February 13, 2008 (Oestersund, Sweden) – Officials reporting high winds of up to 60mph, forced a 24-hour postponement Wednesday in the women’s 15km individual race at the Biathlon World Championships. The move means a doubling-up of the schedule for Thursday. The men are scheduled for their individual, a 20km, race in the morning and organizers dropped the women’s 15km into an early afternoon start.

U.S. starters include: Men – Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, Jeremy Teela and Russell Currier. Women – Laura Spector, Lanny Barnes, Haley Johnson and Caitlin Compton.

Canadian starters include: Men – Robin Clegg, Jean-Philippe Leguellec, Scott Perras and Nathan Smith; Women – Sandra Keith, Zina Kocher, Megan Imrie and Megan Tandy.

US Biathlon release
A strong cold front blasted through Ostersund early Wednesday morning, causing the 15km Individual competition scheduled for today to be cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday at 14:05 PM CET. The change in the schedule means that both the Women’s 15km and the Men’s 20km will be on Thursday. The men’s competition will start as scheduled at 17:15 CET. The decision to cancel today’s competition was announced by IBU Race Director Franz Berger. Berger said, “The winds are just too strong to have a fair competition for all of the athletes.”

Winds which gusted as high as 60 miles per hour ripped banners from the fences, dropped large branches on the tracks, destroyed several television camera positions, as well as taking the roof off of the mobile studio of one broadcaster. The storm also changed the plans for Sweden’s King Karl XVI. Gustav. The Monarch was a guest at the World Championships today and scheduled to take part in a “royal shooting practice” at 12:30 CET but that was also postponed. It is not known at this time if the Monarch will attend the competitions tomorrow.

Starters for the US Biathlon Team in the 15km Individual remain the same with Laura Spector (Lenox, MA), Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO), Haley Johnson (lake Placid, NY), and Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN).

Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK), and Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) will represent the US in the Men’s 20km Individual.