Broken bone and all, Megan Heinicke took a bullet for the team late in the World Cup biathlon season.
Despite a fractured rib, the 25-year-old from Prince George competed in one more race during the final tour stop three weeks ago in Oslo, Norway. Because of that, Canada achieved its best-ever Nations Cup finish, which guarantees one extra spot for Canadian women on the World Cup tour next season.
"It was just bad luck," said Heinicke, from her home in Altenberg, Germany.
"I was just walking down some stairs and someone fell behind me and I got the edge of a ski rack in the ribs. It hurt, but I didn't think I'd done any long-term damage."
Coming off her best-ever World Cup finish the day before when she finished 15th in the first sprint in Kontiolahti, Finland, Heinicke competed in the second sprint the following day and fought through her pain to finish 59th. She didn't race the pursuit and moved on to Oslo, where an X-ray confirmed the break.
At that point, with Megan Imrie already retired from the team, Heinicke, Zina Kocher and Rosanna Crawford were the only Canadian women left on the World Cup team. Heading into the final weekend, Canada and Finland were battling for 10th place and to qualify for more International Biathlon Union Nations Cup points, Canada needed at least three women racing in the sprint. A doctor working with the German team gave Heinicke an injection to deaden the pain and that allowed her to finish 59th out of 96 in the final sprint on March 20.
"We were in 11th, 20 points behind Finland, and we knew it was possible for us to move up but it wouldn't be possible with just two girls racing," said Heinicke. "Had it not been that situation I wouldn't have chosen to race with a broken rib, because it really wasn't fun."
The IBU pays each country's federation based on the Nations Cup standings, which also determine the number of World Cup spots for the following season. Canada's strong finish in the sprint (Crawford was 11th and Kocher was 16th) allowed the Canadian women to finish 10th with 4,153 points, one point ahead of Finland.
Heinicke finished tied for 63rd in the overall World Cup standings.
"I wasn't fast enough this season to reach the goals I set for myself,'" she said. "I didn't bring it together very often and made a lot of mistakes on the shooting range. I'm skiing at a speed where it's realistic to expect top-16 finishes. If I shot in races like I did in training I would have achieved that goal this year."
Their 10th-place standing was the best-ever finish for Canadian women since the Nations Cup ranking system was adopted in 2000-01. The Canadian men -- Jean-Phillippe Le Guellec, Brendan Green and Nathan Smith -- finished 11th, an all-time best.
"That means that for the first time since I've been doing this sport we can start five women on the World Cup instead of just four, and that will allow us more flexibility moving athletes between IBU Cup and World Cup," said Heinicke.
Biathlon Canada will receive more money per start from the IBU, which Heinicke hopes will result in a fully-funded World Cup tour next season. Each Canadian biathlete who competed in the three post-Olympic World Cup stops in Slovakia, Finland and Norway had to fund their own travel and expenses. Heinicke said her loyal Prince George sponsors and great response to her Pursue-It web fundraising campaign helped pay for her season.
With Emma Lunder of Vernon and Audrey Vaillancourt likely to join the World Cup tour in 2014-15, an extra spot could open the door for juniors Sarah Beaudry of Prince George and Julia Ransom of Kelowna to race a few World Cup events next season. Having five women on the tour will also give Canada a spare athlete at world championships and as a buffer in World Cup relay events in case of an illness or an injury.
- For Heinicke's plans looking forward to the 2018 Winter Olympics, see Friday's Citizen.
