The first day of competition
With opening ceremonies out of the way (the forerunners did not attend) we are all set for the first day of competitions which includes an 800 metre sit ski biathalon course, and a 1000 metre standing biathalon course. Both courses have some challenging climbing. All sit-skiers do three laps with shooting occuring after the first two laps, and the standing athletes do the same thing on the 1000 metre course. For the Paralympics the biathalon range has been moved to the main nordic stadium.
The forerunner day begins with a 7:30 a.m bus to catch to the WOP. Once on site we prepare the skis for the day ahead. Half of the group will skate for the standing ski course, and the other half of the forerunners will ski in the tracks for the sit-skier course. With temperatures hovering aroung zero celcius, “hairies” seem to be the grip of choice. Hairies are created by roughening the grip zone with sandpaper.
After warm-up we proceed to the stadium and ski out the course starting about 9:30. At 9:50 the forerunners ski both courses as a group, which officially closes the courses for competitions beginning at 10:00. The competition is broken up into mens and womens for sit-ski, standing, and standing visually impaired. There is a qualifying round and a final for each event. The forerunners ski each track after the preceding race is finished. With light snow falling we ski the course/tracks following each heat.
We have a unique vantage point within the stadium to witness the various events, although, after the first two events we were not allowed to stand behind the biathalon range; apparently, we were not supposed to cheer in that area. How could we not?
Both Margarita and Alexi raced today, and we had an opportunity to cheer them on. Generally the Russions and Ukraines dominated most competitions. I also had an opportunity to say hello to Margarita and her parents after Margarita’s last event. We both pondered how we could get the unauthourized Kanata Racers fireball hat onto the stadium field of play!!!
The grooming for the course(s) was excellent, and our task was limited to simply skiing over the new fallen snow. No one was up to double poling the entire course, which is a compliment to the sit skiers who have no choice.