For the last couple years, Megan Heinicke has been the lone biathlete from B.C. competing on the international World Cup stage.
But Saturday in Hochfilzen, Austria, she had some company not only from her home province, but her home city of Prince George and the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, her home club.
Sarah Beaudry teamed up with Heinicke to help Canada's national women's biathlon team glide to an 11th-place finish in the 4 X 6 kilometre relay in the 26-team event.
Germany (Luise Kummer, Franziska Hildebrand, Vanessa Hinz, Franziska Preuss) won gold in 1:11:40, followed by Belarus and the Czech Republic. Canada ended up 1:09 off the winning pace.
"It's pretty cool having her here," said Heinicke Monday on the phone from Slovenia. "I've been the only B.C. athlete on the World Cup circuit for some time and I'm super-stoked to have another B.C. athlete here."
Heinicke, a 26-year-old World Cup veteran who has competed in two Olympics, took the lead leg in Saturday's relay and hit 17 of 20 targets, completing the course in 19:51.
The 20-year-old Beaudry, in only the second race of her World Cup career, also had just three misses in her four shooting bouts. Beaudry completed the the third leg of the relay in 18:31, taking over from Rosanna Crawford of Canmore. Audrey Vaillancourt of Quebec City raced the anchor leg for Canada.
"Megan and all the other groups are showing me the ropes and what to do on the World Cup," said Beaudry who was with Heinicke on the call. "It's pretty neat being here and there's so many things I can use for biathlon racing."
Heinicke had her best individual result, a 12th-place finish in the 15-km distance in Ostersund, Sweden on Dec. 5. She missed just one of 20 targets in four shooting bouts.
She said having the younger generation of athletes, such as Beaudry, compete on the World Cup is beneficial to everyone.
"It's the genuine aspect of sport, there's a six-year age difference between us and we're thinking, OK, the pressure is on. It's a beautiful thing and the best possible thing to happen. There's that energy and helping each other. It's a super-positive thing that helps the team."
The World Cup Biathlon circuit stops in Pokljuka, Slovenia this weekend prior to breaking for the Christmas holidays. The women's sprint is on Thursday and the pursuits are set for Saturday.
After race weekend, Heinicke will head back to her home in Klingenthal, Germany, where she'll reunite with her son Predo and husband Illmar who has taken on a new job as head coach of the German junior national team.
Heinicke's parents Heather and Ed Tandy, along with her sister, will fly to Germany and join them for the holidays.
Beaudry will return to Prince George for Christmas and then eventually make her way back to Canmore where she lives and trains full-time.
She's preparing to represent Canada for the World Junior championships in Slovenia in February.
Last year, Beaudry won world junior bronze in the pursuit.
The World Cup circuit resumes Jan. 6 in Oberhof, Germany.
Competing at that level is based on results and there's still a chance Beaudry could re-unite with Heinicke in the second half of the season.
"There is tons of opportunity for people like Sarah to stay on the World Cup tour," said Heinicke. "If not this year, then maybe more next year."
"In Austria I had the full experience of [international racing] and it was really awesome," added Beaudry. "It motivates you to stay on the World Cup tour."
Even though they're thousands of miles away competing in Europe, both say they appreciate the support from Prince George."
"I spent three weeks in Prince George in the summer training [at Otway] and it's pretty cool being over here where we can feel the love and support from Prince George," said Heinicke.
Live webcasts of the races will be available on biathlonworld.com.
