International sharpshooters shot up Canmore last week with primacy not seen on the snowy Nordic ski trails in nearly three decades.
And as the international field lined up the targets, Canada shot back.
The BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon attracted over 22,000 spectators to the Canmore Nordic Centre from Feb. 4-7 to watch 22 nations compete in the sport that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting.
Canadian biathletes saw individual breakout performances, top mixed relay showings and perhaps a farewell to one of the trailblazers of the sport in Canada.
Some Canadian biathletes were in their element while enjoying the comforts of home, while for others it was a completely new experience to have this level of competition at home – and everything that came with it.
Having to balance high-stakes pressure, hometown distractions and media obligations over the four-day competition in their own backyard was challenging, but Eric de Nys, Biathlon Canada’s high performance coach, said Canadians handled it extremely well.
“Especially the young athletes, they did a fantastic job of balancing everything,” said de Nys.
A mix of youth and veteran grit made up the nine-person mixed roster of Canadian biathletes.
Canada’s Megan Tandy was on the Biathlon Canada roster, but suffered an arm injury a few days before the world cup and did not compete.
Coach de Nys said the “fantastic” week of racing helped to develop the depth of the maturing team.
“Some of our veteran skiers, they struggled a little bit, but the young guys then stepped up to the plate and really showed that we have some depth coming up the pipe and I think it’s going to be a fantastic future for Biathlon Canada,” said de Nys.
After the races, the team’s women biathletes spoke to mentorship and looking up to 16-year biathlon member Zina Kocher.
Kocher will likely retire from the sport later this year.
“I really think she has done a fantastic job for Biathlon Canada and being that mentor and being that role model,” said de Nys. “Now we’ve kind of transitioned to some these younger athletes like Julia (Ransom) and Sarah (Beaudry) … if you think of it in that way, (Kocher’s) done her job and I think that’s a beautiful way for her to go out.”
Kocher, a three-time Olympian, has lived in Canmore for 15 years and was glad to have competed at home “even if it didn’t mean a podium or top 10” finish.
“I really wanted to compete at home and glad I achieved that goal,” said a teary-eyed Kocher. “After Sochi, I had ideas about what I wanted to do, but I was actually a bit scared about what I really wanted to do, so I needed these two years to go through that process.”
Kocher will go to Presque Isle, Maine for a shot at the last spot on the world cup team.
DAY 1 – Canmore’s Davies cracks top 25
Four Canadian biathletes finished in the top 40 of the men’s 10-kilometre sprint on the opening day of the BMW IBU world cup biathlon, Thursday (Feb. 4).
Canadians were given a heroes welcome by the home crowd cheering and waving flags from the stands at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Perhaps the biggest pop went to Canmore’s own Macx Davies, 23, who was the top Canadian on the day, placing 25th (25:37.2; 10/10).
Nathan Smith placed 31st (25:44.2; 9/10), Scott Gow finished 34th (25.47.0; 9/10), Brendan Green was 40th (26.01.0; 9/10) and Christian Gow placed 61st (26.41.7; 9/10).
Davies was all smiles while speaking with reporters following the race and with perfect shooting on the range, he had every right to be.
“I’m very happy about my shooting,” said Davies. “Skiing, I was hoping for a little bit better, but I was still able to keep pace with most of those guys, so I’m pretty happy with everything today.
“I do my best and (being at home) adds a bit more pressure. I’m really happy I was able to rise to that pressure and do well; sometimes I’ve crumbled under it.”
Multi Olympic gold medalist Martin Fourcade of France added more gold to his trophy case by finishing first overall (23:51.5; 10/10). Anton Shipulin of Russia secured silver (24:07.2; 10/10), and Simon Schempp of Germany earned a bronze finish (24.10.2; 10/10).
DAY 2 – Canuck Ransom breaks out with top 20 finish
Canada’s Ransom, 23, had the race of her career with a 19th-place finish at the world cup on Friday, (Feb. 5).
It was a ”luck of the draw” kind of day on course as wind gusts tormented biathletes in the women’s 7.5 km sprint.
