Road to Russia: End of Year Summary

The snow is melting and another awesome biathlon season is behind us! We wanted to wrap things up by first thanking you for all your help and support that allowed us to make history once again this winter and bring home some international medals!! We were really happy with how our season went and couldn’t have done it without your help and support! We like to think of you as part of our team and family and we hope you will continue to join us as we push, in just two years, for that first ever Gold Medal for the US in Biathlon.

We made important steps in our training this year to get closer to that medal in the 2014 Olympics by increasing our ski speed and bringing our shooting again to a whole new level. We joined forces this year with Advanced Technology International (ATI) and not only did their support, but their stocks allowed us to find new and inventive ways of challenging our shooting.  As two of the best in the world at shooting, with a heart rate of 180 beats per minute, we have to be creative in reaching new heights for biathlon. One thing we discovered that has help us tremendously is 3-gun or multi-gun events. Similar to mini biathlon, you are shooting while on the fly with rifles, pistols and shotguns. The rifle shooting has been the most beneficial and the best transfer. We’ve been using .223′s provided by Bushmaster for not only competing, but an important training tool for biathlon. We saw instant improvements in our biathlon shooting and were also hooked into this exciting event. We plan to continue our 3-gun training to not only bring our level of shooting up, but to challenge ourselves in yet another endeavor.

As two of the best biathlon shooters in the world, we can’t take all the credit. Our entire careers as biathletes, shooters, and hunters, we’ve been relying on Otis Technology to keep our firearms not only functioning properly, but throwing some of the tightest groups we’ve seen in our barrels in -30 degree temperatures.  Another addition and help to the tight groups is the Teludyne Tech Straight Jacket that wraps around our barrels and makes them more rigid, thus allowing for a straighter bullet trajectory and tighter groups.  These two, along with an awesome dad that coaches us in our shooting, and the opportunity to set up a private range on our fitness coach, Rick Crawford’s land, has given us the edge we need to stay ahead of the game.

Now since biathlon isn’t all about the shooting, we’ve also been working really hard on our skiing, as that is where we are still a small step behind the Europeans, but we are quickly gaining.  We’ve seen a steady improvement every year and were skiing even with the Europeans in several races this year.  By next year we plan to be consistently matching their ski speed as well as having faster split times than them in World Championships with a timed peak.  This means another push in training and at a higher intensity.  We’ve got a great plan set with our coach, Rick Crawford, and have already started our training for next year.

We were able to make huge gains in our skiing and training this year thanks to several things. First, the Enell… this sports bra has allowed us to train in comfort day after day, hour after hour.  When you are pushing yourself to the limit, it helps to have a few things that are comfortable.  Second, We were lucky enough to get our hands on some phenomenal new skis by Atomic. Their new skis not only rock this world, but they have added a riser under the binding to help the skier push off of a flat foot and get in a better forward position.  This makes a huge difference when you think of how many thousands of times you push off of that ski over a 15km loop.  Third, SportLegs… We’ve wanted to keep this our secret for a long time because it works so well, but it’s hard not to share something that has helped our training and racing.  SportLegs eliminates the lactic acid burn and allows us to train long and harder at a lower heart rate.  It’s one of those things you have to try it to believe it.  Fourth, not done yet, when it comes to recovery, one really important tool is ICH (no it’s not German):  Ice, Compression, and Heat all aid in recovery if utilized at the right time.  You’ve heard of ice baths and hot baths, well 110% brings that idea to any place in the world.  Right after a race or workout we can put on 110% compression shorts, tights, arm bands and add alternate ice and heat packs into built in pockets to stimulate blood flow and speed recovery.  Simple, but it works.

A few other really important weapons in our arsenal are Sealskinz waterproof socks and gloves and Smith Optics.  You may ask, why are socks, gloves and sunglasses so important…well because if you’ve ever been in -30 degree weather and can’t feel your fingers or toes and tried to do anything let alone compete in a World Cup, then you can appreciate something that will not only allow you to keep your fingers and toes at the end of the day, but helps you to make precision movements.  Also imagine driving through a snow storm or a heavy rain storm without a windshield in your car or your windshield fogged up… it’s scary.  That’s how we felt before we found Smith Optics. Now we can not only see, but we have the confidence to attack the course in conditions where our competitors are left squinting through the flakes. Smith Optics also has optics in their Elite division that are safety rated and will protect your eyes from just about any accident on the shooting range.

