News

Apologies to all our readers for a 2 week silence! The Webmaster and crew have been exceptionally busy running the RLC Championships and working in the BBU Back Office. We are now on the move back to the UK, so there will not be a full update before Wed 10 Mar.

Jacko continued his good form at the OWG, whilst in Estonia Amanda LIGHTFOOT and Olwen THORN have been in sizzling form at the European U 26 Championships.

Bob Anderson is well known to many as the Director of RMA Sports (UK) Ltd, however in his youth he was Manager / Coach of the GBR Junior Team, and one of his aspiring athletes was a youngster called Lee Jackson. On the initial registration of Jacko with the IBU Bob declared that Lee & Steve was doubled barrelled, and the rest is history! So much so, that on the BBC Ollie Williams report for "Day 3 at the Games" (see below) the following appeared:

"Coming up at 1115 (1915 GMT) is Britain's Lee Jackson in the men's 10km biathlon sprint. Bit of confusion over his name - some bright spark once wrote it down as "Lee-Steve" in some official blurb and everyone has been calling him that since. But it's definitely just Lee, though we could make him feel at home by all adopting the extra moniker "Steve". Even people already called Steve. And girls."

So "Lee", "Lee-Steve" or "Jacko" will do - but never, Patrick Winterton of Eurosport take note, "Steve"!

The trio of British cross-country skiers made their Olympic Winter Games debuts yesterday. Andrew Musgrave and Andrew Young (both Huntly NSC) finished 55th and 74th respectively in the men’s 15km individual freestyle event, while Fiona Hughes (Yorkshire Dales CCC) came 68th in the women’s 10km freestyle. Musgrave scored a very creditable 69.87 FIS Pts and was just 7.7% behind; Young had 122.52 FIS Pts (14.2%) and Fiona Hughes 176.94 FIS Pts (21.5%). By contrast Lee-Steve JACKSON's ski time in the Biathlon Sprint was 9.9% (overall 12.4%).

That these three youngsters can do so well in spite of the total lack of financial and most other support from the failed SSGB, and with no discernable help from the new BSS is remarkable. That not even a slice of the money due from FIS after the athletes competed in the 2009 World XC Champs went to Cross Country, is a damning indictment on the then Directors of SSGB.

The unanimous verdict of many well wishers on the equalling career PB of Lee-Steve JACKSON in the Sprint was "The boy done well". So thanks to all who have Emailed their congratulations, which we have forwarded to the Olympic Village in Whistler. Amongst the messages we received were those from Huntly NSC (Peter Thorn), former EC biathlete Andy Hallett and our past Olympians Neil Danby RE (1988), Spud Leaning 40 Regt RA (1968), and from New Zealand from ex QDG double 1968 Olympian (Cross Country & Biathlon), Peter Tancock.

He says the TV coverage of Biathlon and XC has been good out there, and we do in fact owe a small apology to the BBC as we understand that Biathlon has been available "on the red button" - which is not much use if you do not have one!

Shooting 1-1 in ever changing conditions of snow, wind and rain he was just 12.47% behind the Medallists. Winner was Vincent JAY of France followed by Emil Hegle SVENDSEN NOR with a surprise bronze for Croatia's Jacov FAK.

The IBU has been inundated with complaints about this, and although it has experienced advisors on site and has been working closely with VANOC for some 3 years, the Host Broadcasters seem to have little knowledge of how Biathlon works. Poor camera angles, ridiculous long range shots, a passion to show trees, inept and pointless shots of the crowd, dreadful captions make it difficult to follow for a knowledgeable viewer, and probably is loosing more fans from the sport than it gains. The typical North American desire to film as many different athletes or spectators in 60 seconds as possible is as confusing as it is pointless, especially when the athletes are not the ones likely to win; (watch CBS's "hurried" golf from Augusta compared to the "more sedate" Open from the BBC, and you will know what we mean!).

The BBC does however have a very good blog written by Ollie Williams, and has far more about biathlon on their website than on their TV screen. Click the link to go to the BBC Live Coverage and scroll down to the relevant link for that day" Day Three as it happens" etc.

