Bailey explained that the 29th place is more than just a personal best. “Before the season, James (Upham) and I set a goal of a top 30 finish by the Olympic Games in February. Getting that goal so early changes that. As I was coming to the finish, I did not quite know if I was fighting for 29th, 30th or 31st.”

Today’s Pursuit competition was one of the closest, most exciting in the history of biathlon. 60 men started within 1:40. It almost looked like a Mass Start with twice the number of people in the field. The shooting range filled so quickly for the first prone stage that the middle of the field had to stop for a few seconds, waiting for positions to clear.

Bailey, wearing bib 40, starting 1:20 back, was one of those caught in the first prone slowdown, but it did not affect him. “I came in relaxed and did not panic as I saw all of the people waiting to shoot,” he commented. The first prone was deliberate, but clean and he left in 38th place. He matched the clean shooting on the second prone, leaving in 34th, but slipping back to 38th by the next trip to the shooting range.

In the first standing stage, Bailey picked up one penalty, which he knew “was just a bit off.” Despite the penalty, he came to the last standing stage in 34th position. This time, he shot more aggressively than in the other three stages and cleaned once again, going out in 32nd.

He skied just as aggressively on the final 2.5k loop and passed German Carsten Pump near the finish line and pulling 1.4 seconds ahead by the finish. Head US Wax Technician Bernd Eisenbichler commented on Bailey’s tactics on the tracks, “Lowell was very smart today. He skied easily in the group for the first loop, hit the targets and did the same thing on the ones after that. On the final loop, he pushed and flew past the German on the last downhill. It was a very nice job.”

The 29th place found Bailey, 2:06.7 behind the legendary Ole Einar Björndalen of Norway who gained his first victory of the season in 34;06.8. At the finish line, Bailey, who trains at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, smiled broadly as he analyzed the biggest day of his World Cup career. “I came in with no expectations. I had nothing to lose today. I really did not feel too good, so just skied as well as I could. Even though I passed a couple of people in the last loop, there was not much left in my tank.” Still, there was no disappointment in Bailey’s voice as he made these comments, just the subtle hint that he expects more days like this with even better results.

Like Bailey, Björndalen had a great day. He was in fourth place after the third shooting stage, 15 seconds off the pace, with three penalties. As Björndalen cleaned the last stage, his three rivals all missed targets and ceded victory to the sport’s dominant competitor. Vincent Defrasne of France finished second, 21.6 seconds back, with one penalty and Ivan Tcherezov of Russia followed 13.6 seconds later.

Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) started 13 seconds behind Bailey today, but had trouble on the shooting range from the beginning. He had a single penalty in the first stage, staying close to his MWSC teammate. This changed on the second stage as Teela missed four targets; this pushed him near the end of the 60 man field. The first standing stage resulted in another 2 penalties. The Army WCAP athlete finished strongly in 57th place, 4:05.5 back after a clean final standing stage.

Monday is a training day for as the athletes will prepare for the first relay competitions of the season on Tuesday. Relays have gained added importance this season as they now count towards the seasonal Nations Cup Points that determine the number of starters for each nation in the following year. The US will field relay teams for both men and women.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of Biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

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