BIATHLON: Darcie Morton and Jethro Mahon have continued their strong build up for the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Games with positive results in Europe over the weekend.
Competing at the Junior IBU Cup in Switzerland, Morton claimed a 15th place finish in the women’s 12.5km individual event. The event featured a host of Lillehammer 2016 athletes with the young gun from East Gippsland, Victoria, finishing fourth amongst YOG eligible athletes.
“I found the race quite challenging,” said the 16-year-old.
“The course featured three major hills with some being 400m long and they had some quick and fast down hills in between.
“I was really happy with my performance and felt I paced myself well and shot really well.”
The result was a significant one for Australian Biathlon with Morton’s result seeing her finish in the top half of the field and thus qualify her for next year’s senior IBU Cup events. This could see Darcie join her brother Damon at the senior level and allow them to compete in the mixed relay events as a team.
Morton went on to back up her individual performance with a 19th place finish in the sprint event as she finished just over three minutes off the pace.
“Overall I am really happy with my results over the weekend and my progress.
“Over the last 3 weeks I have completed a really good block of training in an Australian Biathlon National Training camp at altitude in Livigno, Italy.
“So to go straight from the camp into racing and perform well was fantastic.”
Mahon took to the Brusson course for the Italian Cup as he put in a couple of solid performances as he prepares for the biggest competition of his career to date.
In the sprint event Mahon finished in the middle of the pack but shot clear in both rounds as he continues to show his progression in the sport.
He shot three clear rounds in the individual event before missing two on the final shoot as he claimed 40th overall, while finishing 15th amongst YOG eligible athletes.
Mahon and Morton will next compete at the Italian Cup event in Tesero. It is now exactly a month until the Opening Ceremony at Lillehammer 2016.
Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au