Equally good and packed with GBR specific information are various pages, including a photo gallery, on the BOA's Vancouver website.

It will not have escaped the attention of most UK winter sports fans that the BSSF (Snowsport GB) has gone into administration. Fortunately the BBU split from this financially inefficient and totally Alpine bloated organisation back in 1998. A new legal body "British Ski & Snowboarding" (BSS) has been formed to comply with the legalities of athletes competing in the OWG actually having a National Governing Body. All focus of BSS has been on Alpine, Snowboard and Freestyle, to the continued detriment of our fellow nordic athletes in Cross Country.

The GBR Cross Country athletes (Andrew Musgrave, Andrew Young and Fiona Hughes) open their programme in Whistler tonight and we wish them as much success as Lee Jackson has had so far.

At Last! The GBR results since Christmas are on our World Cup and IBU Cup pages.

A veteran of 5 World Championships and 77 World Cup starts "Jacko" is currently performing at his best, but regards Vancouver as merely the appetiser for Sochi 2014 where he believes he will be at his peak mentally and physically. Given that the average age of the male Biathlon Medal Winners at Turin 2006 was 32.1, he may well have a point!

He, and the BBU, are most grateful for the help he has always received from the Army and his Regiment, 2 Yorks (Green Howards). Amazingly he is only the 3rd ever Infantry soldier to compete in Biathlon at the OWG. He is the 100th Army Winter Olympian since the War. We also appreciate all the support of his family & friends and of team sponsor and business partner Skandia, personal sponsor RMA Sports (UK) Ltd, as well as that from the BOA and all you biathlon fans out there!

LEE-STEVE JACKSON: EQUIPMENT, SPONSORS, COACHES

Ammunition:	Lapua	Binding:	Rottefella
Boots:	Alpina	Eye Wear:	Casco
Gloves:	Roeckl	Skis:	Madshus
Ski Poles:	Exel	Race Suit:	Rode
Rifle:	Anschutz	BOA Olympic Race Wear:	adidas

Team Sponsor:	Skandia	Personal Sponsor:	RMA Sports UK Ltd
Regiment / Club:	2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards)

Coach	Jason Sklenar	Wax Technician	Martin Glagow

IBU Cup 7 opened today in Martell ITA and the GBR women showed their male compatriots how to qualify for the Pursuit tomorrow (and gain a Word Cup qualifier!) as Adele WALKER (0-1) finished 31st from 68; Emma FOWLER (1-2) 46th and Olwen THORN (0-2) 47th. Nerys JONES (2-2), in her first ever race for GBR missed the WC cut by less than a minute but still starts in the Pursuit after finishing 52nd.

The Men had a less productive day with only Pete BEYER (0-1) in 55th from 95 qualifying on both counts. Full results are on www.biathlonworld.com.

Friday marks a double celebration for LCpl Lee-Steve JACKSON and his Regiment 2 Yorks (Green Howards).

It is the Opening Ceremony for the XXI Olympic Winter Games (OWG) in Vancouver CAN, although Jacko and his support staff will be watching on TV from their competition base in Whistler, some 3 hours north on the impressively re-built "Sea to Sky Highway". Whilst making his own Olympic début in the 10 km Sprint on Sunday will be an incredible and much deserved milestone in his life, the fact that he is the 100th Army Winter Olympian since 1948 is something to be equally proud of.

The Support Staff behind the GBR #1 of the past 4 seasons are SSgt Jason SKLENAR RE who competed in the 1992 and 2002 OWG and was Biathlon manager in Turin last time out, and our triple GBR Olympic Wax Technician Martin GLAGOW of Germany who supported GBR in 2002 and 2006.

We shall be bringing you news and behind the scenes information about Lee-Steve (or just "Lee") as he used to be known when he first competed for GBR in the Junior World Championships in 1999, in the next few days, so watch this space!

The BBU warmly congratulates Lee-Steve JACKSON on his selection for the XXI Olympic Winter Games (see above) and also Carl GIBSON & Nerys JONES on their first selection for GBR (see below *).

