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January 11, 2002
Canada
won't compete in biathlon
at the 2002 Olympics.
OBERHOF, Germany (Canadian Sport
News) - Martine Albert of Rimouski, Que., was Canada's last
hope in Friday's women's 10 kilometre pursuit at a World
Cup event. She stepped to the starter's line knowing her
chances were remote for a required top-16 finish and withdrew
from the race after only one kilometre.
Albert's chances were slim to
meet the criteria Friday because she had placed 58th in
the 7.5 kilometre sprint Thursday. In the pursuit, the racers
start in the order of finish of the sprint.
"This is very hard for Martine,"
said Canadiannational team coach Nikolai Koterlitzov of
Ottawa. "She worked four years putting so much time
and effort into it. She was demoralized by yesterday's (Thursday's
result) and knew that it would be almost impossible to get
the needed result. Not having an entry for the Games is
disappointing because I really believed that Martine could
have done it."
Albert had met one of the two
required criteria' to make the team but fell short for the
second bid. She came close at the World Cup in Slovakia
last month when a couple of missed targets in the 15 kilometre
event cost her the berth. She has four career top-20 results
in World Cup competition.
World Cup leader Magdalena Forsberg
of Sweden won the pursuit race in 32 minutes and 30.1 seconds
with Olena Zubrilova of the Ukraine second and Liv Grete
Poiree of Norway third.
On Wednesday, Canadian champion
Robin Clegg of Canmore, was also down to his last opportunity
to qualify for the Games, but struggled in the shooting
range to place 89th.
"It's devastating to both
Martine and Robin to have dedicated the last four years
of their lives, at great expense, and not fully meet the
incredibly high Canadian Olympic Association criteria standards,"
said Rick Nickelchok, executive director of Biathlon Canada.
"What makes it even more
difficult is that they had met the international (International
Biathlon Union) criteria."
However there's been some promising
news for the Canadian biathlon team with the development
of Maryke Ciaramidaro and Zina Kocher, both of Canmore.
Ciaramidaro, last year's European junior champion, was 52nd
in the sprint Thursday and climbed to 42nd in the pursuit.
She posted three top-20 finishes at the world juniors last
year as did Kocher, 65th in her World Cup debut Thursday.
"Maryke and Zina are big
hopes for the future," said Koterlitzov. "They'll
be very competitive internationally by the time the next
Olympics (2006) come around. They have a lot potential and
fight very hard in every race."
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