Wright holds off strong 10km challenge
WINTER Olympic biathlete Campbell Wright gave Lewis Briscall a master class in pacing on Saturday as he coaxed the teenager around the 10km skate ski national championship course and into second place.
Wright (20) and Briscall (14) started conservatively, but never let the front trio of Petyr Sykora, Franz Mayer and Tim Skima out of their sights during their four laps of a 2.5km course in front of the Snow Farm lodge.
Wright raced in fourth place during the first lap, with Briscall sticking to him like a shadow.
They gradually picked off one skier at a time over the next three laps, before sprinting to the finish.
Wright put on a final burst of power to get across the line one second ahead of his junior rival to claim the race and the overall New Zealand crosscountry title.
Briscall was puffed at the end and had just one word. ‘‘Good’’.
It was the first time the junior athlete had raced the 10km distance before, and he could only nod when asked how he felt.
Earlier in the day, Briscall said he was introduced to crosscountry ski racing by his dad about four years ago and also enjoyed the biathlon discipline, which combines skiing and shooting.
‘‘It is a sport I really, like, feel connected to and I really enjoy it,’’ he said.
Wright also won the 10km classic ski race in ‘‘super warm conditions’’.
‘‘I am doing it for exposure and everyone knows it is the national champs. It is the one race we need to have,’’ Wright said.
The New Zealand crosscountry championships also marked an important milestone for equality in the sport, with open category entrants all racing the same distance.
National women’s champion Sonja Mueller, of Dunedin, said the races were significant.
‘‘For the first time at the national championship, men and women are racing the same distance,’’ she said.
‘‘FIS just this year determined men and women would be racing the same distances at a national level, so here we are.’’
About 50 people signed up to race in the national championships.
The biathlon national championships are this weekend, and the Snow Farm’s big day out, the Merino Muster, is scheduled for the first weekend in September.