BIATHLON: Damon Morton and Jillian Colebourn continue to stand out as Australia’s leading contenders to push for qualification for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games.

The duo again won both of their events at the 2017 Australian Championships at Mt. Hotham as they look to push towards making their Olympic debuts in February.

The athletes were treated with tricky conditions on Saturday with Morton taking out his fourth straight Individual Open event with five shooting penalties. His dad, 2006 Torino Olympian Cameron Morton, finished in second and Taylor Field in third.

He backed up on Sunday in the Sprint Open event, again his fourth Australian Championship in a row, where he shot only one penalty. Morton’s father Cameron again claimed second with Jeremy Flanagan rounding out the podium.

Colebourn defeated Sabrina Howell in the Individual Open on the Saturday before she claimed her fourth straight national Sprint Open title on Sunday.

The Championships were the first following upgrades taking place at Australia’s only biathlon course.

“It was a pleasure to welcome Danielle Green (Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Major Events and Regional Victoria) to the Biathlon Family and show her how the support provided by the Victorian Government has been put to good use,” said Australian Biathlon Association President Dr Grant Flanagan.

“It was pleasing that we had more female than male competitors, as these areas have been a real focus for our development programs.

“With an outstanding range and better facilities planned, we are planning for international competition in the near future.”

The athletes will now look to build towards the northern winter season where they will look to qualify for PyeongChang 2018.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au