February 03, 2011 (Presque Isle, ME) – Today a fresh blanket of freshly fallen snow, bright sunshine and cold temperatures, have greeted many of the world’s top biathletes as they gather here in Northern Maine to kick off historic USA events in Aroostook County in Maine’s far north country.

Competition gets underway here Friday morning with the men’s 10km sprint, with races also scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Presque Isle at the lovely Nordic Heritage Centre. Next weekend the circuit will  travel back to Fort Kent, Maine for races slated for February 10-13th.

The IBU’s E.ON World Cup tour is expecting large crowds to be on hand for the opener and a huge international television audience to follow all the live action. There will be no domestic TV coverage in the United States.

The pair of world cup events will mark the largest sporting events ever held in the state, and are expected to bring an economic benefit to the region of over $10 million. A total of 30 nations and over 250 athletes are on hand for the events.

Among the top athletes to take part are Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen, overall World Cup winner of the 2009 season, Sweden’s strong Helena Ekholm, Norway’s powerhouse Tora Berger, the marvelous German veterans Andrea Henkel and the legendary Magdalena Neuner, and France’s Marie Laure Brunet. Top American women will include Haley Johnson, Laura Spector and Sara Studebacker.

The international men’s field will be led by Norway’s 4×7.5km team member gold medalist in Vancouver and new sensation, Tarjei Boe, who won his first Junior World crown here in 2006. Boe is the current IBU World Cup leader followed by fellow Norwegian, Emil Hegle Svensen, who took home three medals from Vancouver. Likewise powerhouse Michael Greis of Germany is on hand, as is the legendary Ole Einar Bjorndalen from Norway, widely considered the most decorated biathlete of all time. He won his first career medal a few years back in 1992, and he never turned back.

Tim Burke from Paul Smith’s, N.Y., who currently sits 37th overall, is not on the start list due to sickness and may not race until Fort Kent. The American men will be led by Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid, NY coming off great form in Antholz, Italy with an impressive second-best career placing of 12th in the sprint, despite having two penalties. Also included for the men will be Leif Nordren of Minnesota, Jay Hakkinen of Alaska, Jeremy Teela of Heber City, UT and Zach Hall from Nikiski, Alaska.

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec from Shannon, QC, ranked 36th in the World Cup standings, leads the Canadian men’s team along with Brendan Green of Hay River, N.W.T. who recently posted some of his best results. Scott Perras of Regina, SK, Marc-André Bédard, of Valcartier, QC and Nathan Smith of Calgary, AB are also on board. Rosanna Crawford of Canmore, AB and Claude Godbout of Valcartier, QC are representing Canada in the women’s field.

SkiTrax sat down with NBC’s two-time Olympic biathlon expert commentator, Chad Samela for a preview. Samela spoke of the importance of these events to the sport in the USA. “I think it’s important for the sport worldwide not just in the United States. But it is important for the sport to be vibrant in the US. We need the sport to touch down here in the states. It will also help the US athletes, too. It gives them a big advantage to compete at home.”

“The people here are so great, They’ll do a wonderful job and there’s so much warmth in the towns around here. When the world’s best athletes leave, they’ll have liked the world cups here very much,” added Samela.

Following the Fort Kent events the athletes will travel to Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia for the 2011 IBU World Championships from March 3-13.