Hochfilzen, Austria, December 8. Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), led teammates Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY, and Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) into US Biathlon history as the trio finished 10th, 18th,and 21st,today in the Men’s 10K Sprint. This is the first time three US Biathletes finished in the top 25 in the same World Cup competition.
Burke’s first words at the finish were, “Four for four!†This was Burke’s fourth top thirty in four competitions this season. The 10th place today is another personal best for Burke, topping his 19th place in the 12.5K Pursuit competition in Ostersund, Sweden last Sunday. He was visibly happier today than Sunday when he was “simply “pleased†with his result.
The afternoon Men’s 10K Sprint, had conditions that were worse than even the women faced in the morning, when it was already warm and sunny, deteriorating the snow. The plus 15-Celsius temperatures made the snow look more like deep sand than snow for all of the men. The snow on the tracks is a dull ribbon of glacier snow, brought to the venue by the organizers from several of the highest glaciers in Austria, cutting through brown fields of brown grass. The positive part of this situation is that there is snow here at all; the negative is that the tracks are very soft and slow for everyone. US Biathlon Coach Mikael Lofgren commented before the women started at 10:30, “When we started testing skis at 7:30; the tracks were perfect, with a light crust on top, but now the women are sinking down already. By the time the men start, they will sink down to their knees!â€
Burke started in 25th position. In prone, he faced a wind that shifted left to right twice. Keeping his calm, he had only one penalty. Even with the penalty, he was close to all of the top men, about 45 seconds behind Michael Greis of Germany who eventually finished second. In the standing stage, the young New Yorker was brilliant, literally drilling the five shots. He left the stadium in 10th and by the finish was in sixth position, after only 25 of 119 men had finished. He lost a few places as the competition progressed, ending up 10th, 1:10.9 behind Norway’s Ole Einar Bjorndalen, who now is four for four, in the victory category this season. Greis, with one penalty finished second, 39.2 seconds back, while third today went to Matthias Simmen of Switzerland, with two penalties, was 46.5 seconds back
Burke’s 10th was a mere 2.7 seconds from an eighth place podium finish. Beaming at the finish, he stated, “Today’s effort was like a 20K; the snow was so deep. In places, it was up to here (pointing at a spot just blow the knee). I really had to fight in prone with the changing wind. Nevertheless, the standing was very relaxed. They felt good and I just let them fly.†Burke was extremely nervous last week starting in the top group, but today he felt differently. “I was totally calm today (starting 25th). After last week, I am fine being up there now.â€
The story does not end with Burke, as his teammates Bailey and Teela were the perfect supporting cast today.
Bailey started near the end of the field at number 96. Like Burke, Bailey missed a single prone shot. Going into the standing stage, he was about 30 seconds behind his friend. With a clean standing stage, he left about 25 seconds behind. With each stride, Bailey was gaining on the field, moving from near 30th position to 18th at the finish, 1:27.1 back. His 18th place was a personal best also, topping his 27th place in the 2006 Olympic 20K Individual competition. “I skied very conservatively on the first two loops, but went for it on the last one. It is good to get my World Champ’s qualifier (top 30 finish).†he commented.