I might have as a JI when JOs were at Giants Ridge and I was busting out a great season, but I got a little flu going into the JOs and my dreams of being a JOs star pretty much got dashed that year. I committed to training with the U.S. Biathlon Team the next season so I never went back. I just remember Kevin Brockman (on the USST at the time) telling me that he wasnt all that great in high school and dont let one missed opportunity to kick ass at JOs bring you down. I doubt Kevin realizes it, but that has stuck with me through the years, and while state meets and JOs are great, fun, and exciting, I think its important for kids to realize that it is not the end-all, both if youve done well there or poorly.

I went on to do biathlon when the sport really took a professional direction in this country. The USBA hired on some successful European coaches with Walter Pichler (West Germany) and Algis Shalna (Soviet Union/Lithuania), who were both medalists in the 1984 Olympics. I was kind of just off the radar of the top skiers my age in the country like Pete Vordenberg, Marcus Nash, and that generation. I really realized that I wasnt going to get a look at international competition in straight skiing, and even though I skied classic technically well, I was a way stronger skater. When I got access to coaches like Walter and Algis, it was a no-brainer for me to go when I got the invitation to Colorado Springs that year. I even skipped my high school graduation to go to that camp.

I thought I was more talented than I probably was, which tells you something about the power of belief in yourself. Knowing what I know today, I have to say I was marginally talented to expect to get on the world stage. I worked really, really hard, but was careful, got some great coaching at a critical time in my own developmentthough I have to say it pales by comparison to whats going on today in skiing in this countryand I think I maximized what I had with what I had access to in support and knowledge and timing. I competed at the World Championships in biathlon once and on the World Cup for three seasons. I was not a natural shot, but I loved the challenge of the sport. After a very disappointing final race at the 1998 Olympic Trials, I finished out the season and quit at age 26. I still think about whether I should have gone on to try for Salt Lake because my shooting was just getting consistent, but I think I saw some writing on the wall, and I saw a huge amount of talent coming up the pipeline with Jay Hakkinen, Jeremy Teela, and Sam Cordell, and I just decided to get out of the way and get them the resources they needed to go to the real-deal level I knew they could reach. I helped coach the national team the following year, working on the teams skating technique and improving the access to quality equipment through better relationships with the ski industry. I also went to finish my degree at Middlebury College and semi-skied for the team. I have continued to be involved with the US Biathlon program at some level ever since, including coaching a junior development crew of skiers trying to become biathletes in 2000, working as sport manager at the 2002 Olympics for the biathlon competitions, and serving as the athlete representative at the USBA Board of Directors and at the U.S. Olympic Committee for the last 8 years.

2. You've been involved in both biathlon and regular nordic skiing for quite some time. What differences, similarities, or trends have you noticed in the last few years?

What excites me about both sports in this countryand Id include Nordic Combined in here as wellis that for the first time in my life, we are seeing a concerted effort. We still see blogs and chat rooms going off about how skiing is dysfunctional, and this and that, but it is really quite good these days. I coach distance running too (at St. Scholastica), and have for a number of years, and Ive got to say that across the board, the wealth of training information has improved a ton in the last decade in skiing by comparison, and it makes distance running look backwater in use of exercise physiology knowledge and application to training. I think across the board, its an exciting time for Nordic ski sport in this country.

Nationally, the clear fundamental difference between cross country and biathlon is the organization. The USBA is and always has been a small, agile organization. It has been known to be equally as political, if not more so, than the USSA cross country scene, but the size of the USBA allows greater mobility to change quickly. I was at my wits end with the organization two years ago and ready to turn awaynot because of the athletes, but because of clear barriers to international success at the bureaucratic level. I felt I was wasting my time, and I thought the organization was snuffing out the efforts of the best people involved. But some key changes that those of us still working in the organization fought to make happen over the past couple of years have finally come to fruition, and Ive never been more excited nor proud of the organization than I am right now. The USBA still has some challenges in infrastructure, just like the USSA, but we have an incredibly strong board of directors, an incredible staff in place, and weve got world class talent on our roster. I see the same thing happening with the USSA and USST, but I think with an organization this size, it has been even harder and taken longer to make it happen, so to see what the USST is doing is simply amazing and inspiring considering the size and the numbers of the cross country constituency. I think the coaching community in skiing has never been more positive and pulling in the same direction. I dont know the inner workings of how it came about, but I think that you have to applaud Luke Bodensteiner at the helm because hes making it happen, and it has to start with him. Hes the conduit up and down the organization and it takes time, but hes done it and continues to do it. I think the organizations are doing similar things to have created a trend of success on the international stage, and both sports are intertwined by nature, despite having different national governing bodies. The US Biathlon Team will only ever be as good as the US skiing community is strong.

