Biathlete Angus Tweedie returned from Canadian Nationals in Charlo, New Brunswick last week with a bronze medal and three top-10 finishes to his name.
“It went pretty well,” Tweedie said. “The conditions were tough, but I was pretty happy with the results.”
The event started well enough, with cold temperatures, and minimal wind.
In Tweedie’s first event, the individual sprint, he skied and shot to a 10th place finish.
But by day two the wind picked up and the course received two feet of new snow. The competition was postponed for an entire day as organizers scrambled to ready the track for the rest of the weekend.
“The conditions were probably the worst I’ve seen all year,” Tweedie said.
When races resumed, 30km winds made for tough shooting conditions, and the snow made the track slow.
Tweedie battled through during the pursuit, hitting 14 of 20 targets on the way to a 22nd place finish.
The following day he competed in the team event, with two other biathletes from B.C.
“We had a strong team,” Tweedie said.
“The girl on our team had been finishing on the podium all week and the other guy had finished 12th in the individual.”
With no real hope of catching national powers, Alberta and Quebec, the B.C. team fought off all other challengers from behind, sking to a third-place finish. Tweedie shot 10 targets in 11 shots.
“Yeah, it was nice to get the medal,” Tweedie said. “We were pretty confident going in.”
On the final day of competition, Tweedie again battled high winds in the indivdual pursuit. He shot 15 of 20 targets and finished in 10th place.
The nationals were the last event Tweedie will compete in as a senior boy.
He’ll move on to the junior men’s division next year and hopefully compete at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George.
“I’m going to take it as far as I can,” Tweedie said, of his biathlon career.
“It’s nice to be out of senior boys and to take that next step in my progression.”
Tweedie already has his foot in the door for the B.C. team heading to Prince George, though he still has to officially qualify.
Nationals were the last official biathlon event for local competitors. The Smithers Cross Country and Biathlon Club will host a introductory day for kids who are considering taking up the sport in early April.
