Nathan Smith made history as the first Canadian to win an IBU Cup medal on home soil, winning the 10 km sprint at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Fast on the skies and deadly accurate in the range, Smith left his international competition dead in the water, finishing 33 seconds ahead of his nearest rival with a time of 26:13.4, missing only one target. The IBU Cup is a feeder league for the World Cup, and this is Smith’s first career win on the circuit. His previous best was a bronze medal.
“It’s really nice to do it in Canmore. This is the first big race I’ve done here. I’ve trained here my whole life, so it’s pretty special,” Smith said.
Sergey Klyachin of Russia and Martin Eng of Norway were second and third on the tough course, which throws steep climbs and several skid turns at the racers.
“It’s definitely one of the hardest courses we do,” Smith said.
Even in victory, the soft-spoken Calgary native picked apart his performance. “I was a bit disappointed I missed my last standing shot. I guess I got a bit excited, but overall I’m still happy with it.” Smith said.
The result was another step in what has been a career year for Smith, who will attempt to jump back onto the Canadian World Cup team.
“I’d almost say I trained a little easier so I didn’t get run down. I think I’ll keep with that,” Smith said.
Robin Clegg of Calgary also cracked the top 10, finishing eighth with a time of 27:09.0, missing two targets. Clegg left biathlon in 2010 after the Vancouver Olympics to become a mortgage broker, but came out of retirement for the Canmore races. At 34, he showed very few signs of rust.
“It was fun to race at this level again. I miss it. It brings out a different level in you which you wouldn’t normally do,” Clegg said.
Since retirement, Clegg has entered the odd weekend race, but didn’t appear out of step competing against biathletes 10 years his junior.
“I don’t think they’re too scared of me,” Clegg said.
