Soldier finishes best in U.S. Olympic biathlon history

By Tim HippsFebruary 16, 2010

Soldier finishes ninth in Olympic biathlon 10-kilometer sprint
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program biathlete Sgt. Jeremy Teela nears the finish line for ninth place with a time of 25 minutes, 21.7 seconds in the Olympic men's 10-kilometer sprint race Sunday at Whistler Olympic Park in Callaghan Valley, British... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldier finishes ninth in Olympic biathlon 10-kilometer sprint
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldier finishes ninth in Olympic biathlon 10-kilometer sprint
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldier finishes ninth in Olympic biathlon 10-kilometer sprint
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WHISTLER, British Columbia, Canada (Army News Service, Feb. 16, 2010) -- U.S. Army World Class Athlete Sgt. Jeremy Teela had the best performance in U.S. Olympic biathlon history Sunday.

Teela led four Team USA competitors with a ninth-place finish in the men's 10-kilometer sprint race at Whistler Olympic Park.

The biathlon event involves both skiing and rifle shooting.

France's Vincent Jay, 24, won the gold medal with a time of 24 minutes, 7.8 seconds. Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen, 24, a four-time winner this season on the World Cup circuit, battled illness and took the silver in 24:20. Croatia's Jakov Fak, 22, who is ranked 64th in the World Cup standings, claimed the bronze with a time of 24:21.8.

Teela, 33, of Heber City, Utah, missed one of five shots from both the prone and standing positions that forced him to ski two 150-meter penalty loops. He finished 1:13.9 behind the winner with a time of 25:21.7. Had he hit either of the two missed targets, Teela likely would have medaled.

"I would say normally this would be a decent race with the amount of penalties that I had, but definitely not a medal race," Teela said immediately after the race. "It was an okay race, but as far as trying to get on the podium, it was a little disappointing.

"I don't think anyone's going to land on the podium with two penalties. I missed one or two too many (targets) -- however you want to look at it," he said.

Teela, however, was relieved to put the first of a potential five Olympic races behind him.

"The nerves and the jitters you get from racing your first Olympics in the quad, having your parents here, and having kind of a home-course-advantage feeling, it was a little stress for a little bit," he said. "It's good to get this one out of the way."

At that point, Teela did not know the official outcome of the race.

"I think it will be a top-20 or top-25 performance, so I'll have a good position for the pursuit on Tuesday, so I can make another go at it and try to get back on the podium," he said before the race results were tallied.

Teela, who started 13th in the staggered start, led all Team USA competitors. Lowell Bailey, who cleanly shot his 10 targets, finished 36th in 26:26.6. Tim Burke was 47th in 26:54.8. Jay Hakkinen also shot perfectly and finished 54th in 27:17.4.

With top-60 finishes among the 88-competitor field, all four Americans qualified for the 12.5-kilometer pursuit race on Tuesday. Teela will lead Team USA's parade by starting ninth, 1:14 behind Jay.

On Valentine's Day, Teela was the biathlon heartthrob not only for Team USA but the U.S. Army, as well.

"It's an honor to be able to represent the United States and I get the special privilege to also represent the United States Army and have the backing of all those Soldiers over in Afghanistan," he said. "I'm just trying to do something here to make them proud and give them something to cheer."

The race featured steady rain, which quickly turned to thick, wet snow, but Teela complimented Olympic officials for having the course ready. He was fortunate to start the race before snowfall drastically changed course conditions and hindered shooters who started later.

"They really did a good job for how bad it's been," Teela said. "It's been plus temperatures; it's been raining. They put fertilizer on the track so it stays hard. It started raining on my second loop but on my third loop it started to snow. If it snows during the race, it slows down quite a bit from the start and everyone's skis are already waxed for transformed snow that works in the rain.

"When these new fine crystals come down halfway through the race, you can get lucky if you finish before it happens. I was about to get lucky, but it looks like it has stopped snowing, so it will be pretty fair conditions for everyone."

The rested Teela said he needed this race to get his legs into competitive rhythm.

"I was a little tired, actually, a little lethargic," he said. "I think I needed this to get it into the legs. The last two weeks I've just been resting and prepping but really not pushing it to the extreme during my prep. You're always a little nervous to get too tired, so I think this will be good for the rest of the week to have one hard race in."

Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, the 36-year-old sentimental favorite who holds five Olympic and 13 World Championship gold medals, finished 17th with a time of 25:48.9. He missed three shots from the prone position and another while standing.

All in all, Teela accepted his performance as a starting point for the Vancouver Games.

"It's an okay race to start," he said. "Obviously, you want to start out swinging. It would be nice to land on the podium first run at it, but we've got three more guys coming in. I think one of those guys could put it together today. If not, we have a race on Tuesday. On Thursday, we have the mass start, and we've got the relay. We've got five chances, four guys, so I think it's looking pretty good for us."

(Tim Hipps writes for FMWRC Public Affairs)