Biathlon World Team Trials are underway at Mt. Itasca in Coleraine, MN. Walt is off to a good start, with solid results in the first two races last weekend. He finished 5th in Saturday's 10k and 2nd in yesterday's 15k mass start, just 2 seconds from the win. Sounds like he was feeling a bit flat in both races, but he skied well enough to stay close, and strong shooting gave him some decent finishes. Andy Shepard crunched the numbers - right now Walt has the best shooting percentage of all competitors and is ranked 2nd in the overall scoring. Lots of guys right behind him, though, and it's early - still 3 races left. Each racer's best 3 results will determine the final rankings, so the standings will change a lot by the time it's over. Anyway, a good start for Walt - once he gets back to feeling good, he'll be a real threat.
For those who aren't clear on how the whole qualifying process works, the top 4 athletes at these trials will join the 5 current National Team members on the World Cup circuit in January. Five men from this group of 9 will make the Olympic Team - results from a series of Europa Cup races in late January will determine the final team.
Results and photos available at Minnesota Biathlon.
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