(crowds in Khanty-Mansiysk and along the river in Trondheim)
Whistler World Cup, the test competition for Olympic Winter Games, was the next set of races after World Champs. It was a pretty nice experience for us Canmorons, taking a 1 hr flight, instead of a 9hr to the competition venue! Our team stayed right in the Whistler Village, as did the French and Norwegians. Conditions were good, the venue ready, but definitely it was missing the atmosphere of large crowds in the stadium and along the tracks that many European World Cups encompass. I should hope that at the Olympic games there is a full house!
In terms of results, not a good week for me… I ended up 49th in the individual (15km) and 48th in the sprint (7.5km). Our team finished 9th in the relay. Despite the substandard results, it was a good experience for getting used to the course and area prior to Olympics, and was awesome to have some great friends on the sidelines for support.
That Sunday we flew to Norway. The Trondheim World Cup was next. I had never been to Trondheim before, very exciting, as often the circuit is predictable and repetitive! (Which of course is great for the fans, and also we as competitors get to know the track very well.) Trondheim is a beautiful city located in central Norway where the river Nid flows into the Trondheim fjord. It was lovely to walk or run alongside the river. I had a good sprint shooting 9/10 and placing 20th but a rough day in the pursuit finishing 47th.
Monday we were on the move again, this time to Russia, with all teams taking the 5hr charter flights from Trondheim to Khanty-Mansiysk. A usual on the World Cup circuit, always ending with a great finishing party! I placed 24th in the sprint and 33rd in the pursuit. Saturday being my last competition, I watched the mass start competitions on Sunday and then intently focused my energy on dancing all night. The World Cup season was over! Maybe not the results I was aspiring for, but it was an improvement from my mono year!
A night of dancing, laughing and good times came to an end, a couple hrs of sleep, and 6am we were back on a charter to return to Munich. Then back to Canada for holiday time!!
No comments:
Post a Comment