Now to how all of this added up to our results and performances this season:  Lanny reached the podium twice while Tracy made it into the coveted top 10 3 times this season battling more than 100 competitors from all over the world to earn those placings.  Tracy finished the 2011 year with an 8th place in Ridnaun, Italy in the 15km Individual in the International Biathlon Cup.  From there she went into 7th place in the Individual in the IBU Cup in Forni Avoltri, Italy and placed 10th in the Sprint Race in Camore, Alberta Canada.  Lanny had both of her podium finishes on North American soil in Canada. She finished 4th place in the Sprint race and grabbed the silver medal and 2nd place in the Individual. She was beat out for the gold in the final seconds of the race by a Russian who had a later start. All of these results point to the potential for more podium finishes next year and a Gold in the Olympics!!!

So, as the snow leaves we will start running, rollerskiing, biking, and shooting and training even harder for all of you and the hopes of bringing home the gold.  All of you inspire us to push harder and train longer. We are so fortunate to have you as a part of our team and we hope that in 680 days (just under two years) you’ll join us in celebrating not only a fairytale victory in biathlon, but your success.  What you do everyday helps to carry us through the pain and sweat and make this journey worth every minute of it. Thanks again for everything and for helping us to a fantastic season.

-Tracy & Lanny

Editors Note:  Tracy & Lanny Barnes are part of the US Olympic Biathlon team. Their WOMA blog, “Road to Russia” gives wonderful insight into what these talented athletes are going through to take a medal in February 2014 at the Winter Olympics held in Russia. It will be their 3^rd Olympics, along with recently winning the Biathon World Team Challenge Shoot Out to add to their successful biathlon careers. We encourage all the members of the WOMA, along with companies you may know, to help these twin sisters with donations and sponsorships. For more information, or to make a donation, visit their website at www.twinbiathletes.com.

World Championship Update

World Championships start Today!!

Today is the start of the World Championships at Ruhpolding, Germany, which has a 34 year history of hosting of World Cup and World Championship events. The World Championships begin today with the 7.5km Sprint and continues through March 11th.

Ticket sales have reached 30,000 per day and the TV audience is expected to exceed 25 million viewers per competition. Lanny will race the Sprint today and is coming off of 2 podium finishes in the IBU Cup in Canmore, Alberta just before the break. During the break the US athletes trained in Italy to prepare for World Championships.

With temperatures unseasonably warm, the athletes will have to battle extreme snow conditions from sun to shade out on the course, then come in to shoot poised in front of 30,000 screaming spectators in the stadium and shooting range.

You can watch the sprint live starting at 9:30am Eastern or 7:30am Mountain time on this link- eurovision.digotel.com/ibu/index.html. Also check out www.twinbiathletes.com for more updates, results, and pictures after the race.

Thanks for watching.
-Tracy & Lanny Barnes

Tracy and Lanny both reach the top ten in the IBU Cup

Lanny Barnes smiled brightly at the finish. “This was so much fun today. It is amazing to be on the podium on North American soil. I think it helped a lot, not only that we did not have to fly so far but also to have friends and family close by.”

 

Great News: IBU cup story & photos

 

Races In Canada!

Winter has been late to come or non-existent in a lot of places, but we have been lucky enough to find pockets of snow around the world at our various biathlon competitions. So far this season we’ve traveled to Sweden, Austria, France, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic. For the next two weeks, we will finally be back on North American soil and racing in the Rocky Mountains.

Unfortunately, it won’t be our home section of the Rockies in Colorado, but it will be in the beautiful and breathtaking Canadian Rockies in Canmore, Alberta…. AND, the Europeans will have to make the long trip over the big pond to race on foreign trails and adjust to jet lag.

The International  Biathlon Union Cup doesn’t reach North America soil as much as we’d like, but is is always a great opportunity to  beat the Europeans on our home soil. Already with some races this year just out of the podium, we both feel like we are right on track for a podium finish here in Canmore. There will be four races over six days which will include three sprint races and an individual. There will be 23 countries present and an opportunity to send at least 22 of those nations home wondering what really just happened ; )!

