Cesana San Sicario, Italy, February 25. The experience of the US Olympic Biathlon team in the Torino Olympic Winter Games relates very closely to the mountainside location of the biathlon venue here in Cesana San Sicario; a daily uphill battle where you come close to the peak, but never quite make it to the top.  

Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) came to these Games with a simple but hard to achieve goal: to be the first US biathlon medalist in the Olympic Winter Games. Even without the medal, Hakkinen once again proved to be the shining star for the US. He came within a millimeter of his goal on the first day of competition in the Men’s 20K Individual, with three one-minute penalties. The final penalty was a split bullet that was not hard enough to close the target. Had that target gone down, Hakkinen’s all-time US Olympic best of 10th place would have become a bronze medal!

“My shooting today was he difference between the podium and 10th place,” Hakkinen commented at the finish. Regarding the missed target in prone, Coach Algis Shalna added, “There is a lot of personal disappointment, knowing that the one split bullet was the difference between being on the podium and not. But this result should show the world and the people who support us that we can compete with the best in the world.”

With such a great start, Hakkinen had high hopes for the 10k Sprint. As close as he was to the top of the mountain, the 10K was a giant slide backwards. He had five prone penalties for the first time in his career, finished 80th and failed to qualify for the 12.5K Pursuit competition.

For a less determined athlete than Hakkinen, the Games would have been over. Hakkinen was determined to prove to the world that he is one of the best in the Men’s 4 X7.5K Relay.

He told the Associated Press, "I'm still second-guessing myself a little bit," after missing all five of his prone shots in the sprint event, Hakkinen said. "That's why the relay will be very important, because the relay's a very intense, fast-shooting race. And I hope to use that and shoot well in it just to prove to myself…..I've been in slumps before, but this was different," Hakkinen said. "It was like, I don't know, getting hit over the head. Still, I can get over it. I'm very confident I can get this and I can do it. I just have to go through the process.”

He came out with guns blazing in the Relay, cleaned prone and standing with three fast extra rounds, leading the pack as he entered the stadium for the first exchange. He tagged 4 seconds up on the second team and helped the US to a ninth place finish, their best since 1988. He commented at the finish, “That was a big thrill coming into the stadium in first. That clicks off another of my goals for the season but I have a few others to accomplish.”

So after the climb up the mountain, and the fall down, Hakkinen was back heading for the top. His upward climb continued when it was announced that he had earned a spot in the first-ever Olympic 15K Mass Start.

The Mass Start sent the pulses of the US Olympic Biathlon team racing as fast as Hakkinen’s.

Hakkinen hit 19 of 20 targets on a day with soft fresh snow on the tracks. His style favors icy tracks like in the 20K Individual and the Men’s Relay.

“These were not the best conditions for me today,” Hakkinen commented. “In the last loop, my legs were spent from the soft conditions and there was nothing I could do to hang on.”

Leaving the final shooting stage, Hakkinen was in sixth position and within striking distance of third place, but with two kilometers to go, with his body full of lactic acid, he fell back to 13th by the finish, giving him two top 15 finishes in these Games. He also now owns the top three US Olympic Biathlon results, the 10th in the 20K, 13th in the 2002 Olympic Pursuit, and the 13th in the Mass Start.

Despite fading at the end of the competition and missing the Olympic medal he covets during these Games, Hakkinen was optimistic. “I have been close; whether it was one shot from the bronze in the 20K or seeing third just 10 seconds in front of me at one point today. My shape and performance has continued to go up here. Maybe it was not my time. Sometimes you have to get close before you finally make the final step. I have continued to be close. I know it is going to happen.”

The remaining limelight for the US men was divided between lifelong friends Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) and Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) Olympic rookie Bailey picked up a personal best 27th place in the 20K Individual. His previous best was 29th in the 12.5K Pursuit competition at the Ostersund, Sweden World Cup last December. He also had 48th in the 10K Sprint, 50th in the Pursuit, and contributed a solid relay leg. At the finish of the relay, Bailey commented, “I had a PR here and met my personal goals for the season. I wish I could have done better in the Sprint and Pursuit, but I am happy.”

Burke did not achieve the top 30 result like Bailey, but skied well in every competition. He had two top 40 finishes with 37th in the Sprint and 38th in the Pursuit. Burke was a big contributor to the Men’s Relay, but had to use all six extra rounds to clean the targets. He echoed the biathletes usual refrain, “I wish I could have shot better,” Burke added, “I was shaking after the third standing shot, so it was a struggle.”

2002 Olympian Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) struggled to find his form throughout the Games, but came up short, with his 62nd in the Sprint his best result. Usually an excellent performer at altitude, he was battling the mountain for the whole Games.

For the US men, it was simply a step up and then a step back seemingly with each competition. Overall though, Hakkinen and Bailey’s 20K results and the ninth in the Relay gave the men several reasons to smile.

These Olympic Winter Games for the US women was simply a case of trying hard in every competition, but not reaching goals.

For the second Olympics in a row, Rachel Steer (Anchorage, AK) was the top US women. Steer did not match her Olympic best of 31st place in the 15k Individual in Salt Lake, but came close with 35th place in the 7.5K Sprint. This result was also her season best to date. Steer had only one prone penalty, commenting, “I had one prone penalty and shot clean on standing today. I definitely felt better than I did in the 15K. I felt like my skiing was better. My skis were great. Our wax men were working on my skis until two minutes before I started.”

Steer shot just as well in the 10K Pursuit (two penalties in the 20-shot competition), but struggled with newly groomed tracks. She finished 39th, 6:49.2 off the winning time of Germany’s Kati Wilhelm.

The Women’s 4 X 6K Relay closed Steer’s Olympic career and she performed like a champion, keeping the US team in contention. The relay finished 15th (topping three teams compared to being last in 2002), equal in place to Salt Lake, but much closer to the front of the pack.

US Team leader Tracy Lamb enthusiastically assessed Steer’s performance. “Rachel put up a great first leg today. Her range times were very good today and she skied well on the final loop. She fought hard and you cannot ask for more for more from any athlete. Our team had a better than expected result and she was a big part of that. Rachel ended her Olympic career the way she started a decade ago; fighting hard and giving her best for her team.”

The four other women on the US Team were all “Olympic rookies.” The fast shooting Barnes twins, Tracy and Lanny (Durango, CO) who live at altitude, expected to be skiing fast by the times these Games started. Tracy had the best result of the two with 57th in the 15K Individual, with only one penalty. Lanny skied faster on that day but had four penalties, finishing 64th. Sarah Konrad (Laramie, WY), the oldest of this group at age 38, was the fastest on the tracks by several minutes, but had 10 penalties to finish 62nd.

In the 7.5K Sprint, none of these women bettered their finish in the 15K. Carolyn Treacy (Duluth, MN) in her first Olympic start, finished 80th. Treacy kept her sense of humor and actually was not disappointed with the experience. “My legs got really tight and by the time I shot standing, they were shaking a lot. I am lucky I only had two penalties there. Of course I am disappointed with my result, but as I was on the final downhill, I told myself, ‘this is the Olympics.’ My family was here and they were all thrilled. My mother made a joke, ‘At least you beat your bib (#81)!’”

Treacy’s spirit exemplifies both the US Olympic Biathlon Team as a whole. Even though they may not have climbed to the top of the mountain and won a medal; all competed hard in front of friends, family and millions of TV viewers and reached a peak—the Olympic Games that others can just dream of.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of Biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.