VANOC's director of biathlon would have liked to have seen the heavy snow on Sunday about five hours earlier, to give his grooming crew a chance to work under pressure. But overall Max Saenger said last week's IBU Biathlon World Cup events at Whistler Olympic Park were a successful test for 2010.
"We did get a chance to refine how we do stuff," said Saenger. "For example, when we got 15 or 20 centimetres of snow, we got a chance to look at who was on the machines, the path they use to groom the stadium for the setup, figure out where to break in the fences for snowmobiles - really fine tuning this stuff as we go forward.
"We would have liked to have had the snow we had Sunday afternoon about four or five hours earlier, before the competition, so we could practice the strategies we have in place for dealing with snow."
Unlike the cross-country events in January, none of the athletes suggested that the course was too easy for an Olympic competition. However, there will likely be a few minor course changes before 2010.
"I'd say the course was deceptively stuff," said Saenger. "For example, the men's 4 km course, which they use in the 20 km race... people were saying that it was easy, that there were no big, steep up-hills. But when they got to the finish all the racers were on their knees or on their backs, and saying 'boy oh boy, that was a lot tougher than I thought.'
"There's no rest, which makes it very tough. There are a lot of up-hills and down-hills, tight transitions and turns, and it's very technical."
In the sprint events, the 2 km and 2.5 km courses were faster than expected. They fall within the distance ranges set by the IBU, but because of the lap times organizers were seeing they made the decision to add 100 to 200 metres to the course using existing trails and terrain.
"It keeps the balance of shooting and skiing," Saenger explained. "As skiers get faster and skis get faster, and as the athletes get better at shooting, it's more important to have that distance because otherwise there's less time to make up a bad shot. The amount of time athletes spend on their skis is really important."
Thousands of spectators turned out most days, including about 1,500 school kids through a bus sponsorship program - and some students that are currently enrolled in the Callaghan Local Organizing Committee's (CALOC's) Biathlon Bears program. Saenger says that was important because the long-term legacy of the facility depends on creating awareness of the sport, and drawing athletes into recreational and competitive programs.
"We had a Biathlon Bears program here for a full year this season, with 20 kids over eight weeks using air rifles. Many of the same kids were here with their school groups telling the other students about the sport, and getting them excited about it," said Saenger. "We want to get people excited about the sport and the facilities that we now have at Whistler Olympic Park."
The competitions themselves held few surprises, with the top athletes in the sport taking medals on most days. Canada is not considered a biathlon power (although junior and development level athletes will be a threat in 2014), but athletes succeeded in cracking the top-30 in individual events, and were solid in the team relay.
The long distance individual events were on March 11. The men raced five laps of a 4 km course, shooting four times - twice while prone and twice while standing. Every missed shot resulted in a minute being added to the racer's time.
Underlining the importance of shooting, the men's competition was won by Jay Vincent of France, who didn't miss a single shot and finished in 49:53.9. Daniel Boehm of Germany had the fastest ski time but missed one shot to post a final time of 50:12.9. Jeremy Teela of the U.S. finished third, also missing one shot, in 50:17.2.
The top Canadian was Robin Clegg, placing 29 th out of 90 starters. Clegg had a ski time of 49:51.3, just 2.6 seconds back of Vincent, but missed three targets.
Jean-Philippe Leguellect was 33 rd and Brendan Green 46 th .
The women's individual event was a 15 km race, with athletes also visiting the shooting range four times. Simone Hauswald of Germany was first overall with a time of 42.44.6, and was perfect at the shooting range. Olga Zaitseva of Russia was the fastest skier, but missed one target to place second in 43:23.9. Vita Semerenko of Ukraine was third in 43:50.4, also missing one shot.
It was a hard race for the Canadians. Zina Kocher finished the skiing component in 43:33.3, less than 45 seconds back of the bronze medal time, but missed five targets to move back to 49 th . Megan Tandy was 50 th .
The sprint event took place on Friday, with the men making three laps of a 3.3 km course, shooting twice, and skiing a 150-metre penalty lap for every target missed.
Lars "The Moose" Berger of Norway upset teammate Ole Einar Bjoerndalen with a time of 24:06.5 to 24:20.6. Christoph Sumann of Austria was third in 24:46.0. All three skiers were perfect at the shooting range.
The top Canadian was Jean Philippe Laguellec in 47 th place. His ski time was 26:04.4 after missing two shots. Robin Clegg was 49 th .
The women's race included three laps of a 2.5 km course with two appearances at the range. Helena Jonsson of Sweden was first in 19:43.6, hitting every target. Magdalena Neuner of Germany was second in 19:44.3, missing one shot, while Olga Zaitseva of Russia was third in 19:45.2, also hitting every target.
Zina Kocher was the top Canadian, in 48 th place, missing two shots and finishing the race in 21:33.7.
The women's 4x6 km relay was on Saturday, with four athletes each making three laps of a 2 km course and shooting twice. Canada was ranked 13 th going into the competition, and placed ninth out of 14 teams with a combined time of 1:16:39.5. The skiers were Megan Imrie, Zina Kocher, Sandra Keith and Megan Tandy.
Germany finished first, followed by a surprise team from China. Russia was third.
The men's 4x7.5 km relay was on Sunday. Canada placed 15 th out of 16 teams, more than six minutes back of the leaders. The team included Robin Clegg, Scott Perras, Brendan Green, and Jean-Philippe Leguellec.
Italy took the win, missing just nine targets, with Czech Republic second and the U.S. third.
Complete results are available at www.biathlon-vancouver.com.
This was the last official test event for Whistler Olympic Park, although several national cross-country and biathlon teams will be training at the facility through the spring. Whistler Olympic Park will also be open to the public until Saturday, April 18.
