Emily Dickson’s whirlwind European tour has taken her this week to the top of the biathlon world.
The 24-year-old Burns Lake native is among 104 starters entered in Friday’s IBU World Cup women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint in Oberhof, Germany.
Dickson will leave the start gate at 6:00:30 a.m. PT, wearing Bib No. 91 as the 91st starter in the race. Sarah Beaudry of Prince George will be the first Canadian woman on the course, starting 10th at 5:20 a.m.
The race will be shown live on www.eurovisionsports.tv with coverage starting at 5 a.m. PT Friday.
This is just the second international race weekend this season for Dickson, a veteran of 12 World Cup races. Coming off a concussion which kept her grounded for the entire 2020-21 race season, Dickson competed in national team trials in November in Canmore and did not make the cut to join the either the World Cup or IBU Cup teams for the first trimester in Europe.
But an injury to World Cup team member Nadia Moser of Whitehorse, who broke her leg in a tobogganing accident in early December, opened up a spot on Canada’s IBU Cup team for Dickson.
She joined the team in Obertilliach, Austria, Dec. 9-11 and posted solid results, finishing 33rd in the sprint, 63rd in the individual event, also teaming up with Matthew Strum of Canmore to finish seventh in the single mixed relay.
If Dickson finishes 60th or better on Friday, she will qualify for the Sunday’s pursuit in Oberhof. She had her first World Cup race on that course, Jan. 9, 2020, and finished 46th- the best result of her career so far.
Dickson went in to compete in the world championships that year in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy and had just finished a sprint in Kontiolahti, Finland on March 13, 2020, when the sports world came to a sudden halt with the onset of the COVID pandemic.
She suffered a concussion in a national team roller skiing training session near Canmore in September 2020 and missed the entire season as a result.
Beaudry, 27, is hoping for better results in the second trimester as she vies for a spot on Canada’s Olympic team. Now a veteran of 90 World Cup starts, Beaudry’s best finish this season came on Dec. 2 in Oestersund, Sweden, when she placed 39th in the sprint to earn her first World Cup points of the season.
Beaudry was a late addition to the 2018 Olympic team in PyeongChang, South Korea when Megan Tandy of Prince George was unable to race due to a chest infection. Beaudry went on to place 29th in the individual race and helped Canada to a 10th-place result in the women’s team relay.
Four women and four men will represent Canada at the Beijing Olympics, Feb. 4-20. The team is expected to be announced following the races in Oberhof.
Three of Canada’s top biathletes - Emma Lunder of Vernon and the Gow brothers of Canmore, Scott and Christian - are not racing this weekend in Oberhof and are instead attending training camp in Antholz. All three have made the Olympic team, which has opened up World Cup slots for Strum and Trevor Kiers of Sprucedale, Ont., who have both moved up from the IBU Cup level to race in Germany. The men's race starts at 2:30 a.m. PT.
Benita Peiffer of Vancouver is also on the start list for Canada in the sprint race in Oberhof, starting 79th. Jules Brunotte will be the first Canadian on the course Friday, 26th in the 109-skier field in the men’s 10 km sprint, followed by Adam Runnalls of Calgary (61st), Strum (67th) and Kiers (96th).
Mixed team relays and single mixed relays are on the schedule for Saturday.
