What is Biathlon, Part 2!
(And Qualifying to race in Europe for the US Biathlon Team!)
Racing up the final climb at European Team Trials in Craftsbury, VT
Happy Holidays Everyone!
It is already late December and I can’t believe I last wrote around Halloween. Time has flown by as the season ramped up and is in full swing now. The October roller ski trials went well despite wet, cold and windy conditions and I secured a top 10 national ranking. It showed my training over the last couple of years is working and I am skiing the fastest I have ever skied.
This past week has been a second round of European Team Selection racing and this time in VT and on snow! I am beyond excited to announce I did qualify for the Open European Championships and will be racing in Arber, Germany for the US Biathlon Team later in January!!! I can’t believe it has happened, it is truly my life long dream come-true to be racing in Europe for the US. I'm honored and excited to wear a US race suit in this next step of my elite racing career and am hungry to become a better racer through these experiences.
And I can’t thank you enough, I am now 55% funded for the season!!! This makes an enormous difference; I am grateful and humbled by the support I have gotten throughout my ski career. Please help me finish this season strong and reach 100% funding especially with race expenses adding up in the busiest time of year and international race costs coming.
Racing at roller skiing trials in Soldier Hollow, UT in October
Testing skis for the fastest pair for on-snow trials in Craftsbury, VT
What is Biathlon Part Two!
In the last post I went over Biathlon basics, shooting positions/ranges, and types of races. You can catch up on those things here before diving further in on governing bodies and how to follow along.
Governing Bodies:
In the United States, the sport of Biathlon is governed by the United States Biathlon Association, or USBA. The association is the entity which sets all criteria for biathlon including international team selection, sanctioned race events, overseas support for international racing and much more. Our sport could not exist in the US without a National Governing Body (NGB).
Internationally, the sport of Biathlon is governed by the International Biathlon Union, or IBU. The IBU is an enormous organization running many tiers of competition all over Europe and the world. Including the winter World Cup, the IBU cup (the feeding tier to the world cup), summer series, junior series, developmental camps and more. Biathlon is hugely popular outside the US and the IBU runs the show for any international event. International biathlon events include NASCAR sized crowds, champagne spraying on the podium, corporate sponsors and massive TV audiences - biathlon and the IBU are a scene we don’t see in the US for endurance sports.
How to follow the sport:
The best way to follow the sport of Biathlon in the United states is to check on the USBA website regularly. Unfortunately there is no system for viewing results, watching races or even knowing the domestic schedule in the US yet, but hopefully available in the not-so-distant future.
However, you can follow all IBU competitions easily! (competitions taking place mainly in Europe) The schedule for all tiers and event/athlete look-ups are available on the IBU data center. This is where you can compare pretty much any piece of information possible about athletes and events, similar to football stats in the US, but for biathlon. More on those stats in the next post.
You can also view IBU World Cup races on Peacock TV and watch a great deal of racing on the IBU TV on YouTube. This is a great place to see what biathlon is all about and see the excitement of those races in Europe.
In a culmination of my fall video series on Stability, Mobility and Recovery, this updates video is on Automaticity. The ability to focus on external factors while the elements of skiing you have trained throughout the dryland season are now automatic in the subconscious body. The balance and stability on a gliding ski or really any activity you do are no longer the conscious focus when using your body instead the tactics of a race or the technicalities of whatever you are doing and the body knows what to do.
Again, I can’t thank my supporters enough for the generous aid already donated this year. I am continuing my local support by donating 1% of all funding I receive to The Snake River Fund and The Roaring Fork Conservancy. I couldn’t do what I do without community support and I am proud to be able to give back to our communities and have you on my team. Please consider supporting this season. It makes a very real difference. Thank you again!