Internationally, biathlon is simply a phenomenon, and the trend continues. I just came back from the Biathlon World Championships in Oestersund, Sweden, where the daily crowd totals, even on weekdays, exceeded 20,000. TV viewership is still through the roof. I dont think anyone in the late 80s to mid 90s could have predicted how biathlon would grow in Europe, but it is really awesome to go see that environment. I believe the fundamental differences from a 1000-foot view of the two sports on the European continent where both are inarguably seated culturally, competitively, and financially, is that the IBU made a few critical and lucky changes to formats in 1996, that have changed the sport forever for the better. The head-to-head formats, which got their impetus from the Gunderson starts in Nordic Combined, made the sport not only more exciting for the athletes, but infinitely more user friendly for television viewers.

The FIS has clearly tried to follow biathlon down the format road with running pursuits, mass starts, and sprints, but still struggle for the kind of presence biathlon has. Regardless of how you feel about those events, they are quite critical to the cultural, and by proxy, the financial success of the sport in the marketplace. Unfortunately for skiing, it is just not by nature as dramatic on television as biathlon inherently is. Biathlon is a stadium sport, in reality, and the centralized shooting range within the story line makes it extremely spectator-friendly while creating a non-linear storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is quite literally the equivalent of NASCAR because of NASCARs unpredictable nature. If you look at the fan base of biathlon, it is not a particularly active or Nordic skiing crowd. These are sports fans getting into biathlon, not skiers. I think the draw to cross country is simply harder to make for the sports fan. What the FIS has to do for equal footing? I dont know. It may not be able to. But from my experience I feel the IBU is better organized and more forward thinking than FIS on the whole. They are much more media savvy. Just compare their websites and you can see the difference. I think FIS can improve on how it packages and markets the sport for the masses.

3. You are in your 2nd year as head coach of College of St. Scholastica. Can you bring us up to speed with the new program?

My program has incredible support from the college and were in a town that simply SHOULD have a collegiate ski program. Duluth is a great place to live if your active in the outdoors, and it is a huge Nordic skiing center in numbers of skiers and ski trails. The school is really going for it in trying to become a nationally viable NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletics program. We have a strong budget and a great group of kids. Our program is a place where kids who want to ski race in college can ski race in college, while our focus is still to be nationally competitive. I have an incredible staff with Brad Nelson, an NCSA standout in the early 90s at Northern Michigan, and Scott and Sara Kylander-Johnson. Sara went to junior worlds in cross country in 1992 and was an NCAA All-American for NMU that same year, while Scott is an outstanding mountain biker with a decade of coaching high school kids at both running and skiing. We also get some volunteer help from Andre Watt from the CXC team. We have a varsity travelling team that is fully funded for CCSA competitions, and a development team for those beyond the varsity spots. Weve been really competitive in our second year, and Bjorn Bakken will be representing us at the NCAA Championships in Bozeman. We also narrowly missed a second qualifier in Tyler Kjorstad. Both are Duluth boys, and its really fun to be mixing it up with guys from right here in Northern Minnesota. Bjorn, who is trying to buff out his classic coming from biathlon, is skiing really fast in freestyle and its fun to see him skiing faster than he ever has. Im continuing to talk to more kids around the Midwest and across the country about the program, and I think weve got a great head of steam going into next season. Anyone interested in researching our program can go to www.csssaints.com

4. Announcing! Your voice is pretty common at big skis races, the Mora, olympics ski races, etc. Why not make a career out of announcing?

