Posted by Max Durtschi on Dec 11th 2020
"A Great Way To Wake Up The Body" By Max Durtschi
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Greetings from Hochfilzen, Austria - the site of World Cups 3 and 4 in this year's IBU Biathlon World Cup Season.
US Biathlon's season began with a pre-season World Cup camp in Vuokatti, Finland. We spent two weeks in Vuokatti skiing on their tracks and taking advantage of their ski tunnel and other World-Class facilities. We finished off our camp with some training races with Ukraine, Finland, and Bulgaria. These races were a great way to wake up the body as I had not raced on snow since last March in Minsk, Belarus. After our training camp, we traveled to the site of World Cups 1 and 2 in Kantiolahti, Finland. This venue is fantastic with some challenging hills and a range that often sees strong wind. The team performed well in Kantiolahti and we are confident heading into the next races! |
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So far, the biggest change to this season has been the COVID-19 protocols. Overall, I have been very impressed with the efforts made by both US Biathlon as well as the International Biathlon Union (IBU). Using protocols put together by our medical staff, we travelled overseas and have done our best to mitigate risk while in hotels. As a team we have made some sacrifices including subdividing into pods in order to prevent potential spread within our team, but have found ways to enjoy each other's company nonetheless! |
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In addition, the IBU has done a great job keeping us athletes safe! These measures include: frequent testing (roughly every 4-5 days), restricted hotels, charter flights, and (unfortunately) prohibiting fans at the venues. For our time at the venue our sponsors Maloja and Sunlight have provided us a team RV which we can use to safely relax, while maintaining strict protocols.
Fans can still connect with us using the #biathlonunited! All of us from the biathlon world wish you safe and healthy holiday |