U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Preston Keres |
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| World Class Athlete Spc. Jeremy Teela takes aim in the range during the men's 20km individual biathlon event at Soldier hollow in Midway, Utah during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Feb. 11, 2002. Teela finished with a personal best of two missed targets, which led him to 14th place, the highest American finish. | ||
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Brian Lepley Olympic Correspondent U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center Public Affairs MIDWAY, Utah (February 11, 2002) — On Sunday, Spc. Jeremy Teela wasn’t sure if he would compete in the Olympic 20-kilometer individual biathlon race the next day. He woke up Monday morning not feeling well. Monday afternoon, the World Class Athlete Program soldier made history. Teela finished 14th in the race, tying the highest-ever finish by an American in an Olympic biathlon event. “I didn’t feel so good today. I wasn’t going to do this morning’s race but yesterday I decided to do it,” Teela said. “I thought this would be a good race to get some experience, get the Olympic feeling, before the 10 kilometer, which I think is my best race.” The “warm-up” propelled the 25-year old into U.S. Olympic record books alongside John Burrit, 1960, and Peter Karns, 1972, both of whom finished 14th using large bore rifles and slower skis. “This is a super high water mark for us,” said U.S. Biathlon Association’s Jerry Kokesh. The 20K race has four shooting stages, five rounds each, shooting prone, standing, prone, standing. Teela missed only two of 20, his personal best in the event. Each miss adds one minute to a competitor’s time. The Kasilof, Alaska, resident finished 3:12.8 behind gold medal-winner Ole Bjoerndalen of Norway.
“I was happy with today’s performance even though I skied kind of slow,” Teela said. “The shooting came together for me.” Teela is a member of the Army National Guard on active duty. “I still cannot believe this,” said Algis Salna, U.S. biathlon coach. “Jeremy cleaning the final two stages is incredible.” Teela was as surprised as anyone at the high finish, admitting he’s looking for more speed and intensity before his next races. “The track was average but our wax technicians are some of the best,” he said. “We had incredible skis today which you might not have noticed because my body was moving so slow.” Teela’s success was not to be for the two other soldiers skiing at Soldier Hollow that day, WCAP Sgt. Kristina Sabasteanski and Army National Guard Spc. Kara Salmela. Poor shooting in their fourth shooting stages contributed to 55th- and 59th-place finishes, respectively. “[The 20K] is not my strongest race but I gave it everything I had; maybe it was little too much,” Sabasteanski said. “My last standing [shooting] I could really feel the fatigue coming on, I couldn’t really control my standing.” With only one miss heading into the range for the last time, she converted two of five for four overall missed targets. Salmela had four misses in her first 15 shots. Gliding into the range for the last stage, she decided to go for broke. “I was skiing really well, but I kind of went for it in my last standing. I’d only missed four up to that point so if I shot clean I’d do all right,” she said. “So I went for it and missed four.” WCAP is one of more than 200 Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs for soldiers and families worldwide provided by the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Va. |
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