Yeah, thats a good one! I like announcing. I think it is critical to bringing excitement to the sport, but you really cant make a living at it. I think ski races need announcing to make them more excitingespecially sprint races in cities. But between doing PA announcing at events and TV on cable, I simply cant scratch enough of a living out of it. I think if I was a native German speaker living in Germany, I could for sure. I have been encouraged by the producer of most of our domestic biathlon broadcasts to seek more off-season employment in other sports to cross over, and with WCSN now broadcasting a lot of the sports I know and follow, thats a possibility, but its also a really tough lifestyle. Lots of travel. I announced with Bob Papa for 3 seasons on OLN, and he is the New York Giants radio voice and did a lot of work with ESPN and now more and more with NBC, makes a very good living, but he has worked for many years to get there, and he is GOOD! But he has been known to be on the road 40+ weekends a year. I just dont know if Im cut out for that. Ive also always seen myself as a coach for some reason. I like my current job and my boss has been very flexible in allowing me to do some announcing when it doesnt affect my teams, so it a nice balance right now.

5. You are an ideas kind of person. (a good thing!). What's been digging at you this recent ski season? Or, any wild ideas?

Well, the block intensity training that is going on is interesting. I dont think there is any doubt it is workingfor some very talented, tough athletes. I look at Kalla, Bjoergen, Scott, Demong, Burketheyve all raised their level, reportedly from the block intensity programs. I know Pete and Matt are doing this at the USST, or at least working towards it. The one thing that seems consistent to me is that it is working to varied degrees on individuals within teams trying to make it work. One thing I wonder, however, is the longevity of it, and if it works, is longevity beyond age 25 even something to worry about? From what I can piece together 2nd and 3rd hand is that Becky Scott cranked on it at the twilight of her career, and I doubt shed ever reconsider what she did. Bjoergen is an interesting case. You have to wonder about the bouts of sickness after several years of this type of training. I know its working for Tim Burke. No doubt. Hes in his second year and had an exhaustion phase in December and January, but when he rested and came back, he was still at the same level in Oestersund.

What these skiers are doing now makes the training from my day look like childs play. But what has been digging at me as a coach is the when, the how, and the how much, especially at different levels of athletes. Hard training is nothing new, and I think you can look at a lot of successful high school or college distance running programs and see some seriously hard training regimens. But the aftermath of them clearly something we tend not to address enough. I think of Adam Goucher (talented US runner) post Univ. Colorado for example. He has struggled. Theres no doubt what he did as a college athlete was massively intense, and it probably worked for those college years, but was it the right thing at 20, 21, 22 for international success post-college? Was it structured and monitored enough to ensure world class competitiveness after college? I think these are interesting things to ponder for which I have no concrete answers, but I have thought a lot about and have some hunches.

I believe the block training is the future for world class skiers, because it is so clearly working, and it is working in the current fashion because of scientific study, greater experiences of coaches, and more means to monitoring training adaptations. It is not gut feel training anymore. It is planned; WELL-planned, well-executed, and well-monitored training. As a coach of college skiers with college schedules and stresses, the spinning going on in my mind is how to effectively use these Max VO2-increasing techniques without destroying the overall physical health of young athletes, developing them into healthy post-collegiate ski racers. I think it can be done, but for someone with world class talent, I dont know if you can keep up with what non-college skiers are doing across the pond. It really doesnt affect me right now at St. Scholastica and it may never, but I think it is a question burning a hole in the role of college skiing as an international development tool for the United States. Winning internationallycan we keep up in college? I think it is a burning hole that affects very few, highly talented individuals though. Overall, I think college skiing is awesome and one of the best circuits of supported ski racing for this age group in the world, and I love coaching at this level. Im just trying to get a handle on what I can do with this block intensity training model with my athletes. Im spinning on it

Regardless, many of us in the coaching community need to be having more conversations with the coaches who are doing the training and having success, or who hare having problems so we can learn from their experiences. We will likely never get a scientific breakdown of long-term training effect over the course of athletes careers, so its all experience and hunches anyway peppered with studies done in a flash of what is reality. Regardless, I think I could use more coaches education, probably like many of us out there working with athletes.

