Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey grew up training with each other and competing against each other in cross country skiing, as members of the Lake Placid Ski Club in upstate New York. When they hit their pre-teens, they were offered the opportunity to try out biathlon, the sport that combines cross country skiing and shooting, and they latched on immediately. Since then, they have represented the United States at every competitive level, from "juniors" to the World Cup.
In 2010, Burke and Bailey are each aiming to compete in their second Olympic Games.
When did you start biathlon?
Tim Burke: I first tried it when I was 12 years old, but I didn't start focusing on it until I was 16. That's when I started to make the switch from cross country over to biathlon.
Lowell Bailey: Our local coaches, Chris Seymour and Al Barrett, recognized that we were really serious about cross country skiing from a young age. We had goals of winning junior nationals. The switch to biathlon happened because of that. There was an effort from the US Biathlon Association to recruit some of the top juniors in the country to their camp, and we were in that field.
What was the feeling when you got your first rifle?
Lowell: Initially, I thought, ‘Oh, man! It's a rifle! This is really crazy!', like Hollywood or something. It's pretty tame, though. It's can be a dangerous weapon and you have to be safe about it, but when you're shooting down-range at targets, it's about as tame as a BB gun. A lot of people don't realize that.
Have you ever had a mishap with your rifle?
Tim: No, I haven't and, hopefully, never will.
Lowell: Something I've noticed in North America is that safety is the first thing that biathlon coaches push on the kids when they come over from cross country. When it's your everyday sport, it's easy to forget that there's a dangerous element to what you're doing, but I think we all understand that we have to be very careful.
What's the coolest thing about your sport, the thing that would most attract people to it?
Tim: You ski with a gun! It's definitely different from any other Olympic sport, skiing with a rifle on your back.
Lowell: Biathlon's kind of an interesting sport. If you don't understand the rules, it doesn't seem that exciting. If you understand the rules, though, it can be the most exciting spectator sport of them all. There are times when you're at the edge of your seat. Our parents went from having no clue about the sport to being total addicts. Tim's family has ‘biathlon breakfasts' where they invite local people over for every race and watch it on the big screen.
Tim: The drama that a biathlon race creates, I don't think is found in any other Winter Olympic sport. Of course, maybe I'm a little biased! At each biathlon race, you can have people winning, or on the podium, that you never expected to see. When you combine skiing, shooting and different conditions, you can see unranked biathletes making it on the podium.
When you shoot clean in a competition, how do you feel?
Lowell: We talk a lot about the psychology of shooting. You're supposed to be very calm and collected when you're shooting so, in theory, whether you miss three at a stage or shoot clean, it's not supposed to make any difference. But for sure, when you miss a few targets, you get angry. I get frustrated knowing that I should have hit those targets. When I hit clean, I get a sensation that I'm on track for this race.
Tim: There's a lot of emotion involved. When you miss targets, you always want to blame someone else, but in the end, you're the one who pulled the trigger.
Lowell: Over the years, I've witnessed at least one biathlete from every nation have a frustrating day and take it out on a coach or trainer. It's the physically demanding sport of skiing, with the mental challenge of shooting thrown in. When it all comes together, it's the best feeling in the world, and when it doesn't, well.... But that's the addicting thing, why I'm still in the sport.
Are you able to tune out the noise coming from other athletes' rifle fire, the public address announcer and the crowd?
Tim: Usually, I don't hear too much. I don't race with ear plugs - maybe half the biathletes do - but I concentrate on not listening to them.
Lowell: When you're in the zone and focusing on hitting the five targets, it's the only thing in the world that matters.
What do you think is the main thing needed for biathlon to gain popularity in the U.S.?
Tim: We need to continue improving and reach the medal podium more often. For the American public, it's probably not as interesting to see the German, Norwegian or Russian athletes on top as it is to see us. If we're up there, consistently mixing it up with the best biathletes in the world, it'll give them something more to cheer about.
Lowell: Since Torino, we've seen increases in web traffic and in the number of viewers who watch events online, and it's directly correlated to our results.
Tim: Biathlon has grown so much that, even if these tough economic times, the International Biathlon Union just renewed its television deal [with Infront, through the 2013-14 World Cup season] and saw its revenues increase by 60%.
Lowell: It's just a matter of awareness. When you tell Europeans about American football or NASCAR, they're like ‘Are you kidding? Why would I waste my time watching that?' and it's completely the other way around for biathlon.
It's good that biathlon is spread out over almost all 17 days of the Olympics. There will be plenty of opportunities for American viewers to tune in.
Tim and Lowell: Yes!
Compiled by Martin Thorstensson, NBCOlympics.com