The races can be watched live on services.biathlonresults.com/DataCenter_IBU.aspx,  and we’ll also post the results on www.twinbiathletes.com and send out an update as well. From here we hope to make the World Championship Team and head to Germany after the races here to the the biathlon capitol of the world in Ruhpolding, Germany.

Another exciting event we will be doing this spring is the NRA’s first ever Women’s Outdoor Adventure Camp - www.nrahq.org/women/woa.asp . We will be the rifle instructors with Kay Miculek, the best female shooter in the world, at a camp that will combine shooting with other outdoor activities such as zip lining, horseback ridding, and caving. Women will learn the skills required to shoot rifle, pistol, and shotgun and the instructors will put on an exhibition 3-gun match. We are really excited about the event and the opportunity to work alongside our hero Kay Miculek. The event will take place in Park City, Kentucky from April 30-May 7, 2012.

 

Adventures in France

When I think of a lengthy road trip I think of the West.  Our family has zig-zagged all over of the western United States, driven thousands of miles and still managed to stay in the same country.  This summer when I was in Alaska, I saw a t-shirt that said “size does matter” with a picture of Texas easily fitting into the state of Alaska. I think most of Europe fits into the size of New England. In Europe, you can drive a few hours and hit several countries. Thanks to the EU and the €, we no longer have to stop every couple of hours at a new countries borders and explain to them why we have a dozen rifles in our van.  These days, it’s smooth sailing from country to country, except for one major barrier that still exists, the language barrier.

Christmas in Austria

It’s almost time for Christmas Mass to start and my mouth is moving but nothing is coming out (keep in mind I don’t speak German and we’re in Austria for our biathlon training and races.) I look nervously to my left where an old lady has just moved into my pew and is sitting uncomfortably close. I keep mouthing words, repeat a few prayers I know and then recite a recipe I’d like to make if only there were ingredients for Mexican food in Europe. I look to my right and see the old man who is repeating the “Hail Mary’s”. This has been going on for some time now and I’m worried that my mouthing of words will not coincide with the “Hail Mary’s” that are being repeated in German. We arrived at church early so as to not make a scene being late, but I can’t help but feel our presence as foreigners has not slipped the attention of a few church goers. The old lady to my left looks at me. Oh no! She’s made me out as a fraud. I nervously lick my lips as my mouth takes a break from the muttering of random thoughts. I’m running out of things to mouth.

The old man is still going, his rosary moving at a rapid pace in his fingers. His voice sounds like a robot on a loud speaker, but it’s clearly coming out of this old Austrian man. The lady on my right moves a little closer to me. I’m thinking that I’m going to have to say something now because she’ll be able to hear that I’m not saying anything. Oh, why is she moving so close! I look around her and there’s an entire pew… and it’s empty. As I turn to face forward again I start mouthing words. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art though close to old women, and blessed is the board that hits right at my shoulder blades that keeps me sitting up straight.” When I went to sit down upon arriving at church I leaned back and there, no more than 2 inches from the front of the pew, was a board that runs the full length and lands right at your shoulder blades. There’s no slouching here; I think of my mother and how she’s always trying to get us to sit up straight, and I smile. As I continue to silently mouth words, I look around the church.

When I walked into the church I took off my hat in respect, but now as I’m looking around the church I can see that a lot of women still donned theirs. But wait…women aren’t the only ones wearing hats, the young kids and men, young and old are wearing hats too. I look around and see that no one has even offered to take off their coats. Then I can clearly see why as I look around to every person and I can see their breath as they are whispering prayers. Yep, that’s right, churches in Europe are generally not heated and this one is no exception. Suddenly I’m aware of the cold as I look down at the skirt that I was so excited to wear. For one day I was allowed to wear something normal that didn’t say “Adidas” or have red, white, and blue. And now I am regretting it. I should have donned my warmest long underwear. Suddenly it occurs to me why this old lady has sat so close to me. She’s trying to stay warm. I look up and see little groups of people huddled together in their respective pews. I hunker down and put my hands in my pockets and am thankful that the Catholics spend so much time standing up, sitting down, standing up, kneel, repeat. At least there’s some calisthenics I can look forward to as a way to keep me warm.