I think I have a handle on my role as a college coach, and I like it, but I still think about it on a greater scale beyond my job. Other than that and block training, I dont have a lot of wild ideas beyond starting a rock band at the end of the season.

6. Predictions for nordic overall World Cup champion, men and women.

Honestly, I wish I was tighter on the data on this question, but I like Lukas Bauer, and I think hell do it on the mens side. I think Petter Northug is cool and good for the sport. I like his brash style and the way he races with abandon. I think hell be the next big star. I also like Anders Soedergren. Skis kind of funny-looking with his head cocked back, but I think hes fun to watch ski. Newell is good for the sport, not just the US. I like how he is skiing classic sprints so technically sound and looking towards the future. I watched the classic sprint from Otepaa while in Oestersund, and while it wasnt Andys best race, you could see that the USST is on the cutting edge of sprint training, so I predict more success for the US in sprinting.

On the womens side, I sincerely hope Kalla takes down Kuitunen. My wife is Finnish and we spent Christmas in Finland, and I can tell you the nation is embarrassed by their cross country skiers, yet Kuitunen still was Finnish Sportswoman of the Year last year. Go figure? Whether clean or not, Kuitunen hasnt been before, and thats enough to have me rooting for Kalla.

7. You just recently were married! Congrats!

Yeah, its been a long time coming! Happened quickly. We have lived semi parallel lives but in different sports. Shes a hockey player, but skis really pretty well because she spent time on skis as a kid in Finland. Im trying to get her to ski the Korteloppet this weekend and truly indoctrinate her with the Birkie Fever (I like to say it with a deadpan, monotone Finnish accent that really drives her crazy).

8. How 'bout this recent surge in biathlon results in the last few years? (especially men's results?..burke, lowell, teela, jay, etc….)

I think the US mens team is very strong with talent. Burke has really come on and I think its the training. My brother coached both Tim and Lowell as juniors, and he always saw these guys eventually at the top. Jay and Jeremy have both had solid international results, and we have a team that I think has the potential to go toe-to-toe with the best in the world, and theyve been showing it already. They are a bit of a buzz over on the scene in Europe, which is really fun to see. I think they will be dialed for Vancouver.

9. Anything else you'd like to add?

I think we are all experiencing a true Renaissance in Nordic skiing in this country. Kikkan won this year. Newell number one last year on the FIS sprint points. Demong is one of the best in the world. Burke and Hakkinen have both been in the top ten multiple times this season in biathlon. This stuff doesnt just happen. Its too hard for it to just happen. It comes from planning, serious, professional approaches to success on the international level that bleeds across the community with each effort each of us makes. Looking at the results from US Nationals, the womens field is incredibly stronger than just a few years ago, and regardless of some views, the USST quite simply is performing consistently better than almost any time in its history. Im excited to be a part of this community. I think it is a great group of people and there is no reason for us to be divided. Its good to be competitive with our programs within the US community, but not to the detriment of the national good. I think we are as close to that spirit as weve ever been in my lifetime, and I hope cynics will get on board and be part of the excitement rather than try to punch holes in it.

Burke, Hakkinen Lead US Team for Biathlon World Championships

Published: Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:00 AM MST

Ostersund, Sweden. The ten-person US Biathlon Team, combining experience and youth, opens competition on Saturday in this city of 60,000, situated on the shore of Lake Storsjn in west central Sweden.

US Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb commented on the diverse nature of this years team, This team represents a great mix of youth and experience; two junior athletes are on the team, while three of the five men have had top ten performances at the World Championships in previous years.
Topping the US roster are two Top 10 finishers from 2007: Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), seventh in the Individual competition at the World Championships and Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), who finished ninth in the Mass Start at those same Championships. Hakkinen and Burke are currently ranked 34th and 41st in the Overall World Cup rankings. After an early fast start, with top 15 finishes in the Kontiolahti World Cup, and a December slump, due to illness, both have recently come back with excellent results. Hakkinen had a 17th place in the Sprint and 16th in the Pursuit at Ruhpolding. Burke placed 26th in the Antholz Sprint and came back with 17th in the Pursuit. With these results, Burke and Hakkinen, as well as Bailey expect to vie for top positions in Ostersund.

Joining these two on the mens team are Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) and Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK). Teela had top 10 finishes in the Sprint competition at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships. These two, along with Hakkinen and Burke comprise the mens relay, which placed 8th at Ruhpolding and hopes to have a top six finish here in Ostersund. Bailey had two top 30 finishes at Ruhpolding as well as an outstanding relay leg there. Teelas ski speed in the final meters at Ruhpolding gave the US the eighth place finish in a photo finish with the Czech Republic.

Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME), added this week after the Youth/Junior World Championships, boosts the mens team to five. Currier had three top 20 finishes last week in Ruhpolding, Germany. He will start in at least one competition here.

The US Team finished their pre-World Championships training camp today and Coach Mikael Lofgren commented, We had a really good training camp. Conditions were perfect. Jay, Tim, and Lowell looked very good throughout training.

Cobb feels the experienced mens team could provide some thrills in Ostersund, The team suffered some illness this season but is back on track now. I think they will have some Top 10 results, while I also think they have a chance to finish in the top six in the relay, which would be a huge stride for his group.

As with the mens team, five women will compete in Ostersund. This group includes Lanny and Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO), Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY) and Laura Spector (Lenox, MA). The Barnes sisters, among the most consistent performers on the shooting range in biathlon, are veterans of several seasons on the World Cup circuit and numerous World Championships. However, the other women are all World Championships rookies. Compton, as the US 5K cross-country champion is the fastest woman on skis in the US, but in just her first year of biathlon competition. Johnson, a veteran of several seasons in the Europa Cup circuit recently placed 12th in the Sprint at Osrblie, Slovakia.

Spector is a junior competitor, who competed in the Youth/Junior World Championships last week. She had three top 25 results there including 20th in the Sprint. Like Currier, Spector will start in at least one competition at these Championships.

On the relatively inexperienced womens team, Cobb added, This is a rebuilding year for the womens team with three women on the World Championships Team for the first time. Together, these three represent the broad spectrum of development programs in the country; Laura from Dartmouth College is on the Junior National team, while also training at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent. Haley recommitted herself to biathlon after college and has trained with the development team for several years, while Caitlin, began biathlon in May and has made excellent progress.

Beyond the US Team, the 2008 Biathlon World Championships should provide plenty of action for biathlon fans. On the mens side, the king of biathlon, Norways Ole Einar Bjrndalen, who competed in cross-country and biathlon in recent seasons, is fully committed to biathlon this year, which is bad for any other man who steps on the starting line. Bjrndalen has devastating ski speed and when on can shoot with anyone in the World. He has 80 World Cup victories and is aiming for the all-time record of 86. He could get closer with several wins here.

Besides the venerable Norwegian, Michael Greis of Germany is probably his number one rival. Greis, a 2006 multiple Olympic Gold medalist, had rounded into form recently including two wins in the Ruhpolding World Cup.

The hometown Swedish team has been building towards these Championships for four years, and now has a strong core of men including Bjorn Ferry and Carl Johan Bergmann, as well as Olympic Champion Anna Carin Olofsson on the womens team. Swedens Head Coach Staffan Eklund commented on the Swedish prospects, Realistically not thinking about Gold medals, I think we can make three medals here. That is the goal.

The womens competitions in Ostersund will have one underlying theme, the German women. The German womens team has dominated the season so far. They are unbeaten in relays, using several different line-ups. At the same time, the current overall World Cup rankings looks like this: Kati Wilhelm and Andrea Henkel, first and second; Magdalena Neuner and Martina Glagow, fourth and fifth; Sabrina Buchholz and Simone Denkinger, twelfth and thirteenth, while Katrin Hitzer sits in seventeenth position. Russia and Sweden (Olofsson in sixth) with three and two respectively are the only teams with more than one woman in the top twenty rankings.

