February 21 – Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) led all 17 teams through the first leg of the Men’s 4 X 7.5K Relay in which the US finished ninth, 2:31.9 behind the winning squad from Germany who won in 1:21.51.5. Russia took Silver, 20.9 seconds back, while France,43.6 seconds back, earned Bronze in a photo finish over Sweden.
Hakkinen, immediately after finishing gave his performance, which surprised many in the crowd, a typically understated assessment, “Now, that was a bit better (referring to his disappointing 80th in last week’s 10K Sprint).”
Today, Hakkinen was just short of brilliant. He came to the prone stage in third position; shot with confidence using only one extra round and was gone. His standing stage was equally as good, although he needed one extra round. He out shot the usually lightening fast Ricco Gross of Germany and left for the final 2.5K in first position. Hakkinen stretched his lead over Gross to 6.3 seconds by the time he passed off to Rossignol’s Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY). “Gross commented, “Jay left me today. I could not stay with him after standing shooting.”
Hakkinen added, “That was a big thrill coming into the stadium in first. That clicks off another of my goals for the season but I have a few others to accomplish. We have been pointing all season to this relay. My shooting was better today. In the relay you can take a few more chances since you have three extra rounds in each stage, so I pushed the cadence a little bit. My skis were fantastic today and that made it easier today.”
Continuing, he discussed Saturday’s Mass Start competition. “The Mass Start is a very different competition than this. It depends on good shooting in the prone stages and there are no extra rounds. I do not want to put myself in the same position that I was after the 20K. But I do feel better now that the relay has gone well.”
Burke commented on leaving the stadium with the lead, “I was not nervous, but I definitely was excited. All through the first loop, I was trying to get those other guys just behind me to take the lead so I could just get in behind the train, but they would not pass. I was skiing easily the whole loop.” Unlike Hakkinen, Burke needed all three extra rounds to clean both prone and standing, as the US team slipped back to seventh position. “I wish I could have shot better,” Burke added, “I was shaking after the third standing shot, so it was a struggle.”
Burke’s good friend and Rossignol skier Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) took over for the third leg. The left-handed Bailey needed only one extra round to clean prone. Like Burke, he needed all three extra rounds to clean standing, and lost another position. “I was satisfied today and avoided the penalty loop. Generally, I am very happy with the Games. With the good relay today and a top 30 finish (a personal best 27th place); I met my goals and expectations. Of course I would have like to done better in the Sprint and Pursuit, but it is sport and things do not always go the way you want them to.”
That statement also described Jeremy Teela’s (Anchorage, AK) anchor leg. With only one extra round in prone, Teela moved the US up to seventh position. In the standing stage, things did not go as Teela hoped for .A bit dejected after using all three extra rounds and then taking a penalty, he commented, “If I did not have that penalty, we would have been eighth. My shooting and skiing just have not come together here as I expected.”
Despite Teela’s one penalty, the ninth place finish for the US men is the team’s best finish of the season in a Relay (previous best 10th at Hochfilzen World Cup in December. The team was closer to the winners than in Hochfilzen, with 2:31.9 back today to 3:25.7 back, with an additional three shots (13 to 10) and a penalty today.
More over, the result today ties the US Best Olympic finish in the modern era of Olympic Biathlon, which started in 1980, with the change to .22 caliber rifles and new mechanical targets at Lake Placid, New York. The US also finished ninth at Calgary in 1988. The best US finish in the Relay at an Olympic Winter Games was a sixth place in Sapporo, Japan in 1972. Today’s performance ties for third on the all-time combined big bore/modern era of Olympic Biathlon.
Tim Burke summed up the significance of the team and Jay Hakkinen’s performance. “It was enormously exciting to see Jay come in, in the lead. All four of us will be back in 2010 at Vancouver and we will all be working between now and then to match Jay. We can be in the top three or four then.”
Today’s Men’s Relay closes Olympic competition for all of the US men save Hakkinen. He will be going after another result to match or better his 10th place in the opening 20K Individual on February 11 in the Men’s 15K Mass Start this Saturday.
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