Mass begins and the priest appears out of nowhere at the front of the church with 10 altar servers. Ha! No way! All the altar servers are wearing headbands and hats! This is too funny. Immediately as Mass starts I’m nervous again. I grew up going to Mass, so I should have it memorized by now, but when you attend one in a different language it’s hard to decipher the different parts. Suddenly I’m nervous that I’ll genuflect at the wrong time, or stand up at an inappropriate time, but then Lanny does that. Everyone kneels and Lanny stands. “She’s blown our cover,” I think to myself, but then I laugh, glad that it wasn’t me.

What comes next blows my mind as it’s the choir! They start singing and I’m left wondering if the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Boston Symphony Orchestra are jammed upstairs in the choir seating. It’s beautiful! And for such a small town to have such an amazing choir… I’m left in awe. I don’t want them to stop. What I really want to do is turn my head and stare and probably drool; these folks are that good. But instead I keep my head straight forward and try to mouth the words to songs I know in English, but are being sung instead in German.

Much to my disappointment the choir stops, and it’s time to kneel, but at least we’re moving. As I kneel down my knees hit a pine board and cracks loudly. I chalk that up to ‘old age’ and playing competitive soccer for much of my childhood and young adult life. But what really gets me is the comfort, or lack thereof, for these pews. Not only do you have to sit up straight as a board, you’re kneeling on one.

A bit later it’s time for the collection basket to be passed around. This I’m prepared for as before church Lanny and I both agreed to put in 5 euro a piece into the basket. It wasn’t much, but being on a tight budget, we thought that amount was pretty good. As the basket was being passed around I couldn’t help but notice what people were putting in. The lady in front of me put in 20 euro cents! “What!” I thought. “She’s sitting there in a North Face Jacket and all she can spare in 20 cents.” Of course I don’t want to judge because you don’t know anyone’s situation, but suddenly my 5 euros is seeming like a huge donation as I watch people put in 1 euro here and another euro there. My parents always taught me to be generous with my time and my money even if you don’t have a lot. And I have plenty of food on the table, clothes on my back, and nothing to complain about, so I proudly put in my 5 euro.

And then suddenly it’s time for communion and boy am I excited! Calisthenics and a walk! I might just warm up after all. The priest takes his place and people start pouring out of the pews, and in no particular order. At home an usher will go from row to row and that way you know when it’s your time to go, but this is a free-for-all. So, I get up and follow the old lady next to me. Surely she knows the ropes around here. I get communion and am rewarded again as this is one of the good biscuits! Not those stale ones we have at home. (I bet here they don’t buy in bulk. Heck, the local bakery probably makes these fresh.) I return to my seat and while we’re waiting for everyone else to finish with communion I have time to marvel at the church. Every European church I’ve been in has been amazingly ornate and beautiful and this church is no exception. It has marble columns, gold covered statues, paintings adorning the ceiling that look like Michelangelo himself painted them.

After communion Mass ends and the choir starts up again. Wow! Ear candy! They are so beautiful. The voices are in perfect pitch and the instruments, which include a trumpet, trombone, flute, tuba, and organ are perfectly in key. Suddenly Lanny is pushing me. I look over at her and say, “What!?” Then I notice there’s a line of people behind her and nearly the entire church has already cleared out. The choir has just started and already everyone bolted for the door. I can’t say I blame them, because I’m an ice cube after having sat in the cold church for an hour, but this is the kind of music that warms your soul. But there was no denying these people their exit, so I obliged and once I hit the door I run the couple blocks back to the hotel to get inside where it was warm.

Later that day Lanny and I go for a long ski. We start out at the Nordic trails and later work our way up a snow covered road deep in the mountains. As we ski along one of the trails I notice an old man shuffling up ahead of us. He’s wearing a wool hat, a brown suit jacket and slacks. Everything looks to be several sizes to big, and he’s clearly suffering as he does his best to glide his skis over the snow. As we approach the man stops and turns to look at us. “Is this for real?” He questions in what sounds like to me to be a British accent. “Are you really from the U.S.?” Then I remember the big letters across our back that spell USA and the red, white, and blue suits we are skiing in. “Yes,” we reply. Then the old man wipes sweat from his brow and asks “Where are you from?” We reply that we’re from Colorado and then he says “Oh, and what are you doing in this God-forsaken place?” I look up at the old man in surprise, “We’re here for biathlon.” I answer. “Oh,” he says, and before I even have time to respond to him he’s shuffling off down the trail, head down, and working hard.

