By Theron Larkins
Staff Writer
Biathlete, Russell Currier, 26, made his Olympic debut on Saturday, in the men’s biathlon 10-kilometer sprint held at Laura Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon Center in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. Currier took to the snow for the 10k event, while many of his fellow Aroostook County natives watched with hope and anticipation. Currier was forced to wait until nearly all other competitors had finished, as he was one of the last Olympians to compete in the 10k event. He would finish the event with a time of 26:58.5 and 61st place in the field of 87.
Currier missed four of his first five shots, while shooting from the prone position. Each miss added a 150-meter penalty lap to his time. He did, however, manage to hit all five targets while shooting from the standing position.
Only the top 60 places qualified for Monday’s pursuit race, which meant Currier finished outside the cut by just one spot.
Despite Currier’s disappointment, he was able to maintain a positive outlook after what was his first-ever event at the 2014 Winter Games. In a press release after the event, he said, “It wasn’t the race I was hoping for today, but at the end of the day it’s still the Olympics and it’s great just to be here.’’
The winner of Saturday’s 10k event was Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who became the oldest Winter Olympic gold medalist in history, at age 40. Bjoerndalen missed one target before finishing in 24:33.5 to claim his seventh career Olympic gold medal and 12th overall. Dominik Landertinger of Austria finished 1.3 seconds behind to take silver, while Jaroslav Soukup of the Czech Republic won bronze with a time of 24:39.2.
Tim Burke, who trains with Currier at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Caribou, was the top American with a 19th-place finish in 25:23.3. Lowell Bailey, who also trains at the MWSC, was 35th with a time of 26:04.01.
Currier’s next Olympic appearance will be in the 20K individual at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