Olympic Gold medalist Wilhelm and the new golden girl of German biathlon, Magdalena Neuner are good best for victories here in Ostersund. Beyond the Germans, several young Russians including Svetlana Sleptsova and Ekaterina Iourieva will offer serious challenges to the Germans. Norwegian Tora Berger could also be in the race for Gold as thousands of fans from nearby Norway are expected here to cheer for her and Bjrndalen.

Ostersund, a long time World Cup venue and host of the 1970 Biathlon World Championships has pulled out all stops for the 2008 Biathlon World Championships.

They have taken a relatively small stadium with a capacity of less than 2000 and rebuilt it into a modern facility with capacity for 11,000 spectators. In addition, the stadium now boasts permanent lighting capable of fully supporting nighttime television transmissions (the Mens and Womens Individual competitions will begin at 17:15 CET). The whole facility is supported by the most modern data networks, a new competition building, new permanent wax cabins, and reconfigured trails. The organizers have transformed a park on the lake in the center of the city into The Winterpark, which will host the opening and awards ceremonies as well as Vinterfestivalen, the Winter Festival, with daily activities, local food, and entertainment.

Somewhere in between all of the competitions and fun, the International Biathlon Union will celebrate 50 years of biathlon during the week, as the first Biathlon World Championships were held in 1958 in Saalfelden, Austria with the first World Champion, Adolf Wiklund from appropriately, Sweden. The IBU will host a gala dinner with many stars from the past and present attending and provide those in attendance a brand-new 350-page book Fifty Years of Biathlon, A Success Story.

The parties (and competitions) begin with the Opening Ceremonies on Friday February 8, followed by Sprint competitions on Saturday and Pursuit competitions on Sunday.

From February 8-17, Ostersund, Sweden is the place to be if you are a winter sports fan!

Live streaming video coverage of the Biathlon World Championships as well as Biathlon World Cup competitions for the remainder of the season, and archived highlights, are available by clicking the athlete photo at the top of the news column at www.usbiathlon.org.

Source: USBA

World Championship banner (Courtesy of USBA)

Stadium and banner (Courtesy of USBA)

Ostersund view from Gustavsbergsbacken (Courtesy of Ostersund Tourism)

Guess what it is doing here (Courtesy of USBA)

Russell Currier Named to World Championships Team

Published: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:00 AM MST

New Gloucester, ME. The International Competition Committee of the US Biathlon Association named Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) to fill the remaining spot on the US Team for the Biathlon World Championships, which open this Friday in Ostersund, Sweden.

For the past week, Currier, from the Maine Winter Sports Center has been competing in the Youth/Junior Biathlon World Championships in Ruhpolding, Germany. In those Championships, Currier placed 15th in the Sprint, 20th in the Pursuit, and 15th in the Individual while also contributing a strong leg on the US relay team that finished in ninth place. All of these were personal bests for Currier at World Juniors.

“All of us involved in the Maine Winter Sports Center, from our trustees to our coaches and staff, are incredibly proud of Russell today,” said Andy Shepard, President of Maine Winter Sports Center. “Russell is the first Aroostook County athlete to make it all the way through our programs to a Senior World Championships but he won't be the last.”

US Biathlon Executive Director added, “It's wonderful to see junior athletes on our World Championship Team. Personally, it is very satisfying to see Russell achieve this milestone since I remember the day he began biathlon. The Maine Winter Sports Center program can be very proud of all Russell has accomplished.”

Currier joins Laura Spector (Lenox, MA), also a junior athlete from the MWSC, on the World Championships Team.

Previously announced World Championships Team members are: Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK), Lanny and Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO), Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY) and Spector.

Live streaming video coverage of all of the competitions at the Youth and Junior World Championships competitions as well as archived highlights of the World Cup season, is available by clicking the athlete photo at the top of the news column at www.usbiathlon.org.

