TNT Sports
Ole betting on two golds
By
Published 10/02/2006 at 14:41 GMT
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen will kick off his Olympic campaign by defending his 20km individual title on Saturday in one of the toughest courses of the season. After winning four gold medals in Salt Lake City, the Norwegian giant says he wants to win two events
Eurosport
Image credit: TNT Sports
"If I can convert my form in training into the actual competition, then my aim will be to win two gold medals - in the individual and the relay," Bjoerndalen told reporters on Thursday.
Th 2005-2006 season has been a difficult one for the 32-year-old who fell ill to a deep cold in late December and missed three World Cup events, falling from first to seventh place in overall standings.
Bjoerndalen then made a hardy come-back in the Antholz 15km mass start, shooting a perfect 20-for-20. The Norwegian has a chance to improve on his four medals in Salt Lake City with the premiere of a this event in Olympic biathlon.
"I was sick in January, but now I'm healthy again. I don't think that it damaged me too much because I'm in good shape now," Bjoerndalen told Eurosport.
THE POIREE FACTOR
In his absence, Norwegian team-mates Frode Andresen and Halvard Hanevold have made their presence felt, while Raphael Poiree has taken the lead of the World Cup standings.
"Oh! There are many," said Bjoerndalen when asked who his biggest opponent was. "The Norwegian team, the Germans, the Russians and of course Raphael. There will be many, but I will just have to focus on my thoughts and let the others do what they do."
Although the Poiree has won nearly everything possible in biathlon, Bjoerndalen's six-year-long rival is yet to get his hands on Olympic gold.
"I've never seen Poirée in such a good form: the shooting, the physical form, the mental attitude, the morale, the motivation...everything is just perfect," said Poiree's shooting coach Jean-Pierre Amat.
TOUGH COURSE
At 1,680-metres above sea level altitude, the San Sicario course with its hilly profile and multiple turns are a major concern of Poiree. "It's a very hard piste because of the altitude," he said. "Everybody breathes hardly.
"It moves a lot in the shooting range, so the race will be very tactical. We have to start with a good rhythm and pay attention to the technical aspect of the race.
"We must avoid to tire us out from the beginning because at this altitude, if we exhaust ourselves from the beginning we never recover."
A 1.5 km ascent near the end of each four-kilometre loop awaits the athletes who will take advantage of the downhill into the stadium to recover before taking aim on the shooting range.
On Wednesday, sunny and unusually warm conditions in the region had melted away much of the snow at the biathlon and cross-country site, but the one-metre thick snow basis will insure the that the events will take place.
GERMAN ARMADA
Other big guns contending for the title on Saturday will be young surprise Michael Roesch, veteran Sven Fischer, and triple Olympic relay champion Ricco Gross.
"I had a good preparation, I feel very good at the moment," said 22-year old Gross. "So I hope I can win something. But you know, everybody is well prepared and has equal chances to win. So the one who will win the race will be the one who is most focused on the day."!
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