USA Olympians, Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke have both competed in Biathlon in each of the last four Olympics. But they won’t be packing their skis and rifles for Beijing.“I am completely fine with it, that is probably a good sign that I retired at the right time,” Bailey said.“I don’t have quite those same feelings when I was an athlete. On the other hand, I still have some of those feelings. I am still nervous, I am still excited,” Burke said.Both Bailey and Burke are still heavily involved with the United States Biathlon team – just in a different capacity. “I’m the high performance director so I’m responsible for managing all the logistics,” Bailey said.“My focus is on those younger athletes. Helping to grow the sport, helping to take those athletes we already have in our pipeline and to take them up to give them their best chance,” Bailey said.Involved in ‘the bigger picture.’“Organization like U.S. Biathlon, which is really small, titles don’t mean a ton because we all end up doing a little bit of everything,” Burke said.Such as passing on wisdom, to first-time Olympians. “The biggest thing that gets in the way of athlete performance at the Olympics is their own mind,” Bailey said.“The targets are still the same size, it is still the same distance away, the competition length is still the same. It’s the same race, it just has that Olympic title,” Burke said.Simple advice – for a simple goal.“Our goal in biathlon is to win our first medal,” Burke saidA goal for future Olympians, built on the foundation of Olympians past.
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. —
USA Olympians, Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke have both competed in Biathlon in each of the last four Olympics. But they won’t be packing their skis and rifles for Beijing.
“I am completely fine with it, that is probably a good sign that I retired at the right time,” Bailey said.
“I don’t have quite those same feelings when I was an athlete. On the other hand, I still have some of those feelings. I am still nervous, I am still excited,” Burke said.
Both Bailey and Burke are still heavily involved with the United States Biathlon team – just in a different capacity.
“I’m the high performance director so I’m responsible for managing all the logistics,” Bailey said.
“My focus is on those younger athletes. Helping to grow the sport, helping to take those athletes we already have in our pipeline and to take them up to give them their best chance,” Bailey said.
Involved in ‘the bigger picture.’
“Organization like U.S. Biathlon, which is really small, titles don’t mean a ton because we all end up doing a little bit of everything,” Burke said.
Such as passing on wisdom, to first-time Olympians.
“The biggest thing that gets in the way of athlete performance at the Olympics is their own mind,” Bailey said.
“The targets are still the same size, it is still the same distance away, the competition length is still the same. It’s the same race, it just has that Olympic title,” Burke said.
Simple advice – for a simple goal.
“Our goal in biathlon is to win our first medal,” Burke said
A goal for future Olympians, built on the foundation of Olympians past.
