WINTER OLYMPICS : Biathlon : U.S. Medal Hopes Are Shot Down

Straight shooter Josh Thompson’s eye deserted him, joining the rest of his body, and the United States’ great hope for an Olympic medal in the biathlon went up in three tiny puffs of gun smoke.

Thompson, of Gunnison, Colo., missed his last three shots from the standing position, adding three more penalty minutes to his time, and finished far down the list in the 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) competition combining cross-country skiing and target shooting.

Two more biathlon events remain in these Winter Games, the 10k individual and the relay, but Thompson won the silver medal last season in the World Championships at 20 kilometers and it was considered his strongest event. His time of 1 hour 1 minute 29.4 seconds was good enough for 25th place, which made him the top American.

Eastern Europeans won the gold and silver medals, an Italian the bronze.

Frank-Peter Roetsch of East Germany was first, finishing in 56:33.3, his time including three penalty minutes for misses. Valeri Medvedtsev of the Soviet Union was second in 56:54.6 with two penalty minutes. Italian Johann Passler was third in 57:10.1 with two penalty minutes.

Biathletes ski with their small-bore rifles slung on their backs, and the sport is widely touted as the most difficult in the Winter Games. It requires athletes to go all out in the skiing portions, then suddenly turn off the adrenaline and turn on the concentration at the shooting range. Biathletes call it the rabbit-to-rock sport.

In the 20K, the first skiing loop is 3.75K, followed by 5 shots at 50 meters from the prone position. The next stage involves a 5K loop and standing shooting, followed by another 3.75K loop and another prone shoot, then another 5K and the final standing shoot. After that, there is a final 2.5K skiing loop.

In some biathlon events, a miss with the rifle results in a penalty loop but in this longer race, penalty minutes are assessed, at the rate of a minute a miss.

Altogether, Thompson missed five shots, one in his first prone stage, one in his first standing shoot, then the third, fourth and fifth shots in his final standing stage.

Even had he made those last three shots, Thompson would not have finished in the medals. He would have been 10th, though.

“I was really disappointed,” he said of his final three misses. “I was surprised I did that and very disappointed. That pretty much sealed it right there.”

He also said that he knew he was in trouble early in the race.

“I started (skiing) a little bit hard and went lactic right away. When you start too hard, it hurts--the burning in the muscles. I just started too fast.”

Thompson might also have made a strategic error, choosing to start late in the field of 71 biathletes. The day was warm, 50-plus degrees, and Willie Carow of Putney, Vt., said that on some exposed portions of the course, the sun deteriorated the snow, making it harder to ski as the race wore on.

Thompson said, however, that the problems were with his body and his shooting, not the course.

“I don’t think I had any problems with the course, I just had trouble shooting,” he said. “I missed on the first stage but then I realized that the race is never over till it’s over. I was doing OK, and then I did it again.”

The last three misses really hurt, though. “You just can’t do it with that kind of shooting,” Thompson said.

Because of his medal possibilities, Thompson has been a popular athlete with U.S. reporters and he has used the opportunity to boost biathlon. He said he has mixed emotions about that now.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” he said. “I’ve never had that much attention before, and maybe it’s been my downfall for letting it get to me. At the same time, it’s very gratifying to see people turned on to (biathlon).

“But I’ve never been up on a pedestal like this and it’s a long fall.”

He said, though, that he plans to continue in the sport and plans to be at the next Winter Games. “I’m going to spend another four years and try again,” he said.

Darin Binning of Pinedale, Wyo., was the 2nd-fastest American, finishing 42nd. Carow was 49th, and Curtis Schreiner of Day, N.Y., 52nd.