The various squads for Summer 2010 training were selected at the end of the British Championships. Many of the World & IBU Cup teams are spending time on military courses and there is thus an opportunity for more athletes to receive coaching from the Senior Coaches.

The National "Senior" Squad will be split into two, and train most of the summer in Ruhpolding. The Men's "Advanced" Development Group will spend 6 weeks in Ruhpolding whilst the Women will have an 2 week on snow camp and a further 2 weeks in Aldershot. The "traditional" National Development Squad (NDS) will undergo three 2 weeks courses before further selection.

It is important that all athletes (and their military superiors) read, and action by Email, the link below.

1 LSR RLC won every race except the Patrol Race when 3 RHA gained revenge for losing out by just 45 seconds last year! Naturally 1 LSR won the Marina for the 6th successive year equalling the record of 35 Engr Regt. After all their various re-naming 1 LSR are now just one title behind 94 Loc Regt RA who won the Marina 13 times. However 1 LSR still need to take the Army Nordic title four more times to overtake 35 Engr Regt as the most successful Army Nordic Champions.

The RLC Ladies were the Female team champions; the Royal Artillery won the Inter Corps event and the Army are the Inter Service Champions for the 12th consecutive year. The BBU Club Champions show a slightly revised result for the Senior & Junior Men, to that published at the Prize Giving.

As predicted in our final News of 2009, it would be sometime before we were able to upload the WC & IBU Cup results onto this website! We did state where to find then (www.biathlonworld.com)! However if you have still missed all the action, our Results page will be uploaded in the next couple of days for World Cup and IBU Cup, as well as this weeks results from IBU Cup 7 in Martell ITA where Nerys JONES AGC Ladies makes her International début.

WC 4, 5 and 6 are the "Big Three" - Oberhof / Ruhpolding / Antholz. At Antholz Rob CHUDLEY 3 RHA made his World Cup first start; alas he has to re-qualify in the final Trimester, but many congratulations to him after improving and patiently waiting his turn since his first GBR European Cup Junior appearance in 2005 - 06.

The GBR Teams for the 2nd Trimester (WC 4 - 6 & IBU Cup 4 - 5) will be selected at the end of the current training camp in Ruhpolding (but too late for final publication here due to the Office closure [above]). Following results in the 1st Trimester, injuries and military commitments the provisional selection is below. Military commitments include the imminent departure to Afghanistan of Capt Alanda SCOTT, to whom we wish a safe tour and look forward to your return to biathlon, one day!

LCpl Pete Beyer 1 LSR RLC (subject to medical)

Cpl Amanda Lightfoot AGC
Sgt Adele Walker 29 Regt RLC

Coach: Walter Pichler GER
Wax Technician: Martin Glagow GER
Support Staff: Roger Roberts BBU

Reserves (will race at RAC & Div Champs unless called into WC Team)

Cpl Paul Birmingham 1 RTR
LBdr Rob Chudley 3 RHA
LBdr Steve Hill 3 RHA

IBU Cup Team

30 Dec 09 - 44 DAYS TO THE GAMES

The GBR Men's Olympic Biathlon Team will be announced by the BOA on approx 24 Jan 10 - although possibly one week earlier. Oberhof (WC 4) and Ruhpolding GER (WC 5) are the final Olympic qualifying events for the one man who will represent GBR at The Games. Lee-Steve JACKSON currently has eight Olympic Qualifying Standards (OQS) and Kevin KANE four.

Martin GLAGOW is the GBR Olympic Wax Technician, and the Team Manager is SSgt Jason SKLENAR 28 Engr Regt.

As announced here before Christmas there will be no GBR women's Biathlon Team in Vancouver, thus depriving Adele WALKER the chance of a unique family double as her husband BBU Assistant Coach Marc WALKER had been hoping to qualify for the GBR Cross-Country team. Alas, it has proved to be "A Games Too Far" for them both.