Nordgren Top 10 Again, Currier 15th at Junior Biathlon World Champs

Published: Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:00 AM MST

Ruhpolding, Germany, January 29. Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix MN), just 48 hours from a Bronze Medal in the Pursuit competition on Sunday, today finished 10th in the 12.5K Youth Individual competition, while Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) finished 15th in the Junior 15k Individual at the Youth/Junior Biathlon World Championships here.

Ethan Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT) with just one penalty in the four-stage competition joined Nordgren in the top 20 finishers.

Nordgren with three penalties, finished 3:01.6 back, while Dreissigacker was 4:02.6 behind the now triple medalist at these Championships, Ludwig Ehrhart of France (one penalty), who won in 38:24.6. Ehrhart won Bronze in the Sprint, Gold in the Pursuit, and now Gold in the Individual. Manuel Muller of Germany, with two penalties was 1:10.4 back while Ehrharts teammate Mathieu Souchal, with one penalty took third, 1:22.9 back.

On a perfect shooting day with not a cloud in sight and the wind flags barely moving, Nordgrens three penalties were one too many, thus keeping him out of the top eight finishers.

He explained, The first prone shot was clearly a miss, but I should have not missed the one in the second prone stage. That was the difference. Today, I saved too much for the last loop. Going into the final standing stage, Nordgren was in 27th position, after single penalties in each of the first three stages. He shot clean in the final stage, catapulting him to 11th position. With a fast last 2.5K, he moved into 10th place by the finish.

Despite not making the top eight, Nordgren was still smiling, Three places in the top 10 is pretty good. I was a little bit tired today, as I have a bit of a cold.

Although a top finish by Nordgren was expected, Dreissigacker simply overachieved today. Before the competition, when asked about his experience here, he commented, It is really inspiring. That inspiration must have helped as he had only one penalty today. That single penalty tied him for top shooting honors with Ehrhart and Souchal in the field of 103 competitors.

The 17-year old shot clean in the first two stages then missed one in the second prone stage, before cleaning the final standing stage. After the two clean stages, Dreissigacker was in eighth position. I felt really relaxed out there today, he said at the finish line. Knowing he had one of the top shooting performances, the television cameras followed Dreissigacker on this final 2.5K loop. At the top of the Wall, his faced etched with pain, showed the effort as he struggled to crest the tough hill at 11.9K. When told how he looked on camera, he commented, I think I felt worse. I was so tired I lost a pole.

Preston Butler (Marion, MA) and Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN) did not have as good of days on the shooting range as Nordgren and Dreissigacker. Butler, with seven penalties finished 11:17.4 back while Goessling had 11penalties, finishing 15:49.9 back.

In the Junior Mens 15K Individual, Russell Currier overcame three penalties in the first two stages to finished 15th, 3:31 behind Jean Guillame Beatrix of France. After missing those three shots, Currier was mired back near 50th position. He then shot clean in the second prone stage, moving up to 28th position. In the final standing stage, he again cleaned, leaving the shooting range in 16th position. With his aggressive skiing style, Currier pulled himself up to 15th place at the finish completing an outstanding turnaround. Wit that 15th place, he matched his personal best which came in Saturdays 10K Sprint.

The Maine Winter Sports Center athlete talked about his day, as he pulled on dry clothes in the finish area, My first prone misses were low, and I got some corrections that helped in the second prone. I did not want to give up after the three penalties today. Therefore, I just forgot about those stages and started over in the final two stages. My shooting has been improving since early January. Gary (Colliander) and I sat down then to see what was going wrong. He suggested some changes with the size of my aperture (on the sight). That made a huge difference and my shooting improved right away, especially in standing.

Yesterday temperatures reached plus 10 Celsius leaving the tracks soft and deep. However, it stayed near freezing today, making for fast icy skiing. For some athletes, this was helpful, but no Currier. He explained, This was not my best day skiing. These are not the best conditions for me, although they overall they were the best of the week. I like it when the conditions are soft, like yesterday. I am definitely a strength skier.

