Season Finale

My season finale began last Monday at 6am in Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia (which is in the same time zone as Islamabad, 10 hours ahead of Eastern Standard). Fourty-eight hours later I was pulling into Fort Kent, Maine for US National Championships.

Clear skies, sunny, cold, mid-winter conditions in Fort Kent
Photo: Pete Freeman Photography

As I tried to reverse my days and nights, my body went onto auto-pilot and did great work for me in two out of three races. In the 7.5k sprint on Thursday I shot 1,0 and bested the field by a minute and a half. I was so happy to clean standing for only the fourth time this winter. The top American woman biathlete, Susan Dunklee, couldn't make it to Fort Kent due to illness but all our other national team members and aspiring biathletes were present so the competition was small but high-level. In Friday's pursuit, I extended my lead to over two minutes, shooting 1,0,1,1. I was very happy with 85% shooting and another gold medal. 

Sprint podium: I won, Joanne Ried 2nd, Hannah Dreissigacker 3rd.
In the pursuit, Annelies moved into 3rd.

On Friday night my body started to protest; I did not sleep a wink and as the sun came up I got a little feverish. I safely completed the 12.5k mass start but it wasn't pretty. I shot 0,1,3,2 and skied survival pace. I am so proud of my teammate Annelies for cleaning her final shooting stage to win the last biathlon race of the season and her career! And as she and Hannah retire from this sport, it was great to see up-and-coming biathlete Joanne Reid on the podium in 2nd place all three days. 

Zeroing before the race.
Photo: Pete Freeman Photography

I am back in Lake Placid now with the full-blown flu. Time to take a break from biathlon and blogging! Check back in the spring!