CANMORE – In one of the most important competitions of the season, local biathlete Karly Coyne could be living by the gun, or dying by the gun, on the course.
The all important selection races to determine which biathletes go to Junior World Championships are happening Dec. 12, 14-15 at the Canmore Nordic Centre and the prospect of competing overseas is in sight for Canmore's ski-shooters.
On the strength of back-to-back top five performances at the Calforex Cup/NorAm #1 races from Nov. 30-Dec. 1, Canmore’s Coyne is aiming to qualify for the championships next month in Switzerland. However, she admits her target accuracy could be better leading into the races, after she shot a rough three for 10 in her previous competition.
“I was looking to practise for trials and I hoped for better performances on the shooting range, which would have given me a boost,” she said. “I think I have to bring in a high level of focus for the shooting range on the mental side and remember the preparation I did this summer.”
Like a gunslinger of the old west, Coyne worked tirelessly in the off-season on improving her shooting speed on the range, which also included “dry firing” in her living room. It's an important aspect of biathlon, because each missed shot of the five targets sends a biathlete into the penalty loop, which adds unwanted seconds to the overall time. There is a bit of wiggle room, as the biathletes' best two of three races are used to determine overall scores.
The last time pressure like this was on 19-year-old Coyne was almost a year ago to the day, when she raced and qualified for the 2019 Canada Winter Games. Coyne went on to win bronze in the youth women’s 10-kilometre race.
So far this season, Coyne's been pleased with her skiing, which she said is strong, so a trip to junior worlds will likely come down to the range for the hopeful sharpshooter.
“Going into trials, I definitely need to improve my times and get more ready for that,” she said.
Coyne, however, isn’t the only local biathlete thinking about the world this week.
Canmore Nordic skier Hannah Skelton is looking to crack the international scene and she even changed up her scenery and team this season to prove she belongs.
“I decided that if I wanted to push myself to achieve my goal of racing internationally, I would have to make a change in the way I trained,” Skelton wrote in an email. “For me, this meant moving to Canmore and joining a high performance development team.”
The Clearview, Ont. product has been pushing herself in training in the Rockies with Team RAD while keeping her goals in mind and celebrating small victories along the way.
"Each small victory will inevitably lead to fulfilling a goal, no matter how many small victories it may take," She wrote. "Set backs are bound to happen, but I find as long as I own it, learn from it and move on, then it will not keep me from accomplishing my goal."
