When Matt Neumann was 10 years old skiing the trails of Otway Nordic Centre, he started thinking about what it would be like to compete in the Olympics.
One month ago at the Olympic trials in Canmore he just missed locking up the final berth on Canada's biathlon team for Sochi, finishing second to Brendan Green in a best-of-two-races event close enough to keep Neumann motivated for at least one more shot at the Olympic rings.
"All my efforts were put towards Olympic trials," said the 24-year-old Neumann.
Green won both Canmore qualifying races just before Christmas and went on to finish 18th in a World Cup individual race in Rhupolding and helped Canada's men's relay team to an all-time-best sixth-place finish.
"To make the Olympics this year I needed two back-to-back 100 per cent races - the level is so high it just comes down to who performs best on those days," said Neumann. "Brendan knocked it out of the park.
"I never had a race where I was fighting as hard as I went that weekend in Canmore. I really killed myself those two days. After the last race I finished and I was lying in the snow for two minutes before I could stand up. I definitely didn't have any races like that in Europe."
Neumann just returned this week after three weekends of racing IBU Cup events in Italy and Germany. He placed in the bottom third of the standings both weekends in Italy but climbed the ladder in Rhupolding, Germany, finishing 55th in the sprint to qualify for the pursuit, where he ended up 53rd overall.
"The guy who won in Germany, Lars Berger, is the fastest guy in the World Cup - every year the IBU Cup gets more and more competitive," said Neumann. "The energy is so high over there. There's 10,000 people in the stadium and 10,000 more on the course. Seeing how big it is in Europe, that's a big reason I've continued to pursue biathlon over the years."
Sarah Beaudry of Prince George, part of the Alberta Training Centre team, was also entered in the IBU Cup races.
Neumann, a member of the Rocky Mountain Racers club, went to Europe early in January
thinking he would be racing in a World Cup event in Oberhof, Germany. Although he met Biathlon Canada's criteria it wasn't enough for the International Biathlon Union, which requires athletes to have raced at least one IBU Cup event to become eligible to race a World Cup event.
Neumann drove from Oberhof to Anholtz and Ridnaun, Italy, with Ilmar Heinicke, his former Caledonia club coach and the husband of Megan Heinicke (nee Tandy). Neumann trained with the Heinickes for six weeks last summer near their home in Atlenberg, Germany.
Neumann came back to Prince George for Christmas and saw the new biathlon range at Otway Nordic Centre. He had thought about competing in the Western Canada biathlon championships at Otway next weekend and wanted to race in the Haywood Western Canadian cross-country championships at Otway in March, but won't be able to make either trip.
"The range at Otway is fantastic, it's as good as it gets," he said. "It's world-class. It means a lot to me to have such a great facility available. It shows how far our club has come."
Backed by the Prince George Rod and Gun Club and the National Firearms Association, sponsorship deals that provide about a fifth of his $25,000 season costs, Neumann plans to be in Charlo, N.B., Feb. 26-March 2 for the national biathlon championships - his last chance this season to secure a national team spot. He'll be one of 12 senior men vying for eight positions.
Neumann desperately wants the perks that come with being a nationally-funded athlete, but until that day he'll continue to struggle to pay the bills working part-time in a Canmore hotel, using all his savings to pay for trips to his next race. Whatever it takes.
"If I make national team this year that will make it an easy decision to go for [the 2018 Olympics] and there will be plenty of time to make money after that," said Neumann. "I have friends in Alberta who go up to the rigs and make $100,000 a year and I've had moments where I wonder, why bother, and I doubt myself. But I'm still here, still fighting.
"I'm in a good spot, I just have to deliver my full potential. If I can do that, I can ski with everyone on the national team and in four years if I make that my goal that's very realistic."
