Now that the clocks have been turned back, get ready to wake up early for snow, sun, cross country skiing and sharp shooting.
In February, the Nordic Heritage Sport Club will host the eighth round of the International Biathlon Union World Cup, the only U.S. stop of the international biathlon competition. About 300 athletes from 32 countries, as well as a European media contingent, are expected to come for the competition in Maine, before going on to the Biathlon World Championships in Oslo, Norway.
“This is the number one winter sport in Europe,” said Jane Towle, local real estate broker and biathlon volunteer event director, who’s hoping to help stoke American interest in the combination cross-country skiing and rifle shooting sport. “North Americans have not won an Olympic gold in this sport yet. But it’s growing.”
In early October, Towle travelled to Oslo, with her husband Paul, president of the Nordic Heritage Ski Club and a biathlete when he was in the Army ROTC and Maine National Guard, to meet with delegates and volunteers from around the world.
“The trip was a huge exchange of ideas. We met with IBU representatives about the expectations for hosting,” she said. “We did this well in 2011 (when the World Cup Biathlon last came to Maine). But we needed to know what’s new.”
This winter the World Cup Biathlon will take place in nine rounds from November through March, in Östersund, Sweden, Hochfilzen, Austria, Pokljuka, Slovenia, Oberhof and Ruhpolding, Germany, Rasen-Antholz, Italy, Canmore, Canada, Presque Isle and then Oslo for the championships.
As many as 60 million Europeans are expected to watch the sport on TV, and the afternoon races in Presque Isle will be broadcast live internationally, during prime time in their time zones, Towle said. Along with the 2016 championships, the races will begin to determine contestants for winter Olympics in 2018.
In Presque Isle, the competition will depend on the work of some 500 volunteers, and as the first major event hosted by the Nordic Heritage Sports Club since its separating from the Maine Winter Sports Center, it will also be a way to build support for the four season mountain trail center in the hills along the Aroostook River.
“This is fundraiser that keeps the doors of Nordic Heritage open so that we can keep the four season community programming going, with mountain biking, hiking, geocaching, kids and adults learning to ski, snowshoeing, local events, and all kinds of other outdoor activities” Towle said.