Ransom finished as the top Canadian in 21:15.9 and was the only one on her team to shoot perfectly (10/10) on the range.
Beaudry had a personal best and finished 38th (21:59.2; 9/10), Kocher finished 56th (22:25.1; 5/10) and Rosanna Crawford placed 72nd (23:07.9; 6/10).
Celebrating her 23rd birthday on Feb. 4, maybe the secret ingredient to Ransom’s success was wine and cupcakes the night before the biggest race of her life.
“I was excited, I had all my loved ones here. I had my birthday yesterday so we were able to pop a bottle of wine, have some cake and get some momentum going,” Ransom said.
Ransom commented on the youth movement in Biathlon Canada, which saw 23-year-old Davies (25th) finishing as the top Canadian man in a Feb. 4 sprint.
“We’re a new generation coming through,” said Ransom. “We love to have fun, we joke with everybody; it’s a new team starting to form, not that we don’t love the old guys … it’s just a new generation starting.”
It was a rough day on the course for Canmore’s Crawford, as she battled wind bursts throwing her off, and sickness leading up to the race, but the thought of missing world cups at home wasn’t on the two-time Olympian’s agenda.
“I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to race at home for the world cup, it might never happen for me again,” said Crawford.
Taking home gold was Ukraine’s 2013 sportswoman of the year and Olympic gold medalist Olena Pidhrushna (19:56.9; 10/10). In a silver medal performance was Krystyna Guzik of Poland (20:04.4; 10/10) and the bronze finisher was Italy’s Dorothea Wierer (20:09.3; 9/10).
DAY 3 – Smith earns 16th in mass start
Calgary’s Smith secured a 16th-place finish in Saturday’s (Feb. 6) mass start.
Smith crossed the line at 41:49.2 and shot 17/20 on the range in the men’s 15-km race.
Despite windy conditions on the track, Smith was “pretty happy” with his performance.
“I’m still feeling kind of tired on the skis,” said Smith. “I was picking up some time in the range thankfully, so I could kind of maintain my position in the middle of the pack.”
Smith was the only Canadian competing Saturday due to none of Canada’s women biathletes qualifying for the 12.5 km mass start.
It was a gold medal sweep for the Italians in both mass start races Saturday. The gold medalist in the men’s was Dominik Windisch (40:37.1; 16/20). The silver medalist was Benedikt Doll of Germany (40:41.2; 16/20) and placing in third was Quentin Fillon Maillet of France (40:35.7; 17/20).
Grabbing top honours for the women was Italy’s Wierer, an Olympic bronze medalist (36:50.0; 19/20). The silver medal performance went to France’s Marie Dorin Habert (37:10:8; 19/20), and earning bronze was Gabriela Soukalova of the Czech Republic (37:40:3; 19/20). DAY 4 – Canucks place sixth in mixed relay
Canada’s mixed four-person relay had one of its best results in years on the final day (Feb. 7) of the world cup biathlon.
With clear blue skies and in front of a cheering home crowd at the Canmore Nordic Centre, the Canuck team of Crawford, Beaudry, Davies and Green finished sixth in 1:07:13.1.
“Really, we’re at the point now where we can put any two men and two women together and come away with a top eight, top six performance, so I think we’re really happy to have delivered today,” said Crawford.
“It’s just so much fun going out there with your team, it’s just such a different feeling than an individual race.”
Green anchored the squad and said his teammates had positioned him well for the final stretch despite some jitters.
“(I was) definitely more nervous today than I typically am,” said Green. “I think just because it was the last race of the week in Canmore, the home town crowd is great and so enthusiastic. I was really nervous today, but these guys did a great job and fortunately I was able to handle it well.”
Team Germany earned the gold medal (1:05:38.8), the Italians took home silver (1:06:51.7), and Norway had a bronze medal performance (1:07:02.6).
Earlier in the day, the single mixed relay saw Canucks Smith and Ransom teaming up for the first time. The duo just missed cracking the top 10, finishing 12th at 39:48.7.
