For better of for worse, the Olympic women’s relay race is one the Canadian team will remember for the rest of their lives.
Following a solid leg by Megan Heinicke that had Canada in fourth, Canada entered the last leg 46 seconds behind the Ukraine for first place, and another 15 seconds behind the strong Russians and Norweigans, led by world beater Tora Berger.
Zina Kocher, with the anchor leg for Canada, blasted off the start line like a missile, adrenaline propelling her forward at a tremendous rate. No desire to settle for fourth with a podium finish within grasp.
By the time she entered the range, she had Canada into second place. Exhausted she hit all five prone targets, but needed to use two spares. That dropped Canada back into fourth. Kocher again made up time on the three kilometre ski and entered the range right behind Norway and the Russians.
Kocher hit her first two targets. Her legs wobble. Three missed targets. Reload. Another miss. Reload.
Four more nations are in and out of the range.
Kocher ends up hitting three of five targets, but has lost count of her bullets. She examines her rifle. More time ticks of the clock.
Two penalty laps later, and Canada has fallen back to ninth. Zocher passed Switzerland on her last ski, but collapsed in agony across the line in eighth place.
“I spent myself tryingto catch up on that first lap and I paid for it in standing. I was really struggling to actually stand up,” Kocher said after the race. “I was a little out of it. I lost count of my spare bullets. It’s a hard one to swallow.”
Despite the finish, the Canadian women have much to be proud of. Rosanna Crawford began the day with an impressive leg, keeping Canada within 30 seconds of the lead with one of her best races of the day. Megan Imrie moved the Canadians into fifth spot, 49 seconds off the pace. Heinicke, well rested heading into the race, shot clean to bring Canada within 15 seconds of a bronze medal.
“Megan Heinicke had a fantastic race. Rosanna and I were pretty consistent. We didn’t do what we wanted. All in all it’s a great event. What happens, happens. That’s biathlon,” Imrie said.
The Canadians were disappointed with eighth, but aware it was much, much better than their poor performance in Vancouver 2010.
“We wanted to fight for the bitter end today. We didn’t want to leave anything unturned,” Imrie said. “Ever since France (where Canada finished fourth earlier this season), we knew we could have an excellent result.” Imrie said.
The team has gotten stronger this year, and Kocher said things can only get better.
“It’s a good thing leading forward. Hopefully we can have a stronger team in four hears,” Kocher said. “It was really clicking. Everyone was just trying to keep everyone relaxed. I guess until my leg,” Kocher said.
With Kiev in flames 1,200 kilometres away, Ukraine won the gold medal in what was an emotional win for the team. Russia claimed silver and Norway grabbed the bronze.