I watch him go, curiously wondering what made him say this was a “God-forsaken place”, why anyone would say that about any place. This area was beautiful, not the most beautiful I’ve been in Europe, but still beautiful. The town was small, maybe 40 to 50 buildings with about a 100 residents. I’m left wondering why this man is so at odds with this little town in Austria and then I’m wondering what brought him here. He clearly didn’t have a German accent, and his English was flawless. I’d seen him almost every day out on the trails suffering away in his big brown jacket around the tracks. Curious…
Later in the ski we leave the groomed trails for a shortcut into the woods. We come around the corner and run into this guy (see picture). He’s a creepy monster carved out of a tree with arms made out of branches that could reach out and grab you, and a mouth that looks like prison bars. Have to admit that was a little un-nerving. It was like the horror part of an old fairy tale or that movie “Brother’s Grimm.” (We spent the rest of our ski with our eyes towards the woods searching out any other creepy tree figures, but none presented themselves.) Our ski took us on a windy trek high up in the mountains. We skied up and up and up until we decided that any higher and the decent might be a bit hairy. Well.. too late for that. Lanny and I weaved our way down the mountain with our hands waving wildly in the air and our mouths open. This time I didn’t have any trouble finding the words to mouth. A clear “Ahhhhhhhh” was coming out the whole way down the mountain as I screamed and my skis tried to find an edge. Well, I didn’t actually scream, because I’m too quiet of a person to scream, but there was a clear scream going on inside my head. We made it back to the hotel just in time for dinner.

That night we had dinner once again with the Japanese team and it was a great time. I went to bed full and content. I closed my eyes and thought about the day. What an experience, and one I’m thankful for. As my eyes closed and I neared sleep I repeated in my head everyone and everything I was thankful for; my family, my friends, my sponsors, my teammates, my experiences. My list goes on and on and I’m aware of the gratitude I feel towards everyone who has helped me. I feel that everything that I’ve done in life was because of someone or for someone. I’m very much a “people person” and a giver. I much prefer to give to someone else than to receive something from them. But it only makes me even more grateful when someone does something for me. So, for Christmas I want to thank everyone… you know who you are (and if you don’t and you know me, than you are one of those people)… who have made an impact on my life, no matter how small, for you I dedicate my efforts. For there are very few people I’ve met that haven’t impacted me in some way. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Twin Biathletes Update from Italy, Germany, & Austria

Hello!

Below is an update of the past couple of weeks here in Europe. Hope everyone is well.

We miss you all and are thinking of you. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

-Tracy & Lanny

Week 3: Conclusion… Ridnaun, Italy/ Hochfilzen Austria

After a week off from racing and some good training under my belt I was ready to race again. The weekend would host two races; an individual and a sprint race. The individual is our longest race and is 15 kilometers. This race is known as a shooters race because 1 minute is added for each miss as opposed to the normal 150 meter penalty loop we ski in all of the other races. It has been years since I’ve raced in Ridnaun, Italy and I have made a promise to myself that I’ll improve on my results from the last time I was here. That being said, I had quite a lot of work to achieve that. 10 years ago my sister and I competed here and became the first women to medal at a World Junior championship. We received a silver medal in the relay and in the individual race all those years ago, Lanny placed 3rd with one penalty and I placed 8th with 2 penalties. I vowed this time around I’d hit more targets and place higher up. The stakes were higher and the field was tougher, but I’d give it my best shot.

The individual race would consist of five- 3 kilometer loops with 4 shooting stages. Twice we would shoot laying down and twice we would shoot standing. The race course was tough and wound up and down the fields that made up this beautiful valley. The climbs were long, but more gradual. The most interesting part of this course was the fact that you could see everything that was going on. You could see the competitors in front of you and you could see the ones behind you. It really gave you a good idea of how you were doing during the race.

