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Biathlon is one of only two winter sports - Nordic combined is the other - where an American has never won an Olympic medal. For the men, the shutout has lasted 13 Olympic Games, 50 years and 35 events; for the women, five Games, 18 years and 18 events.
Now that the U.S. Olympic biathlon team has been named, with nine biathletes - five men and four women - ready to represent the U.S. in Vancouver, two basic questions come to mind: will 2010 be different? Or will it be the more of the same?
Here are five reasons to believe that the U.S. medal drought will end:
Yellow bib
Before this World Cup season, Tim Burke of Paul Smiths, N.Y., had a sixth-place finish as his personal best. However, he started this season with a bang, notching a second-place finish in the 20km individual event in Ostersund, Sweden. Two days later, he shot clean and finished third in the 10km sprint. Three more top-ten placings in December set him up for a U.S. first: the overall World Cup points lead. In January, he became the first American biathlete to don the yellow bib in a race. Although he lost the lead in his first race - missing four targets in gusty conditions - he regained it again the following race by finishing second again, in the 15km mass start. Three podium finishes (in three different events) in nine races shows that success for Burke was not a one-off experience.
Home-turf success
Last March, when Whistler Olympic Park hosted the first World Cup race after the World Championships, Jeremy Teela of Heber City, Utah illustrated that competing away from the usual European venues can help yield major surprises. In the 20km individual race, Teela finished third - behind two other first-time podium-finishers - becoming the first U.S. biathlete in 17 years to finish in the top-three at a World Cup event. Canada is not so much "home turf" for the U.S. as it is "away turf" for the Europeans.
Games experience
Four of the five men's team members have Olympic experience under their belts. Combined, the quintet have seven Olympics and 26 previous starts to look to for strength. Not all of their memories have been pleasant, such as the shooting meltdown of Jay Hakkinen in the 10km sprint four years ago. In a sport where nerves play a huge role, however, to be able to say "done that" could mean a lot.
Less pressure
With the early success of Burke this season, the word "biathlon" has spread to a larger American audience. Because of that, the U.S. biathlon team will carry higher expectations into these Games than ever before. However, the pressure to win a medal will still dwarf that for American athletes of more "mainstream" sports at the Winter Games, like figure skating, Alpine skiing or snowboarding. With no disrespect to Burke, more eyes will be scruntizing the quads of Evan Lysacek, the downhill turns of Lindsey Vonn and the jumps of Lindsey Jacobellis, and expecting nothing less than gold. That same pressure will not exist for the biathletes.
Decade-long build-up to Vancouver
International success seems to come out of nowhere this season, but in reality, it is the culmination of a long process to find the best biathletes, coaches and administrators. The current U.S. biathletes were recruited many years ago and given the task to prepare for World Cup, World Championships and Olympic success. The leadership within USA Biathlon, from the executive director Max Cobb and high performance director Bernd Eisenbichler, to coaches Per Nilsson and Armin Auchentaller, have overcome the limitations of developing a sport that few Americans know about, and they have fostered a winning mentality that could reap rewards in Vancouver.
On the flip side, here are five reasons to doubt that the U.S. medal drought will end:
History
As described above, the U.S. men and women have simply not been on the mark at an Olympic Games. The best-ever result came at the 1972 Sapporo Games, when the men's 4x7.5km relay team finished sixth. In a non-relay event, Hakkinen's 10th-place finish in the 20km individual at the 2006 Torino Games is the high watermark. Try as they might, 59 U.S. biathletes have come home from the Olympics without any hardware.
Poor shooting accuracy
When it comes to the nitty-gritty of biathlon, no statistic is as important as shooting accuracy (watch video). During the 2008-09 World Cup season, the percentages of the Americans were consistently mediocre: Burke and Lowell Bailey, 76%; Hakkinen and Teela, 75%. Only one American, women's team member Lanny Barnes (86%), shot above 80%. Less than 80% for any event is not going to cut it at the Olympics.
U.S. biathlete Lowell Bailey unveils his musical talents at the USOC Media Summit in May.
Personal photos of U.S. biathlete Tim Burke.
The "King" still holds court
The man respectfully dubbed the "Biathlon King" by his peers, Norway's Ole Einar Bjørndalen is one of several competitors out there who will make winning a medal a real challenge. On the men's side, Germany's Michael Greis (a three-time champion in Torino) Bjoerndalen (a four-time champion in Salt Lake), in addition to new Norwegian star Emil Hegle Svendsen and several emerging biathletes from France, Austria and Russia will make things tough. On the women's side, defending overall World Cup champion Helena Jonsson of Sweden and the extremely deep and talented teams from Germany and Russia have many more instances of prior success than the U.S. women.
Vocal European supporters
Most biathletes will say that they block out of their minds all the sounds coming from the stands when they are at the shooting range. Many wear ear plugs. That said, a little moral support can go a long way. The German, Russian and Norwegian fans at events have been known to push their favorites to success with all of their bells, whistles and cheers. The North Americans, still catching on to the fact that biathlon does not involve ski jumping, have yet to match that. The Europeans travel well and love their biathlon.
Reason number five is not restricted to Americans, but could play a major factor.
Illness
It could happen to any competitor in any sport, but there is nothing as decimating to endurance-sport athletes as illness. The winter cold and flu have taken down some of the best biathletes at major competitions. If there is any harm in having busy competition and travel schedules that involve trans-Atlantic flights, it is the increase vulnerability to fragile immune systems. Bring the masks and hand sanitizer, Americans!
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