A video interview with Currier follows.

With the 15th today, Currier now has three top 20 finishes here, second on the team to Nordgrens three top 10 finishes.

Rounding out the first three finishers in the Junior 15K Individual was Anton Shipulin of Russia in second, only six-tenths of a second behind Beatrix. Shipulin had two penalties, while his teammate Dmitri Blinov, with one penalty finished 32.5 seconds back. He edged the only athlete to shoot clean today, Nik Langer of Germany by 9.8 seconds.

Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN), finished 42nd with five penalties, 5:52.9 back today while Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) was in 62nd with eight penalties, 8:20.8 back.

The next competitions here will be the Youth and Junior Womens Individual on Wednesday.
Live streaming video coverage of all of the competitions at the Youth and Junior World Championships competitions as well as archived highlights of the World Cup season, is available by clicking the athlete photo at the top of the news column at www.usbiathlon.org .

Russell Currier

Leif Nordgren with his parents

Laura Spector Gets a Double Dip of Biathlon World Championships

Published: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:12 AM MST

Ruhpolding, Germany, January 24. Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) is in a unique situation. She will compete in the Youth and Junior Biathlon World Championships that open here Saturday and then compete in the Biathlon World Championships just one week later in Ostersund, Sweden.

This will be only the second time (first was Ntala Skinner in 1993) that a junior level woman from the US has qualified for the senior Championships. Making the team for Ostersund was, not planned or expected, according to Spector. I knew after I did well at the North American Cups in November and December that it was a possibility and I could not let up in the deciding Europa Cup competition in Langdorf, Germany. In the end, making the team was a nice surprise.

The 20-year-old Spector is a veteran of three previous Youth and Junior Championships, with her best result being a ninth place finish in the Youth Sprint in 2006. At the same time, she is inexperienced at the next (World Cup) level. In fact, her two competitions at Langdorf were only her second Europa Cup experience. Accordingly, she views the Ostersund competitions as a big stepping stone, in her biathlon career.

Spector talks briefly about making the team for both the Youth and Junior World Championships and the senior Championships in the following video.

Now, she is focusing on the Youth and Junior Championships, where she will compete in the Sprint/Pursuit this weekend as well as the Individual and Relay competitions next week.

Qualifying for both teams puts Spectors biathlon career into fast forward. To reach this new level of competitiveness, she stepped back from her studies at Dartmouth, where she plans to major in biology, focusing on genetics. She explains, Last year, I was taking a full course load and competing, but was not at my best (her top result was 42nd in the Individual at World Juniors). It was hard to train and go to school full-time. The big thing was lack of recovery, as I was up late studying and in the afternoon instead of taking a nap for recovery, I was doing school work.

This year, she skipped both the fall and winter terms, to train and race. She said her parents have been very supportive in her decision. They never push me, but want me to be happy and successful in whatever I do.

Spector does see a correlation between full-time education and being a full-time athlete. Both school and biathlon force you to be well organized, and focused. At the same time, you have to apply both yourself and your mind (to what you are doing).

With the Youth and Junior World championships just two days away, Junior National Coach Vladimir Cervenka is happy to see Spector competing at higher level. We always knew Laura could ski fast, he commented, but now her shooting is much better.

Spector, who trained at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, attributes her improved shooting to a lot of slow-fire accuracy shooting in the summer, which broke my shooting back down to the basics. Once I had more confidence, we added the intensity.

As in education, Spector and her US teammates are just two days away from exam time in the Chiemgau Arena in Ruhpolding. The Youth and Junior Biathlon World Championships open with the Sprint competitions for both men and women on that day. Even though she will focus on achieving a top 15 finish here, it will be hard for Laura Spector not to dream a bit about also competing in Ostersund against all of the stars of biathlon.

Live streaming video coverage of all of the competitions at the Youth and Junior World Championships competitions as well as archived highlights of the World Cup season, is available by clicking the athlete photo at the top of the news column at www.usbiathlon.org.

Source: USBA