This is it for Canadian biathletes.
This high-level competition, in Canmore’s playground, is where “dreams are made.”
Chilly Canmore welcomes the world this week as the 2016 BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon gets underway in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.
Races start Thursday (Feb. 4) with the men’s sprint at the Canmore Nordic Centre and run to Sunday.
All races are free to watch from the stands and a shuttle service (no parking on site) will be available, so it’s a chance to see biathletes in spandex with guns mounted to their backs, said biathlon standout Rosanna Crawford.
But all jokes aside, being in front of the hometown crowd is “extra special” for the 27-year-old Canmorite.
“It’s a huge step forward for us just having a biathlon race in Canmore,” she said. “Hopefully we can get more people knowledgeable about biathlon.”
The sport combines cross-country skiing and target shooting and it marks Canmore’s first world cup biathlon race since the 1988 Olympics.
With a 27-year absence of the athletic calibre this event showcases comes anticipation from Canmore biathletes like Crawford and Macx Davies to strut their stuff on the hometown course.
Crawford is the top Canadian female and said her little snowy mountain town west of Calgary is where dreams are made.
“I remember standing on the side of the course watching my sister race in the cross-country world cups (in Canmore) back in 2012,” Crawford said. Chandra Crawford won gold that day.
“Hopefully we can inspire some future Olympians out there in the crowd to come out and watch us; I think that will be the main goal.”
Crawford’s world cup races will not come without adversity, though. An off and on again cold since December, and now strep throat, is a concerning factor for her heading into the world cup events.
Crawford says it’s “hard to say where (she’ll) be” out on the course.
“It’s hard to say what will happen,” said Crawford. “It was a huge disappointment to have that leading into my home world cup, which is something I’ll never get to experience again, but I’ll try to do the best I can out there and set some process-orientated goals to ski this track.”
Crawford still plans on taking part in the single mixed relay on Sunday (Feb. 7) with partner and top Canadian male Nathan Smith.
Knowing the track “backwards and forwards” has its advantages and having the seats filled with adoring family, friends and fans will too.
At just 23 years old, Davies says he is looking forward to competing at home and having the luxuries that comes along with it.
“Staying in your own bed, not travelling all the time, not being in a hotel room, you can make your own food, and do whatever you normally do; it’s a lot easier, but still has some challenges,” he said.
“It’s pretty exciting. You don’t even realize it until these big names show up that you only ever see overseas in Europe and all of a sudden it’s like ‘oh, this is happening,’ it’s quite exciting to be home, of course, and that’s like an added bonus to compete.”
On Thursday, the men’s sprint gets underway at 11:15 a.m.; Friday the women’s sprint is at 11:15 a.m. On Saturday at 10 a.m., the men’s mass start begins, and at 11:30 a.m. the women’s mass start takes place. On Sunday, the last day of races begins at 10:10 a.m. for the single mixed relay and at 2 p.m. for the mixed relay.
Tandy breaks arm, replaced by Beaudry
In a freak accident, Team Canada’s Megan Tandy, 27, broke her arm Tuesday (Feb. 2) morning, the week of the Canmore world cup biathlon races. Top Canadian prospect Sarah Beaudry, 21, will replace Tandy for the competition, although Beaudry had been scheduled to compete in the mixed relay on Sunday.
Tandy was jogging in the morning when the accident occurred, said Eric de Nys, high performance director at Biathlon Canada.
He added she would be out for the season – about six to 12 weeks are needed to recover.