I started the race in bib number 29 out of 96 competitors. Each racer started 30 seconds apart. I started the race and I was relaxed, a huge change from the frantic race I had in Sweden a few weeks ago. I easily found a rhythm skiing on the long 3 kilometer loop. Today, I knew I was going to clean the race. At least I had that feeling. I don’t know how to describe it, but you just know. So, when I came into the range for the first time, I laid down and settled into a shooting point. The five shots went off smoothly, but when I looked back at the target, one of the five was left standing. I’d missed one! Damn. I thought. Well, cleaning the race was out of the question at this point, but the good thing about biathlon is, if you are patient and you don’t get all worked up, you can come back from a bad stage. So, that’s what I did, I hunkered down, focused on skiing my loops well and every time I came in to shoot I was patient and just let the targets fall. After I left the shooting range for the fourth and final time I was in a good spot. I pushed hard on the last loop and finished in fourth. But there were still over 60 women still to finish the race, so I waited and waited and waited.

When all was said and done I was bumped to 8th place. 1 target, that fateful target I missed, out of 2nd place. I had tied my finish from 10 years ago, but with one target better. I was happy. A top ten on the European Cup was hard to achieve.

An hour after my race I found out that I would be starting the World Cup relay the next day in Hochfilzen, Austria. So, I packed up my bags and hitched a ride with the Canadian team over to Austria. It was a busy day and even busier the next day. In the morning I got randomly drawn for the doping control, my second day in a row, having been chosen in Italy as well. So I made my way early to the venue, gave my blood and was off to the races. Lanny, who was sick, accompanied me on my warm up. It was nice to have someone to ski with. The race came and went in a flash and we ended up in a disappointing 14th place. It wasn’t my best performance either and I left with quite a disappointed feeling. The relay is my favorite race and no one takes it harder than I do when I feel I’ve let my teammates down. But there will be plenty of more relays this year and we’ll have our revenge!

 

Week 4: Obertilliach, Austria

This week we’d be back in Obertilliach, Austria. The place I spent a week training at just two weeks ago and the place I’d be spending Christmas. We would have two races this weekend; a sprint and a pursuit race. The sprint is three loops of 2.5 kilometers with 2 shooting stages. The results from the sprint determine your start in the pursuit. So, the person who wins the sprint, starts the pursuit. The person who is in 2nd place starts 2nd and starts in the time that they finished behind the person if first. Only 60 people qualify for the pursuit. After the sprint was done, I finished in 59th place. You don’t cut it any closer than that. Lanny, had a pretty good race after being sick and placed 33rd. The next day in the pursuit, Lanny would start 33rd and start at about 2 minutes behind the winner. I would start in 59th over 3 minutes back. Basically in the pursuit, everyone is trying to catch the person, or people in front of them. The first person across the line wins, so clearly the people who’ve had a better sprint, have more of an advantage in the pursuit. But that’s the crazy thing about biathlon. With so much pressure in the shooting, the person in first can drop 10 places with a missed shot in the first stage, the same goes for someone in the back, with good shooting you can really move up in the placings. That was my goal today, move up as far as I can.

The race started and I was feeling good. I skied behind a pack and came in to the shooting range and cleaned my first stage. My next three stages I missed one shot in each and still moved up. Until the last loop I skied pretty conservatively, too conservatively and so during the last loop I turned up the juice and started to pass people. It felt good to finally ski like I knew how. I was flying and had the 9th fastest last loop time of the day. I was psyched. I ended up moving up 22 paces to 37th place from 59th.

 

Week 5: Munich, Germany/ Obertilliach, Austria

The races last weekend were the end of the December World Cups and European Cups. Now all the athletes have a two week break before the racing picks up again after the new year. Two weeks seems like a lot of time, but if you add on travel to and from the U.S. and all the jet lag, there isn’t much time for training. Which is why Lanny and I choose to stay in Europe. It’s one of the hardest sacrifices we have to make. It’s not easy and not always enjoyable being so far away from your family on Christmas. And even though we’ve done this for many years now, it doesn’t get any easier, in fact, I think it only gets harder. But that’s the sacrifice you make to reach your goals.

So, after the races we traveled to Munich, Germany to watch some of our teammates travel home to the states. After they were on their way we turned the van south once again to head back to Obertilliach, Austria where we’ll spend Christmas. On our drive down, in honor of tradition, Lanny and I stopped in the town of Sterzing, Italy. A beautiful mountain town with picturesque buildings and quint shops. They always have a spectacular Christmas market, where you can buy hand made ornaments and knick-knacks as well as gluwine. Gluwine, is a favorite of Europeans this time of year, it’s a spiced wine that is served warm. It is good! So, the tradition that Lanny and I have is to take 20 euro and split up and buy each other a gift or gifts with a 20 euro limit. Mostly we buy little stocking stuffers and gifts that will help fill the time. The best part about it is you have to be pretty creative because 20 euro won’t get you very far. It’s always fun to see what the other came up with on Christmas day. Lanny’s worried this year that I out-did her. Must be her competitive nature, only a professional athlete would be worried about being out done in the gift giving arena. Of course I’m hoping I did out do her.