Steve HILL gave the more senior members of the team a shooting lesson as his 1-0 in the WC 3 Sprint gave him in a 19.69% result and more importantly guaranteed him WC qualification for the 2nd Trimester of the season (WC 4 - 6). Kevin KANE (2-2) was a whisker under an Olympic qualifier at 15.56%, but Lee-Steve JACKSON and Simon ALLANSON both missed six targets.

Oberhof GER is the venue for WC 4 (6 - 10 Jan 2010) and these four will face competition from the rested Marcel LAPONDER, injured Pete BEYER and the also qualified Rob CHUDLEY and Paul BIRMINGHAM for the Sprint & Relay, which this year will both be held in daylight and not under floodlights. Oberhof and Ruhpolding GER (WC 5) are the final Olympic qualifying events for the one man who will represent GBR at The Games. JACKSON currently has eight OQS and KANE four.

The final World Cup race before Christmas was also the final race in the 2 year qualification period for the GBR women's team in the run up to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, albeit the Biathlon takes place in Whistler BC. Alas, the dream ended in the Sprint at Pokljuka today, as unfortunately neither Adele WALKER nor Emma FOWLER could add to the one Olympic qualifier already held by Emma. Although both had their best percentages of the season, an "under 15%" was out of reach.

Adele (1-0) finished 87th from 112 with 19.16% and thus qualified to race in all 3 World Cups in the next Trimester. Emma recovered some of her shooting form with a 0-2 but at 21.11% will have to re-qualify for WC from the IBU Cup circuit.

Olwen THORN recorded her first WC qualifier after 16 attempts; well done! Shooting 2-0 (and this time at her own target, unlike last week ...!) she finished 66th from 118 (18.4%) in the final IBU Cup 1st Trimester Sprint in Obertilliach AUT.

Obertilliach hosted the 2008 & 2009 British Biathlon Champs and it wasn't just Olwen who was happy to return. Amanda LIGHTFOOT continued her excellent form with two more "first page" results. She was 42nd in the Sprint (1-2) and dropped only 2 place in the Pursuit, with a rather sad 0-0-3-5 shoot. The weekend was extremely cold and a number of athletes including Fay POTTON in her best race of the season (83rd with 0-30 suffered with frostbite during the Sprint, when the temperature dipped to -22ºC.

Although none of the men made the Pursuit, both Rob CHUDLEY (2-1) who was 71st from a huge field of 162 in the Sprint and Paul BIRMINGHAM (0-0) in 73rd place were both under 15%. Carl KELLY made an encouraging GBR debut and if had not shot 3-2 could have been pushing for an under 20% WC qualifier.

Results:

From 1993 - 1996 the British Champs were held at the 1992 Albertville Olympic Biathlon venue of Les Saisies FRA. Earlier this month the Infantry resurrected their training camp and Championships under the watchful coaching eye of BBU Development selector Mark CRISP. Hopefully a number of teams will make it through to the 2010 British Championships in Ruhpolding GER.

The WC returned to Pokljuka SLO and a brand new stadium, which will also host the World Masters Games in January and IBU Cup 8 in March. The GBR women had, what is known in the Army as a "mare" (nightmare), and Olympic qualifying is looking very doubtful. But, never say never; the Sprint on Saturday is another day.

The men had a much better time and continue to inspire with Lee-Steve JACKSON recording his second successive Olympic Qualifier. He finished 84th from 127, shooting 2-2-0-0 and with 13.19% it was his 8th OQS in the past 2 seasons. Kevin KANE (2-2-2-0) and Marcel LAPONDER (0-2-1-0) both had WC qualifiers with 17.84% and 18.55% respectively. Steve HILL, in his first WC race for almost 2 years, shot 1-3-1-1 for a respectable 24.78%.

The euphoria of an Olympic Qualifier for Lee-Steve JACKSON and a World Cup qualifier for the 2nd Trimester for Marcel LAPONDER was tempered by GBR having to withdraw from the Men's Relay at World Cup 2 in Hochfilzen AUT. Just 4 hours before the start Simon ALLANSON had to withdraw due to an overnight cold and 2 hours later his replacement Pete BEYER severely twisted his ankle whilst jogging. It is not a disaster because the lowest scoring two of the five relays each season are not counted so this, and the Vancouver Relay, will be our "zeros". BEYER has returned to the UK and should be training before Christmas.

