During two days of the Championships were organized two races: sprint (7,5 km for men, 4,5 km for ladies, two times shooting in prone position) and pursuit (5,6 km, three times shooting in prone position). I was competing on Saturday, in sprint competition. To participate, I needn't have any experience in shooting on biathlon range. Many people took advantage of it. On start were also masters, who ended careers years ago. I knew from the begining I won't be able to fight with them, especially without any skill in shooting. At least the course wasn't difficult. Skiing trails around Jamrozowa Polana are rolling and dynamic. I described it in this post. As you can see, I skied the long tarmac loop three times during the race. The snow conditions seemed to be in good shape. I thought that not using any wax would be better than trying figure something out, what can totally ruin my skiing. Secondly, I took part just for fun and didn't feel any pressure for a result. I'm sure, that there were many people who came with the same goals. Before start we had a short meeting to give us the instruction how to use a rifle. I started early, with bib 3.
Soon at the first loop it turned out, that the snow on further parts of the course isn't as firm as I thought. My unprepared skis were like sticked to this. Fortunately it was only few meters. My biggest fear before the race was a steep uphill in the middle of the loop. It was difficult to keep the right pace. I have also never taken part in any race and it may be one of the reasons why I didn't know how hard I should go. First shooting was literally my first shooting ever. Obviously the quick instruction meeting wasn't enough for me to get used to a rifle. I ended with 4 penalty loops, even though targets were as big as for standing position. During skiing my penalties I noticed that some of the participants (masters) with higher numbers were overtaking me. They were skiing really fast and certainly shooting better than me.
Second loop was painful for my legs. I was keeping up the pace and overtaking some of the ladies. Surprisingly, they were cheering me on. The rest of this loop I skied alone. Second shooting was better. I missed only 2 targets. After quick visit on penalty loops I headed out for my last 2,5 km. I was caught in the middle by someone on his earlier loop. I struggled on the last uphill but I accelerated all the way to the finish line. It was a strange feeling not to have sore legs after this effort. I believe I'll be better next time. After the race I could watch other athletes starting.
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| A fromer Polish biathlete- Lukas Witek is finishing his race. |
Joanna Badacz (0+0) won ladies' race. Dorota Zuberska (0+3) was 2nd and Agnieszka Uznańska (1+2) 3rd. They were all former biathletes.
The men's race was won by Waldemar Poręba (1+0) followed by Lukas Witek (2+1) and Dariusz Mazurkiewicz (1+1).
I ended up on 18th place. I'm happy with this result and I know that I did my best. Maybe I could shoot better. Aside, it was for me the first race ever. Many contestants were in the same situation. The fact that I was the youngest man on start was for me also beneficial. In total, 40 participants finished the sprint (6 women and 34 men). As I mentioned before I didn't start next day in pursuit. In general, such events organized by Jamrozowa Polana are an unique opportunity to challenge yourself. I have never heard about any other possible way to try shooting with biathlon rifle. The National Championships of Amateurs and Masters were also supported by Polish Biathlon Association, which provided prizes. Some of them were given away in a raffle after the race.
Increasing number of participants in every next competition shows that biathlon become more popular. Duszniki- Zdrój is the only place, where people can try it. Next opportunity to participate is summer biathlon on roller skis. Are you going to join in?
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