Prince George’s Emily Dickson led B.C.’s biathletes Tuesday, with a silver medal in the 7.5-kilometre sprint - her second podium finish of the Canada Winter Games.
In the men’s and women’s races, three B.C.’s athletes placed top five, including Dickson, fifth place Jennah Smailes, and fourth place Arthur Roots, also from Prince George, who was 16 seconds behind the bronze medalist in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint.
Like Sunday’s bronze finish in the 12.5 km individual race, the 17-year-old said she’s speechless when it comes to her top rankings.
“I’d hoped. It was a goal to do well at the Games,” said Dickson, who with a time of 25:12 was 55 seconds behind gold place medallist Leilani Tam Von Burg, who only missed one shot.
“It’s a once in a lifetime thing and to have it here in Prince George where I train and I’ve called my home for the last three years,” said Dickson, who grew up in Burns Lake.
Many call the sprint a skier’s race. Skiers, who have staggered starts every 30 seconds, do three laps of the course.
“It makes it exciting. It’s short, quick. You kind of have to be on your game, in the moment, otherwise things can happen,” Dickson said. “Today was a fun one.”
With only two targets, each missed shot means skiers must loop a 150-metre track rather than suffer the automatic one-minute time penalty in the individual race. On Tuesday it took skiers on average 23 seconds to make the loop, organizers said.
Dickson sank her first five shots prone, but missed three on her second attempt, standing. The size of the target shifts based on position: on their bellies athletes must hit a mark the size of a tooney while the standing target is about double the size.
“I had to turn on the jets and go around the penalty loop a few more times and ski my heart out basically,” said Dickson, who said she still wants to improve on her performance.
“When I finish, I’m still looking at how it went for me and not just how the actual results turned out. Looking at my own race, there are things that I was a little disappointed in, but it’s a bit of a relief to take something away from it, something really positive.”
The women’s podium showed the same faces as Sunday’s race.
Ontario’s Tam Von Burg, 19, earned gold again with a time of 24:17 minutes. Team Yukon's Nadia Moser, 17, was bumped to bronze after a Sunday silver finish, posting a time of 26:19 and making on six of 10 targets.
Team B.C. Coach Glenn Rupertus said he was proud of his athletes’ high rankings. The other two Prince George athletes - Claire Lapointe and Robert Krietz - finished 12 and 20, respectively.
“I knew the team could do it. I told everyone else, but not the team,” Rupertus said with a laugh. “The hometown advantage has been a big strategy for us, getting to know the place, know what they have to deal with.”
That hometown advantage wasn’t quite enough to edge Roots into the podium.
After the race, Roots said he was happy with his performance, but disappointed by his placing.
“I knew it was going to be tight,” said Roots, who competed in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
The 21-year-old made eight of 10 targets for a time of 27:09, which was 50 seconds behind Saskatchewan’s Matthew Hudec in first.
He was fourth off the start line, and first to cross the finish and said the conditions were fast and he felt good.
“It always feels good to be passing people,” said Roots, who improved on his sixth place finish in the 15-km individual race.
Roots said he uses different mental cues to keep focused on the course.
“So shooting, I’m thinking ‘Stop the breath,’” said Roots, who said he’s a stronger skier than shooter. “It’s not so much that I don’t know to do that already, it’s just to block out any other thoughts I might be having, focus on something good. It makes it a lot easier to hit the targets when you’re not getting distracted.”
Next, biathletes will face off Wednesday at men’s 12.5-kilometre pursuit at 10 a.m. and the women’s 10-kilometre pursuit at 1 p.m. Competitor's results Tuesday will impact their pursuit start time, with each incurring a five second delay after the person ranked above them.
Unlike the first two races, first to cross the finish line will earn the gold medal.
