In Biathlon, Best Friends Make
the Best Training Partners

Tim Burke

By Jerry Kokesh, U.S. Biathlon Association

Biathlon is a dual-discipline sport, consisting of both cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship. Becoming proficient at two sports, both of which demand hard physical training and unerring accuracy, is a challenge.

Yet four US Biathletes, two established stars and two future stars, have become among the best of their generation, by simply training together with their best friends.

Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) and Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.) will compete in their second Olympic Winter Games this February in Vancouver, Canada. Burke is among the favorites to bring the US Olympic team its first-ever Olympic Biathlon medal. He has finished in the top 10 at the Biathlon World Championships three times since 2007 and has been in the top 25 on 36 occasions in World Cups. Bailey had the best season of his career in 2009, including an 18th place in the World Championships Mass Start and several competitions where he shot clean (no shooting misses).

Burke and Bailey have known each other since grade school, in the Lake Placid, N.Y. area. He remembers those early days with Bailey. "I remember our practices as being very competitive. We were all very motivated and talking about the Olympics at that young age. We definitely pushed each other to higher levels and are still benefitting from that today. When I look at the videos from when we were 10 years old, it is very funny to see the fire in all of our eyes, even though we were falling on every other downhill."

Bailey remembers a Junior Olympic competition when the two were about age 10. "That whole week we were just living from race to race. I do not think I ever imagined at that time being where I am today."

The two Olympic veterans are roommates when travelling the Biathlon World Cup circuit today, and training partners when at home. Burke praises his best friend, "I am very fortunate to have Lowell around as a training partner after all of these years... To have someone like that show up every day for training to push me; I am very fortunate to have him here."

Yet the two are competitive, sometimes on a daily basis, according to Bailey. "I hate to lose to him as much as he hates to lose to me. We are both fiercely competitive and that is how you get good in biathlon. You cannot be afraid of competition and improve in biathlon."

While the veterans Burke and Bailey have trained together for over 15 years, 21-year old Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, Minn.) and 20-year old Leif Nordgren (Maine-on-St.Croix, Minn.) are just three years into their partnership. Nordgren won a bronze medal at the 2008 World Youth Biathlon Championships in 2008, while Roberts was top US Junior Biathlete for the past two seasons. These two, who could be 2010 Olympians but are really focused on the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, were brought together by US Junior National Coach Vladimir Cervenka at their training home, Mt. Itasca, Minn.

What is Biathlon?
Biathlon began as a military strategy in the parts of northern Europe where the winters are long. Soldiers would cross-country ski through the snow, then engage the enemy with precision rifle fire. The sport became an official Winter Olympic sport in 1955. Although there are five different race formats for biathlon, what they have in common is that the athletes must first complete a cross-country race, then take multiple shots at targets about 50 meters away. To compete in biathlon, you need to be in incredible physical shape as well as an accomplished marksman. —Editors

Both Nordgren and Roberts began skiing as children and started biathlon at 14. Neither were instant stars. Roberts remembers his first competitions, "The first race I shot really well in and got third then the next race I missed a bunch and ended up at the bottom."

Nordgren's experience was similar, "My first race was in Duluth, Minn., and I hit one target in prone and three in standing—four hits out of 10 targets. I wasn't blown away by biathlon after then."

Yet Cervenka brought the two together to train and there was almost instant chemistry, which has made both of them better. Nordgren explains, "Since we are both from Minnesota, it was pretty natural to train together and we got along great. When you are at three-week training camp spending 24 hours a day with your teammate, it's good to have someone to train with who doesn't get on your nerves too much!"

He continued to praise his friend's positive outlook, "Wynn is pretty much always happy and in a good mood. Biathlon has a pretty big mental aspect to it. Wynn has definitely helped me to stay positive no matter what happens in training or a race."

Roberts has a similar regard for his friend's attitude while training. "Leif's best characteristic is the can-do attitude he brings to each session and his humor. There is always something to laugh about when he is around."

Like Burke and Bailey, these two are competitive at times. Roberts thinks that Nordgren has made him a better biathlete. "I think I have definitely improved with Leif's help. We go back and forth a lot competing and that is what really helps us improve the most."

Nordgren agrees, but with a caveat. "It's good to be competitive every day, at least a little bit... training together is a great way to push each other to reach new levels in both racing and training."

What does all of this go to show? These four biathletes from different generations have one thing in common: Best friends who make travelling the road to sports success much easier.

See how biathletes train for this physically challenging sport.