February 27, 2004 – The U.S. Biathlon Team had a good start to the day in Lake Placid with a

sixteenth place result from Rachel Steer in the 7.5K women's sprint

race. Jay Hakkinen, also of Alaska, matched that result in the 10K

men's sprint competition at the World Cup, leaving the U.S. with its best day of biathlon yet this season.

Big blue skies and warming temperatures were the breeding ground for Hakkinen's success today. The atmosphere was relaxed, especially compared to the last competitions that the Americans did in Oberhof, Germany, at World Championships, where the weather problems cycled between gusty winds to foggy blizzards.

Not only did the beautiful weather contribute to Hakkinen's success, but so did the good memory of a fifth place finish at a World Cup in 1999 on the same tracks that he competed on today.

Though he was not satisfied with his performances in Oberhof, Hakkinen is quick to point out that it was never his main goal to perform well there. “To be honest, my focus this season was not on World Championships, but on getting back on track by getting good results on the World Cup and qualifying for the National Team,” Hakkinen would say after the race.

Wearing bib number 11, Hakkinen started early in the field. This

provided him the opportunity to focus less on his other competitors and more on his own race. It may also have proved crucial in regards to his skis. Most of the top finishers today started early. Some of the later finishers were heard after the race complaining about choosing the wrong skis. An athlete that has a start time relatively close to the time that they choose their skis can often provide a slight advantage.

After the race, Hakkinen would comment on his strategy for today's race, “I went all out from the start. That's how you have to do it on the World Cup. If you ease up at all with your pace, then you will lose time. So I just went as hard as I could because I know that in prone I am able to approach the range with a little higher heart rate.”

In prone was where the fans started to feel that Jay was having a good race. He quickly hit down his first three targets, took a short pause, and then cleared the final two. The perhaps five hundred fans perched behind the shooting range cheered knowing that he could not have performed any better.

When he came into standing, Hakkinen's mind was clear of thoughts regarding his place. The best shooters are often the athletes that think the least and let their years of experience take over once they reach the shooting point.

“I told myself to hit all of the targets. The shooting goes quite quickly, so there is little time to think. Next to me, I had Birnbacher of Germany shooting, which certainly pressured my shooting pace,” said Hakkinen after the race. In standing, Jay had one missed target remaining when he left the range. Before returning onto the course towards the finish, he had to take a trip into the 150-meter penalty loop.

“I was really disappointed about having to go into the penalty loop because I knew that I was losing a lot of time and a lot of places,” said Hakkinen. “I knew that the last loop would hurt. I tried to make it hurt, at least. So too did I know that the harder I pressed, the better I would place. I often lose a lot of places on the last lap, so I tried not to let it happen too much again today.”

In the end, Hakkinen finished in 16th place, 1:38.9 behind winner Lars Berger of Norway. Like Rachel Steer, Hakkinen also moved up

into the top-fifty on the overall World Cup points list. He now ranks

49th.

The rest of the field provided a dramatic show for the spectators in Lake Placid and viewers around the world watching the race live. Numerous different athletes, from various nations, showed early leads, but were soon replaced by new leaders.

It seemed set that Raphael Poiree would take the victory with his clean

shooting, but Lars Berger put in an amazing final loop to finish first. Poiree was relegated to second place, 6.7 seconds back. Janez Maric of Slovenia, who shot perfectly, was third, 16.2 seconds behind the Norwegian.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen proved fast on skis, but an early upset in the prone position with three targets left standing certainly erased his hopes of winning. A fast standing bout that netted five hit targets kept him in the race for finishing in the top ten.

The men will take a day of rest before returning to the courses in Lake

Placid. On Sunday, the 12.5K men's pursuit will be held. Each

competitor will start based upon his finish time in the race today.

“It is a shooting game in the pursuit race,” said Jay Hakkinen, who will start sixteenth, 1:39 behind. “So far, I have had good shooting results, which I hope will continue through tomorrow's race.”

One thing is certain. Jay Hakkinen is back on track.

Men's 10Kr Sprint

1. Lars Berger NOR 1,1 26:59.3 2. Raphael Poiree FRA 0,0 +0:06.7 3. Janez Maric SLO 0,0 +0:16.2 16. Jay Hakkinen USA 0,1 +1:38.9 31. Robin Clegg CAN 0,2 +2:24.4 36. Jeremy Teela USA 1,2 +2:37.1 52. Steve Cyr CAN 1,2 +3:40.0 53. David Leoni CAN 1,1 +3:55.0 58. Tim Burke USA 2,1 +4:23.3 63. Carl Pelletier CAN 1,1 +5:32.4 66. Jacob Beste USA 2,1 +5:53.9 67. Mark Matheny USA 3,1 +7:53.8