Welcome to 2016 World Championships!

After the Maine World Cup, I spent a week in Lake Placid (with my boyfriend 😄) before heading to Norway for a pre-World Championships training camp in Sjosjøen. It was a winter paradise there with tons of snow and sunshine! 

Sjusjøen, Norway. No wonder they are so good at skiing.
Photo Jonne Kahkonen

We went for a long classic ski through the Norwegian moonscape today. #biathletesclassicskiing #Sjusjoen #trainingcamp
Posted by U.S. Biathlon Women on Friday, February 26, 2016

Susan, Hannah and I went for a long ski on the famous Birkebeiner Trail.
You may have to login to Facebook to watch.

Now we are in Oslo at a grand hotel adjacent to the venue where most of the teams stay together. Throughout the World Cup season we see the same athletes and staff from other countries every weekend, but rarely have this opportunity to eat in a dining room all together. It is a fun and boisterous environment; World Cup athlete-moms Marie Dorin-Habert and Selena Gasparin brought their babies along, there is an occasional chorus of the happy birthday song, "cereal time" from 8-10pm is enjoyed by most, awkward, linguistically-challenged salad bar encounters are enjoyed by few but experienced by all, and hand sanitizer is ubiquitous. 

Each athlete at this year's World Championships was given a selfie stick...

On March first, Hannah and I observed the Balkan holiday Martenitsa by giving red and white yarn bracelets to some of the Bulgarian team. Our Craftsbury GRP coach, Pepa, did this for us every year to celebrate the coming of "Baba Marta," or Grandmother March/spring. The tradition goes that you exchange bracelets and then when you see either a stork or budding fruit tree, you hang your bracelet on the tree and make a wish. I was delighted when I gave a bracelet to one of the athletes and he pulled a bracelet out of his pocket for me!!! Check out my Martenitsa blog post from 2014.

We had to look up "how to" online. There is a secret to making
the two colors of yarn stay twisted.

Some of my teammates, staff and I attended the World Championships opening ceremony on Wednesday night. I have become our team's go-to flag-bearer. As the "rookie" it is my duty to ensure our top athletes can rest their legs back at the hotel. Also, no one else wants to do it! So both this year and last I had the honor of carrying the stars and stripes. 

Back row L-R: me, Jonne, Jonas, Tim, Leif, Sean.
And in front our young Norwegian escort!

As seen on TV

My first race is tomorrow at 2:30pm local time. I am wearing bib 47, starting at 2:53:30. I am excited to race on this course because it suits me well with steady climbs followed by long rest. On the shooting range I have been calm and confident lately so I hope to carry that through the week. My brothers arrive tomorrow morning from the US in time to see the afternoon race! My friend Ley, who lives here in Oslo, will also be in the stands, and my friend Peter is flying over from England to watch next weekend. Let the games begin! 

Here is the full World Championships event schedule and the link to the live stream.