Later that day we arrived back in Obertilliach, Austria and this time we were staying at a different hotel. After we settled into our rooms we made our way down to dinner. When we turned the corner into the dinning room we heard a collective “Ohhhhh!” I looked up to see the Japanese team sitting in front of us. They were so excited to see us. We’ve spent many a Christmas’ with the Japanese team in Europe. They aren’t afforded the opportunity to go home for Christmas because of the long travel, so it’s often we find ourselves together in some mountain biathlon town.

We have been friends with the Japanese team for a really long time…well… let me clarify….we’ve enjoyed each other’s company for a really long time. I think of them as friends and I want to think that they feel the same way, but our friendship involves a lot of smiling, waving, and bowing. It was only a few years ago that some of the team members started to learn English and Lanny and I are desperately trying to learn some Japanese. So, I guess you could say that we have a very non-verbal relationship. Mostly we just exchange gifts. And we get really excited when we see them, and they get really excited when they see us. Yep, that about sums it up.

Well, this year, we wanted to do something special for them, so we had a cake made at a local bakery and then we added our own decorations. Lanny drew a card and we were all set for the delivery. That night we arrived early at dinner and set the cake, which was in a box, down on their table with a note. As the Japanese team trickled in only a few of them noticed the cake and those few hadn’t yet figured out why this box was sitting on their table. Being the shy people that we are, we got too excited and embarrassed to sit and wait, so we finished our dinner and went to our room.

About an hour later we hear some commotion out in the hall. I turn my head to listen and all I can here is “Hello… Hello….” Clearly someone is walking down the hall saying “Hello” at every door. Then I hear my name “Barnes”. I almost burst out laughing. I open my door and peer down the dark hall. Then I see three of the guys on the Japanese team. They are walking from door to door trying to find us. They didn’t know what room we were in so they decided to just yell outside each door. It was such a funny sight. They came over to the door and the three of them awkwardly shook our hands and said “Thank you” and “Arigoto” and bowed and handed us two very large pieces of the cake we had given to them. They also handed us two Japanese fans and 2 packs of candies. The excitement on their face was priceless. Through some very broken English we communicated how long we were going to be in Obertilliach and where we were going next. What happened next was the most entertaining. From my encounters with the Japanese team, I’ve come to the realize that in Japanese culture it’s not very nice to turn your back on someone when you are walking away, especially when you’ve just given them a gift. So, the three guys on the Japanese team bow and say thank you one more time and then start to back down the hall, then they bow and smile again, and again, and this continues until they disappear down the hall. I leave the door open to my room and back in just to make sure I didn’t disrespectfully turn my back. A few minutes later, when I suspect they’re long gone, I go and close my door. I sit back down on the couch and open up the book I had been reading before. No sooner did I do this, do I hear a knock on the door. This time there’s a different member of the team. He bows and hands us 2 very large bottles of Coca Cola zero. He thanks us for the cake, rubs his belly and says “very good.” And then smiles and waves and bows and backs down the hall, doing the same routine as the other guys. Finally I turn, close the door and walk into the room, grab my book and there’s another knock at the door. This time it’s two of the women on the team. They say thank you for the cake and hand us a bag full of goodies from Japan. They tell us that the goodies are for making soup. There are some rice noodles, some sauces, and some really strange looking biscuits. This time, instead of doing the routine of backing down the hall they just slowly close the door while smiling, waving and bowing. It’s such a funny sight and I love every bit of it. They are such wonderful people. They’re my favorite team on the World Cup.

In two day’s it’s Christmas. Training will continue through the holidays, which is good because it keeps your mind off the fact that you are so far away from your family. We are very thankful for having the opportunity to compete for our country, but we also promise ourselves that when we are done competing we won’t take for granted a Christmas at home with family. Happy Holidays to everyone. Merry Christmas.

-Tracy & Lanny Barnes

www.twinbiathletes.com

 

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