It will be two grueling weeks of competition for three PEI athletes, competing in biathlon week one and cross-country skiing week two.
Fidel Wendt competed in cross-country skiing at the 2019 Canada Games at the age of 14 but will compete in both disciplines at these Games.
“They don’t allow 14-year-olds to carry a gun around, so now I’m allowed to do that. So that’s fun,” Wendt said.
“It’s a great opportunity. Both sports have different things to offer.”
Wendt said the two sports are quite similar, but at the highest level the athletes displayed different abilities.
“When you see top athletes like the future Olympians skiing, they are very different,” said Wendt.
“The cross-country skiers can keep a very steady pace for 15 kilometers, while the biathletes can do two kilometers, and then they [lie] down.
“Biathlon is more stressful because you have the element of shooting, which is kind of like baseball – some days are good, some days are bad, very mental,” Wendt said.
“Cross-country skiing, you arrive, you put on your ski boots, you warm up, you leave and then you’re done, right? So it’s a bit easier.”
The other two athletes tackling both sports for PEI at the Games are Matthew MacNeill and Hudson Haltli. Team PEI also has an athlete, Mava Gauthier, who competes exclusively in biathlon.
Nine different races
Longtime biathlon coach Judy Hale is the PEI cross-country team’s waxing technician for the 2023 Canada Games.
She said there are challenges but also many benefits to having athletes double in the ski events.
“Some of the challenges for the athletes is having so much competition within the Canada Games. They will be competing in nine different races,” said Hale.
“But certainly there are also many advantages because we are all skiers and therefore participating in cross-country skiing brings advantages to their biathlon and vice versa.”
This also has many advantages because we are all skiers and if they participate in cross-country skiing it will benefit their biathlon and vice versa.
– Judy Hale
Hale said the coaches and mentors will help the three athletes navigate their way through the two weeks of competition.
“All this work is done years in advance. It’s not about what you do during the games. It’s all about the hours you put in over the summer and the spring before that,” Hale said.
“I think they’ve put a lot of work into it and of course we’ll be paying very close attention to their diet and rest as we know recovery is the biggest part of performance.”
dual sport
Caitlin Campbell, head coach of the biathlon team, fought for a top 10 finish for PEI in 2015, which was the sport’s best-ever result.
She went on to represent Canada at the World Junior Championships.
“Biathlon is already a dual sport with shooting and skiing. So now it’s a whole different level with classic ski technique,” said Campbell.
“It’s been a lot of work and a lot more logistics when it comes to racing – we’re trying to figure out what races we’re in and how we fit into cross-country and biathlon. There’s a lot to do there.”
I think it’s great because we’re both ski teams anyway. That doesn’t detract from her biathlon training. It only adds.
– Caitlin Campbell
“I think it’s great because we’re both ski teams anyway. It doesn’t take anything away from your biathlon training. It only enriches it.”
Campbell only raced in some cross-country races as training events, but at the time PEI did not have a cross-country team at the Canada Games.
“Hopefully we can just expand on that from now on,” she said. “Cross-country skiing is a great way to get new people into the sport because you can do it without having to deal with the whole shooting aspect.”
home advantage
The cross country and biathlon teams would have liked more snow than they had on the trails in Brookvale in January. They spent most of their time in the snow competing off-island.
Even so, Hale said they will have an advantage over competitors from other provinces.
“They’re going to be able to put together some pretty good race plans, and they’re going to know the lines really well in terms of how you take that hill, how you take that corner,” Hale said.
“I think they will definitely have an advantage.”
