Teela matches best U.S. biathlon finish

MIDWAY, Utah (AP) -- Jeremy Teela was so far behind at the halfway point of the 20-kilometer biathlon race Monday, he gave up all hope of a respectable showing.

To Teela's surprise, the pressure left once the indifference arrived.

Teela hit his final 10 targets on the Soldier Hollow course, jumping from 36th to 14th to post the United States' best biathlon finish in 30 years.

"Usually when you don't care, everything goes perfect," said Teela, who's from Anchorage, Alaska, and trained for the Olympics in the Army's World Class Athlete Program.

He finished in 53 minutes, 56.5 seconds -- 2:53.2 behind winner Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway -- but said he was ambivalent about competing in the 20K. Like virtually all the young U.S. team members, Teela is more adept in the sprint events. His specialty is the 10K, which will be Wednesday.

"I really wasn't going to do this race, but yesterday I decided to do it," Teela said. "I thought this would be a good race to get some experience and get the Olympic feeling."

The three U.S. men and three women who competed Monday were stunned at the enthusiasm of the pro-American crowd. Unfortunately, it didn't inspire any other exceptional performances.

In the 20K race, Jay Hakkinen -- the top-ranked American - went 5-for-5 with his .22-caliber rifle at the first shooting station, which was from a prone position. But he missed two targets the next time around, from a standing position. He missed one more and finished 26th.

"Things were going well, but then I just started thinking a little too much," Hakkinen said.

Dan Campbell was 76th. Among the women, Rachel Steer was 31st, Kristina Sabasteanski was 55th and Kara Salmela was 59th.

Still, coach Algis Shalna was pleased.

"It's a very exciting result," said the Lithuanian, a 1984 gold medalist hired as the U.S. coach 10 years ago. "Top 25, I would have been very proud. But top 14 is a really, really good result, and I feel like we won a medal, because we haven't done this way in the past."

Two other U.S. men have finished 14th in a biathlon race: John Burritt in 1960 and Peter Karns in 1972. Both were in the 20K.

"He kind of follows the biathlon curse of 14th place," Hakkinen said of Teela.

Teela admitted he was sluggish on his skis, and after he missed two targets in the first two shooting sessions, he was in 36th place. But after he calmed down, he didn't miss again.

The opposite happened to Sabasteanski, who hit 14 of her first 15 targets but then missed three of her last five.

"I don't know if it's my endurance or how we've been training, but my last two 15-kilometers, I really bonked," she said. "It's just one of those days."

The American athletes are accustomed to racing in front of rowdy crowds in Europe, but the sight of so many U.S. flags at Soldier Hollow was exhilarating for them.

"It's kind of weird. I'm not really used to people knowing my name," Teela said.

"It's a completely different feeling than I've ever had," Hakkinen added.

 

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