Road to Russia: What was it like?

People often ask me what it’s like to be in the Olympics or what it’s like to compete in them. Lots of things pop into my head when I’m asked this question: lots of words – like excitement, adrenaline, nervousness, joy, pain, honor, country, family, go … Go faster! … “Lanny, GO!”

Suddenly, I’m brought back to a familiar place, a place that has been in my rehearsed thoughts for four years leading up to the Olympics. I look right and see a blur of red, white and blue. Someone is yelling my name. It’s almost inaudible at first, everything sounds fuzzy. The only thing that is clear to me is my breathing, and my lungs are expanding and contracting at a blistering rate. I don’t feel anything, but I’m moving and moving fast.  There’s nothing but silence, almost peaceful in a way. I’m in an empty void. I’m in a place where every athlete’s mind goes on occasion when you are too tired to think and the pain is almost too much to bear. You can see it on an athlete’s face when they go to that empty void, their eyes glass over and that grimace that was spread across their face is now replaced with an emotionless stare. It’s a quiet place, its peaceful, but I don’t want to be here. And with that thought it hits me … bam! Like a wave crashing down and it sets in … reality. Read more

Tracy Barnes — Member of The Women’s Outdoor Media Association

Born in the small town of Durango in the Colorado Rockies, Tracy Barnes and her twin sister, Lanny, grew up loving the outdoors. Their dad took the twins hunting and fishing, and their mom took them hiking in the mountains. They learned to shoot at a very young age. Lanny and Tracy signed up for cross-country skiing when they were in middle school, and made their first World Jr. Championship Biathlon Team at age 18. Read more