January 6, 2006 – After a week of qualifying races at Fort Kent, Maine, six Rossignol skiers were named to the 2006 Olympic Biathlon team. For the men, it was Tim Burke of Saranac Lake, NY, Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid, NY, and Brian Olsen, Minneapolis, MN that came out on top of the leader board after four qualifying races. They will join, Rossignol skier Jay Hakkinen of Kasilof, AK who had already qualified for the Team based on his previous World Cup points. On the women’s side, it was Rossignol skiers Lanny and Tracy Barnes of Durango, Co, who will represent the United States in Torino, Italy in the winter games. Burke, Olsen and the Barnes twins also ski for Maine Winter Sports Center. It was an up and down week for many of the skiers, with weather events playing an important role in both skiing and shooting phases of the events. As Bailey exclaimed; “it was the most stressful week of my life”.

It took consistent results throughout the week to qualify for the team and the three men delivered. Burke put together the best results of the week with two wins and two second place finishes to qualify first for the team. Bailey came through with a win in the last race after finishing 3rd in two races and 4th in the 20km event. Olsen also had consistent skiing and shooting throughout the week, finishing 3rd in the 20km event and 4th in the following three races. On the women’s side, the leader board changed daily with the pressure of making the Olympic Team affecting the performance of many of the skiers. Neither Lanny or Tracy came out on top in any event, but their steady performances throughout the week was enough to put them on the roster. Tracy had two 3rd and two 4th place finishes while Lanny had two 6th, one 7th, and one 8th place finishes for the week. The team’s major sponsor TD Banknorth hosted the athletes at a Celtics game in Boston to officially announce the Olympic Team. The team then flew to Germany to compete in a World Cup event and tune up for the winter games in Torino, Italy in February. Bailey indicated that he was extremely pleased with the men’s team members and stated “we have very high goals for the Olympics”. Good luck to all Rossignol skiers and the other four members of the Olympic Biathlon team in Torino.