The thrill of watching Sarah Beaudry racing biathlon on a blustery night at the Olympics and nailing all her targets in the midst of a snowstorm Thursday in the women's relay was not lost on Garnet Ditto.
That was a Prince George girl doing so well under all that pressure.
Just as Beaudry did the previous decade, the 11-year-old Ditto is learning the basics of ski racing in Prince George at Otway Nordic Centre as a member of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club. Seeing an encore presentation of Beaudry's Olympic relay race on the big screen in a viewing party Thursday night at the Otway Rotary Lodge brought it home and made it all seem a little more possible for Ditto, a Jackalope ski racer.
He knew that while Beaudry raced, Megan Tandy, the fifth Canadian biathlon team member, was there on the sidelines in Pyeongchang, yelling herself hoarse as she cheered on her teammates to a respectable 10th-place finish in the 18-team event.
"I'm just really proud there's two (Caledonia Nordic Ski Club) members out there racing in the Olympics - it's great how we can have CNSC putting out these great Olympic racers," said Ditto.
"I liked how Sarah was just great at shooting, she got all of her shots. She missed a few in her second round (and had to use all three spare rounds to avoid a penalty loop) but everyone's watching you, it's windy, you've got snow in your face and you're trying to hit targets 50 metres away. She's a really strong shooter."
Ditto has a better idea than most 11-year-old Canadians about what biathlon is all about. His Grade 6 teacher at Heather Park elementary school is Heather Tandy, Megan's mom. And her students have developed a keen interest in following Megan's progress in what was her third Olympics.
Ditto will be racing 7.5-kilometres today in the Stride & Glide Spirit of the Rivers Loppet and he says his first priority as a nordic athlete is to become a strong skier. But he's seen kids close to his age practicing biathlon on the shooting range at Otway and says he eventually would like to give it a try.
"The race guns are super-expensive, it takes a big commitment, but when I have the time I would be glad to put that commitment in," said Ditto.
He watched the race in the lodge with his mom Robin and six-year-old sister Gwen, who is learning to ski in the Jackrabbit program. Seeing Beaudry shoot five targets with five rounds to clean her prone shooting round in conditions CBC play-by-play announcer Nigel Reed likened to "trekking to the South Pole," brought out a hearty round of applause from the viewers gathered around the TV screen. They were equally impressed when the 23-year-old Beaudry showed her marksmanship in the standing round.
"It's so inspiring to watch girls from here, from Prince George, and they went through the same program that these kids are going through," said Robin. "Sarah's perseverance, not knowing for sure if she was going to get to race at these Olympics, that must really mess with your head and she did so well."
Sue Bond teaches skiing with the Caledonia club and didn't know the outcome of the women's relay until she saw the replay Thursday night. Beaudry's nerves of steel on the range were a sign of how far she's come since she left her home in Prince George five years ago to train full-time in Canmore.
"It was amazing," Bond said. "I've known Sarah since she was a little girl growing up and she's just an amazing athlete, it's neat to see her. It's fantastic we've got these Prince George athletes at the Olympics. It's too bad Megan didn't get more racing in, this time."
Tandy, 28, wasn't chosen for the relay team and was too sick to race in the pursuit and individual events. She developed strep throat after training with the American team in Rhupolding, Germany, the week before the Olympics and her only race was the sprint, in which she finished 57th. Beaudry took Tandy's spot in the individual event and in her Olympic debut last week finished 29th out of 87 racers.
In 2014, Tandy skied the third leg of the women's relay at the Olympics in Sochi and had the Canadian team in silver-medal position at one point. It was devastating for her to learn this week she would not be back to try to improve on her team's seventh-place finish.
"It's nice to see all the girls getting a chance to race," said Ed Tandy, Megan's dad. "We're absolutely disappointed for Megan and she's disappointed as well, but that's sport, and I think Megan's true colours have come through. She's changed her position from being disappointed to being a full supporter of the team.
"We're very proud of her, not only in her accomplishments over the last 15 years and her three Olympics, but also in her attitude and her team support. I think she's a good representative of what sportsmanship is about."
This could well be Tandy's last Olympics, but there are many World Cup athletes who are full-time moms like Tandy, still competing well into their 30s. Ed Tandy hopes this won't be the last time Sarah and Megan get together on the world's biggest biathlon stage. At the very least, he says, they are the pioneers of more Olympians in the making at the Caledonia club.
"We couldn't be happier that both the girls there are from the same club, they've trained together and the parents, we were all volunteers back in the day when the girls were really young and we had no idea they would ever become Olympians," he said.
"So to see Sarah performing well is a great feeling. Back in the day, when Sarah and Megan were getting their start, this club was in its infancy. We didn't have a good (biathlon) range and we couldn't attract those good teams and it prevented people from having the opportunity to watch the races. Now we have a world-class range and we can host events we never could host before. I think the future's bright for this club."