In the Men's Sprint JACKSON shot 2-0 to finish 103 but with an OQS of 13.17%; Kevin KANE (0-2) had 15.51% and just missed an OQS as did LAPONDER (0-1) who with 16.17% had his best ever WC result.

Adele WALKER (1-1) and Alanda SCOTT (1-3) could not match the success of the men, and were both over 20%.

Ridnaun ITA hosted IBU Cup 2 in almost perfect conditions and after a workmanlike day in the Individual races on the Saturday the Sprints on Sunday were almost perfect for GBR.

Pride of place went to Amanda LIGHTFOOT (0-2) who had her best ever IBU Cup result and finished 45th from 103. More to the point she was the first GBR athlete to be on "the first page of the results" for some years!

Steve HILL (0-1), Rob CHUDLEY (3-0) and in only his 3rd ever International race Paul BIRMINGHAM (0-2) all registered World Cup Qualifiers, with HILL immediately joining the WC team as cover for the injured Pete BEYER. He is replaced in the IBU team by Carl KELLY from 1 LSR RLC who showed that he is in great skiing (if not shooting!) form in the weekend's Alpencup in Obertilliach AUT.

All athletes & Support Staff - not just those in the National Teams - must check out the new "UK Anti- Doping" (UKAD) rules effective from 14 Dec 09.

There is no major change for athletes from the existing rules, issued by UK Sport, but there are some minor amendments effective 14 Dec 09 - the date that the first truly independent UK anti doping agency goes live.

France produced a stunning final leg to win the first Men's Relay of the new season in Östersund this morning. Norway were second and Austria third. In a fast race GBR produced their best "time behind" (9.9%) for a decade, confirming the progress shown in the Sprint. Only one target was missed out of 40. Results

Germany confirmed their position as the top women's relay team in the afternoon race. GBR currently has only 3 women qualified for WC so there was no team from GBR. Results

Although the favourites took most of the male and female honours during an excellent start to the new season, one of the highlights of the weekend was the two Podiums of Tim BURKE USA. His first ever medal and the first for Team USA for nearly 20 years, and a just reward for him and the USBA for several years of training and financial investment.

The GBR Men created their own record today when all four athletes in the WC 1 Sprint in Östersund recorded under 20%, and thus qualify for the second Trimester (up to WC 6). Lee-Steve JACKSON (1-2) set the pace with 17.23% to finish 109th in another large field of 133. Pete BAYER (0-2) made up for his narrow 0.01% failure to make the 20% cut in the Individual to finish 113rd with 18.15%. Simon ALLANSON (0-2) starting his first WC of the season had 19.65% and 119th place, just one ahead of Kevin KANE whose 0-3 shoot did not match the quality of Thursday night and 19.93%. All in all, a Super Saturday for the Men.

It was not such a super day for the GBR women in the morning's Sprint. Below par shooting determined that neither athlete would record under 20%. Emma FOWLER (2-3) was 104th and Alanda SCOTT (1-3) 110th.

In the first race of the new season Kevin KANE led the GBR Olympic quest and achieved his 4th under 15% BOA Olympic qualifier in 6 races. Only 11 athletes bettered his shooting (0-2-0-0) as he finished 92nd from an unusually large field of 134 with a 13.33%. Lee-Steve JACKSON (0-2-2-0), who had six qualifiers last season, was not far behind in 101st spot with 15.97%. Pete BAYER (1-2-0-2) was agonisingly less than 1 second from achieving his Trimester 2 qualifier with 20.01% and 112th place. Marcel LAPONDER (1-2-1-0) didn't repeat his pre-season form and was 122nd with 24.66%; although as he was born in South Africa the sudden drop in temperature to -14ºC probably did not help.

