divToday we had the sprint race for juniors in Otepää. It wasn’t an amazing day for Americans, but it wasn’t too bad. Heather was the fastest girl, ending up 31st and only a few tenths of a second out of the heats. Then Amy was 40th, I was 57th, and Kinsey was 58th. For the guys Erik Bjornsen made the heats, qualifying in 10th or 11th and then getting 4th in his quarterfinal. But a guy in front of him got disqualified so he ended up 3rd in his heat but was unable to get lucky loser. Sky was the next American, finishing 35th, only a little bit out of the heats, followed by Tyler Kornfield in 38th and George Cartwright in 49th. We got to stick around and watch all the heats which was awesome! This is by far the coolest place I’ve ever skied, the stadium is absolutely amazing. Here are some pictures:/diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULOS1mVJdI/AAAAAAAAGNQ/opLuNMb3eI8/s1600/DSCN0189.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULOS1mVJdI/AAAAAAAAGNQ/opLuNMb3eI8/s400/DSCN0189.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567238912404170194″ //aThey have the big bubble things at the start and finish which makes you feel really fast!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULOSQIb1_I/AAAAAAAAGNI/6IjKYYwjMuA/s1600/DSCN0190.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULOSQIb1_I/AAAAAAAAGNI/6IjKYYwjMuA/s400/DSCN0190.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567238902346668018″ //aAnd a huge screen so you can see the entire sprint race. The building on the left is the wax cabins which are wicked nice and have things to bring in clean air so it doesn’t kill the lungs of the waxers.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNwDSFUtI/AAAAAAAAGNA/v7dUTCOe0TI/s1600/DSCN0193.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNwDSFUtI/AAAAAAAAGNA/v7dUTCOe0TI/s400/DSCN0193.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567238314781922002″ //aThere are three of these tunnels in the stadium which is the secret to its success. You walk through the tunnels to get to the start and finish and wax cabins, but you also ski over them when you lap through the stadium.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNvlto56I/AAAAAAAAGM4/MSnqPnM61V0/s1600/DSCN0194.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNvlto56I/AAAAAAAAGM4/MSnqPnM61V0/s400/DSCN0194.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567238306844436386″ //aHere are the flags, America fourth from the left!!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNvIICN0I/AAAAAAAAGMw/tXefAZ09oyA/s1600/DSCN0195.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNvIICN0I/AAAAAAAAGMw/tXefAZ09oyA/s400/DSCN0195.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567238298902083394″ //aThere were quite a few people in the stands, it will probably be pretty packed the next few days because it’ll be the weekend.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNuyIs0GI/AAAAAAAAGMo/M5Zetj4AiVc/s1600/DSCN0196.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNuyIs0GI/AAAAAAAAGMo/M5Zetj4AiVc/s400/DSCN0196.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567238292999295074″ //aHere is most of the stadium. You start under the big bubbles on the left that say start and go out and take a left up the hill and then go up a hill and down behind the start where the close red markers are. Then you go over one of the tunnel bumps and through the stadium and start up that same hill but stay to the right and loop around the biathlon course. Then, there’s about 200 meters of double poling at the end to get around the biathlon course and then into the lanes. The group of people in front of my camera are the Russian waxers, it was pretty funny to watch them during the heats. There was one Russian boy who used skate skis during all his heats and ended up fifth.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNuZkEPeI/AAAAAAAAGMg/rL2SRMTeu8U/s1600/DSCN0197.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULNuZkEPeI/AAAAAAAAGMg/rL2SRMTeu8U/s400/DSCN0197.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567238286403190242″ //aHere is one of the male heats starting with the screen on the left showing the start.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMd33YJdI/AAAAAAAAGMY/MiG52Mcly0M/s1600/DSCN0199.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMd33YJdI/AAAAAAAAGMY/MiG52Mcly0M/s400/DSCN0199.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567236902967846354″ //aBoys lapping through. It was awesome to watch the heats today, there were a bunch of really fast skiers out there and it was a great learning experience.divAlso, yesterday was a really nice day, it was really cold but the sun was out and it was a blue sky for the first time since we’ve been here. So I took a walk to Elva in the afternoon and took some pictures of the Estonian landscape. From Izzy.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMdcZoj1I/AAAAAAAAGMQ/wyzrvaEqFRg/s1600/DSCN0175.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMdcZoj1I/AAAAAAAAGMQ/wyzrvaEqFRg/s400/DSCN0175.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567236895595335506″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMdGQ8KRI/AAAAAAAAGMI/thTHBqaCJlQ/s1600/DSCN0176.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMdGQ8KRI/AAAAAAAAGMI/thTHBqaCJlQ/s400/DSCN0176.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567236889653291282″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMc1UL0tI/AAAAAAAAGMA/wIcK49Rf5XQ/s1600/DSCN0177.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMc1UL0tI/AAAAAAAAGMA/wIcK49Rf5XQ/s400/DSCN0177.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567236885103497938″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMccZTjHI/AAAAAAAAGL4/HrfCc2wifQw/s1600/DSCN0179.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TULMccZTjHI/AAAAAAAAGL4/HrfCc2wifQw/s400/DSCN0179.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567236878414089330″ //abr //divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-3201565832450706552?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div