The 2010 Olympic Team has been named, the athletes are preparing for the Games in the best way possible and for those who did not qualify, they have been planning their next phase of racing for the remainder of the season. br /br /A lot has happened since the last post. The final race in Altenberg, Germany was cancelled due to fog. It was crazy, the Men’s race got of just in time and it wasn’t until their final two shooting stages did the fog roll in. And roll in full force it did as the guys struggled to see the targets. Lowell Bailey commented afterwards, “I’d look above my sights to see how far below the target I was, then I’d exhale up the amount I think I needed, and then just listen to see if it was a hit or miss.” For the Women’s zeroing, they allowed the coaches to stand next to the athletes on their shooting points and we couldn’t see a thing!br /br /After Altenberg, the full Olympic Team met up in Rupholding, Germany, the rest of the U.S. Team headed off to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic with a stop first in the beaufiful city of Prague. Nove Mesto has hosted the Biathlon European Championships and Tour de Ski, and will play host to the 2011 Biathlon Jr. World Championships and the 2013 Sr. World Championships. In the Individual race Grace Boutot hit 19 of 20 placing 29th overall and 2nd American and then 52nd in the Sprint. BethAnn Chamberlain continued to show her ski speed with some of the fastest skiing for the Americans placing 39th and 50th on the weekend. Walt placed 51st in the Individual and 35th in the Sprint with 90% shooting!br /br /Most of the Team is back on U.S. soil now. The plan now is for a mix of cross country and biathlon races. Grace and Andrea are now in Torsby, Sweden preparing for the Y/JWCH which start this week. Check in for updates!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6813061107698506856-7492621511962947035?l=mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
