Eight Team Canada athletes nominated to compete in biathlon at Beijing 2022
CANMORE (January 19, 2022) – Biathlon Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have nominated eight Canadian athletes to compete in biathlon at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
The athletes and coaches nominated are:
Megan Bankes (Calgary, Alta.)
Sarah Beaudry (Prince George, B.C.)
Jules Burnotte (Sherbrooke, Que.)
Emily Dickson (Burns Lake, B.C.)
Christian Gow (Calgary, Alta.)
Scott Gow (Calgary, Alta.)
Emma Lunder (Vernon, B.C.)
Adam Runnalls (Calgary, Alta.)
Justin Wadsworth (Canmore, Alta.) – Head Coach
Pavel Lantsov (Canmore, Alta) – Coach
The athletes qualified for Team Canada by meeting the criteria outlined in Biathlon Canada’s Internal Nomination Procedure for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games including results from the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons on the IBU World Cup and IBU Cup circuits.
Beaudry, Lunder and the Gow brothers will make their second Olympic appearances after having competed at PyeongChang 2018.
“Being nominated to a second Olympic Games feels amazing. I’ve had a great team behind me for the last four plus years helping me achieve this goal, and I have so much gratitude for all of the teammates, coaches, staff, family, and friends who have been with me on my journey!” said Lunder, who was part of the women’s relay team that cracked a top-10 result at PyeongChang 2018.
Lunder started the 2021-22 season off with a career best sixth-place finish in the women’s 15km individual event. She had finished the 2020-21 season with two top-10 World Cup finishes which helped rank her 26th in the world.
“It feels great, like a dream come true! From the day I started biathlon, I’ve wanted to race at the Olympics and it’s unbelievable that I will be doing exactly that in a few weeks!” added Runnalls, who will make his Olympic debut along with Bankes, Burnotte and Dickson.
“I am so proud of this team,” said Head Coach Justin Wadsworth. “The first time I met these athletes in the summer of 2019 we spoke about consistency in our daily routine, focus, and teamwork. These three things will lead us to success in Beijing. I would be remiss if I did not mention one of our core team members, Nadia Moser, who will unfortunately miss the Games due to an injury sustained in December. Nadia will be missed both on and off the track and we are all thinking of her and her recovery.”
Team Canada has won three Olympic medals in biathlon – two golds from Lillehammer 1994 and a bronze in the debut of women’s biathlon at Albertville 1992 – all by Myriam Bédard.
“Congratulations to the eight biathletes that will make up Team Canada in Beijing,” said Catriona Le May Doan, Team Canada’s Beijing 2022 Chef de Mission. “This incredible sport that requires endurance, precision and patience is one of my favorite sports to watch. This is a team with a mix of veterans and rookies, but they will all wear the maple leaf with pride and I look forward to cheering them all on!”
Biathlon will take place from February 5 to February 19 (Days 1 to 15) at the Zhangjiakou Biathlon Centre.
Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.
The latest Team Canada Beijing 2022 roster can be found here and the qualification tracker can be found here.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Heather Ambery, General Manager
Biathlon Canada
C: 403-707-6695
E: hambery@biathloncanada.ca
Tara MacBournie
Team Canada’s Biathlon Media Attaché
C: 647-522-8328
E: tmacbournie@olympic.ca
Josh Su
Team Canada’s Beijing 2022 Press Operations Lead
Canadian Olympic Committee
C: 647-464-4060
E: jsu@olympic.ca