Alanda SCOTT confirmed her IBU Cup form with her best ever WC result when she finished 93rd from 115. Shooting 1-1-1-1 and with 18.58% she is now qualified for all WC races up until the end of the 2nd Trimester at WC 6 on 24 Jan 10. Adele WALKER wobbled a little on the range with a 1-3-2-1 to finish 104th with 24.9%

In only his second race for GBR Paul BIRMINGHAM confirmed his potential when he just missed a WC qualifier in the second Sprint at IBU Cup 1. Shooting 1-2 he was just 13 secs off the coveted qualification. The rest of the men were somewhat behind him. With Alanda SCOTT resting before her WC race in Östersund, the other three GBR women finished in the same order as yesterday. They also all failed to qualify but once again Amanda LIGHTFOOT was less than a minute from doing so.

Idre is always the most keenly contested of the IBU Cups and we were not expecting too many WC qualifiers. Perhaps the long Swedish nights resulted in a little "Idre Insomnia". The athletes and team Leader Scotty BANES fly tomorrow to Obertilliach AUT for 10 days training before IBU Cup 2 in Ridnaun ITA (12-13 Dec). Hopefully, as in 2009, the second IBU Cup will see more qualifiers for GBR. The men should be boosted by the return of Ben WOOLLEY who has been unwell for the past 3 weeks, and has only trained lightly.

A fine performance in the first Sprint of the Season's opening IBU Cup in Idre SWE today saw Alanda SCOTT regain her World Cup qualification. She shot 0-2 and finished in 71st place. Alanda LIGHTFOOT (1-1) came 86th and was some 45 secs off a qualifier. Fay POTTON, on her return to the Team after a 2 year absence, was just behind Olwen THORN.

Steve HILL was the best of the men with a 22.8%. Debutants Paul BIRMINGHAM, Ryan SOLON and Dan FULLER mixed it with Rob CHUDLEY although all were a bit off the qualifying pace.

The IBU website (www.biathlonworld.com) today published an in depth interview with GBR Team Coach Walter PICHLER on the occasion of the start of his second season in charge of the GBR WC Team.

The GBR Teams until Christmas (after WC 3 and IBU Cup 3) have been selected following the cancelation of the last Selection race in Östersund SWE due to dangerous icy conditions. Congratulations to the successful athletes (listed below in overall order), especially those making their International debut, and commiserations to all those who were not selected.

Coach: Walter Pichler GER
Wax Technician: Martin Glagow GER
Olympic Team Manager: SSgt Jason Sklenar 28 Engr Regt
Support Staff: Roger Roberts BBU (WC 2 & 3)

* new selection for GBR

Coach: Hldr Scotty BANES 4 SCOTS
Wax Technician: Martin Glagow GER (IBU Cup 1 only)
Support Staff: SSgt Jason Sklenar 28 Engr Regt (IBU Cup 1 only)
SSgt Marc Walker 1 LSR RLC (IBU Cup 3 only)

The snow was nearly all man made, the wind was windy and on Sunday the ice was too icy. Nevertheless the "top" athletes of last season came out on top again, but there were some promising performances from some "new kids on the block". Lee-Steve JACKSON was the overall best man and Alanda SCOTT the top female athlete. The WC athletes have stayed in Östersund whilst the IBU team is now in Idre preparing for the IBU 1 Cup next weekend.

IBU Cup Athlete Olwen Thorn is not only the only civilian in the GBR team, she is also the only athlete with her own website! She would love you to take a look ...

Many of our readers are also Cross Country athletes or fans. We thus have no hesitation in recommending a useful new website (but remember to come back to us!). FIS Cross Country website.

Our XC skiers may also be interested in the popular SSE end of season Nordic Skills and Multi Activity Week in Kvitavatn NOR from 04 - 11 Apr 10. Amongst the Instructors are XC Olympian Patrick Winterton and our very own six times Olympian Mike Dixon. Kvitavatn Information

The 2010 WADA code is effective from 01 Jan 2010. There are a number of changes from 2009 - which are highlighted in the summary. Prepare for WADA 2010 now!