January 30, 2006 – Just weeks away from his first Olympic Winter Games, Canada’s Jean-Philippe LeGuellec pulled out a medal-winning performance in the junior men’s sprint at the World Youth and Junior Biathlon Championships.

The 20-year-old LeGuellec finished third in the world junior sprint – an event he won at the 2004 championships in France. This is the fifth world junior medal for the Shannon, Quebec, native who will be representing Canada at the 2004 Olympic Winter Games in Torino next month.

“To compete at the world championships before Torino is the best preparation I can have,” said LeGuellec. “It’s high-calibre races here, and it will be very high-calibre at the Olympics. There are also thousands of spectators – the most I’ve ever seen, even more than the World Cup races before Christmas. I love the fact that there’s a lot of people to watch.”

Adding to LeGuellec’s celebratory mood is the fact that his younger brother, Pierre-Luc, is also competing as part of the men’s youth team at Presqu’Ile – the first time the two brothers have been on the same team since their cadet years.

“I’m very happy for him, that he’s having a chance to live his dream,” said LeGuellec, who believes his younger brother – who joined the sport initially more for the fun and friends – has the physique and shooting accuracy to make him a real threat in the future should he choose to pursue the sport at a high-performance level. “Right now, he’s enjoying it and having fun, and that’s important.”

The senior LeGuellec’s performance was Canada’s best for the day, in an impressive showing by the 15-member delegation. Three others placed in the top-30 in the men’s junior sprint – Nathan Smith finished 24th, Marc-Andre Bedard was 25th, and Yannick Letailleur was 29th – while Canada’s junior women finished just outside the top-30 in their 7.5km sprint.

In the youth sprints, it was another male who laid down the Canadian-best performance of the day with Maxime LeBoeuf finishing 10th. Two Canadian ladies cracked the top-30 in the youth women’s sprint, with Audrey Attali finishing 27th, and Yolaine Oddou hanging on for 29th.

Action resumes on Sunday with the pursuit races.

Junior men’s 10km sprint
Top 3:
1. Petr Hradecky, CZE, 26:48.1;
2. Vincent Jay, FRA, 26:66.9;
3. Jean-Philippe LeGuellec, CAN, 26:70.5.

Other Canadians:
24. Nathan Smith, CAN, 27:98.5
25. Marc-Andre Bedard, CAN, 27.98.8
29. Yannick Letailleur, CAN, 28:67.6

Youth men’s 7.5km sprint
Top 3:
1. Arild Askestad, NOR, 19:45.9; 2. Florian Graf, GER, 19:61.7; 3. Alexander
Ogarkov, RUS, 19:65.7.
Canadians:
10. Maxime LeBoeuf, CAN, 19:92.7
46. Joel Pacas, CAN, 22:58.0
52. Pierre-Luc LeGuellec, CAN, 24:98.2

Junior women’s 7.5km sprint
Top 3:
1. Carolin Hennecke, GER, 22:13.1; 2. Magdalena Neuner, GER, 22:17.9; Marion
Blondeau, FRA, 22:28.9.
Canadians:
33. Claude Godbout, CAN, 25:64.8
36. Cynthia Clark, CAN, 25:69.9
37. Megan Imrie, CAN, 26:04.8
43. Nicky Pacas, CAN, 28:11.1

Youth women’s 6 km sprint
Top 3:
1. Olga Vilukhina, RUS, 19:42.0; 2. Irina Maximova, RUS, 19:74.6; 3. Tamara
Baric, SLO, 19:76.3.
Canadians:
27. Audrey Attali, CAN, 22:58.6
29. Yolaine Oddou, CAN, 22:71.5
32. Megan Tandy, CAN, 22:78.9
33. Jessica Sedlock, CAN, 22:88.3