December 2, 2009 (Östersund, SWE) – World Cup racing began today in Östersund, Sweden as the US Biathlon team looks to follow-up last year’s strong season with their sights set on the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The World Cup team includes 2006 Olympian Lanny Barnes (Durango, Co), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY), Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), 2006 Olympian Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), 2006 Olympian Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), three-time Olympian Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, Alaska), Kevin Patzoldt (Grand Rapids, MN), and two-time Olympian Jeremy Teela (Heber City, UT).

Helena Jonsson tonight proved that last season was not a fluke, as she convincingly won the first competition of the new e.on Ruhrgas IBU World Cup season. Covering the tough 15K course in 43:01.4, she logged a 26.2 second victory over teammate Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek. (BiathlonWorld.com release HERE). Zina Kocher (CAN) had the best North American result, at 56th, followed by her team mate Sandra Keith in 58th, with the USA’s Sara Studebaker in 60th.

The women kicked off the competition with the 15km Individual race at 11:10 am, (EST) – Full results HERE.

USBA High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler expects a lot from the team this season, and knows that the athletes have worked hard during the last few months of training to make their Olympic dream come true.

“We had amazing training camps with almost no health problems among the team members so we could really do all the quality work we wanted to do. With that last year behind us the goal is clear: We do not want to repeat that year. We want to take a step forward,” said Eisenbichler.

The bar was raised significantly last year. With Jeremy Teela’s third place in the Vancouver World Cup and Tim Burke’s top ten spots during the season the men will have to ski fast and shoot well to repeat those results. The women’s team, with a Top 10 result during the World Championships in Korea, also showed that they are getting closer to the dominating nations in biathlon.

“The level in our team was high last year already. But we want to raise that and even stabilize it. We need that constancy in skiing and shooting to be at the top places even more. I think be made a big step forward on the shooting range thanks to the engagement of the former Italian coach Armin Auchentaller. We saw the results at the Summer World Championships in Germany, and I am sure that we will be able to repeat them,” added Eisenbichler.

The men’s 20km Individual race begins December 3, at 11:10 am (EST). Watch all the World Cup racing live online by clicking HERE.

World Cup Race Schedule (all times EST)
– Wed. 12/2 11:10 am Individual Women
– Thurs. 12/3 11:10 am Individual Men
– Sat. 12/5 5:30 am Sprint Women – 8:30 am Sprint Men
– Sun. 12/6 5:00 am Relay Men – 8:00 am Relay Women