By Dan Plouffe
The loud cracks of gunfire echo through the woods in Gatineau Park. Hunting may be banned, but shooting is no problem as long as you’ve got a pair of skis with you as well.
Big snowflakes fall gently as half-a-dozen young biathletes practice their marksmanship at the Camp Fortune shooting range, hidden away past the ski hill and a few steps down from the chalet that serves as a summertime zip-lining operation.
By the end of the session, it’s almost a blizzard, the blanket of snow acting as a nightmare for the shooters, making it difficult for them to see their target, let alone hit it.
But trying conditions is part of the package for the members of Team Ontario taking part in the training camp in advance of the 2015 Canada Winter Games, an Olympic-style multi-sport competition held every 4 years featuring teams from each Canadian province.
This edition marks a big moment for the area’s leading biathlon program. Half of 8-member Team Ontario is made up of Ottawa biathletes, brewed by the Chelsea Nordiq club.
“It’s huge,” says Alex Dumond, Biathlon Ontario’s president and a Chelsea Nordiq coach. “It makes a big impact and it sends a message that what we’re doing in the region is working.”
Boosted by an influx of experienced coaches to teach different levels – such as Team Ontario leaders Dave Bradley and Amy Ford – the Chelsea Nordiq biathlon program has seen substantial growth in recent years. With over 60 youth biathletes, it’s the largest club for participation in Quebec, and has become the main centre for Ontario’s biathletes (even if it’s in a neighbouring province).
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The local Army Cadets program is another strong feeder; 3 of the 4 Ottawa Canada Games representatives got their start there.
“I had no idea what biathlon was,” recalls 17-year-old Jason Lawton, now 5 years into his career. “I enjoy it because it’s a combination of two sports, and two extremes. You have to have endurance and at the same time, you have to be able to control that high heart rate and breathing to be able to shoot the bullet in a very precise manner.
“It’s such an amazing sport.”
Jordyn Leighton also didn’t know the sport existed the first time it was mentioned to her.
“I could never see myself shooting until I started biathlon,” notes Leighton, who had to overcome her fear of loud noises at first, but was immediately hooked once she did her first race – her second time ever on skis.
“When everything is going as it should, it’s just the best feeling in the world,” adds the Grade 11 Blyth Academy student. “When you’re just in the mode and you’re hitting the targets, and then you take off and you’re skiing well, you just feel super awesome.”
There was no better feeling for Leighton than December’s trials race in Canmore, Alta. when she unexpectedly qualified for the Feb. 13-Mar. 1 Canada Winter Games. The performance was especially surprising given that the 16-year-old was a year younger than the usual Canada Games age group. Leighton required a special exemption to carry her rifle on her back while skiing (instead of picking it up at the shooting station – the usual procedure for younger age groups).
“I was really shocked. My last race was completely out of this world,” recounts Leighton, who loved hosting her Ontario teammates for a “week-long sleepover” during the early-February training camp, as did Lawton.
Canada Games qualification came as no surprise to Ottawa natives Alex Dupuis and Leilani Tam von Burg. Both have setup shop at the national team training centre in Canmore (where athletes can ski in September on the Frozen Thunder loop made of conserved snow from the previous year).
“The training centre that’s been established there for developing athletes is a great asset for the entire country. It’s a breeding ground really,” signals 25-year-old Dumond, a past international competitor himself who now works at the Coaching Association of Canada in communications.
The Canmore-based pair are Team Ontario’s veterans. Dupuis was a relay silver medallist and placed 5th individually at the 2014 Youth World Championships, while Tam von Burg soaked up the European biathlon fever while studying at a German sports school.
The 19-year-old was 1 of 2 Canadian females selected for the Feb. 26-Mar. 7 Junior World Championships, but elected to attend the Canada Games instead – in large part because the cost of the domestic trip is covered, while her worlds trip would have been mostly self-funded.
Dupuis and Tam von Burg are Ontario’s top individual medal threats, while Dumond would also like to see Ontario on podium in the men’s and women’s relay events.
“It’s certainly in the cards,” he underlines. “It’s a good, strong team. We’re very excited.”
Jordyn Leighton Sport: Biathlon Age: 16 Club: Chelsea Nordiq
Jason Lawton Sport: Biathlon Age: 18 Club: Chelsea Nordiq
Alex Dupuis Sport: Biathlon Age: 19 Club: Chelsea Nordiq
Leilani Tam von Burg Sport: Biathlon Age: 19 Club: Chelsea Nordiq