Biathlete Maddie Phaneuf of Old Forge, a member of the U.S. Youth Biathlon Team, competed in the 2014 World Youth/Junior Biathlon Champion-ships held in Presque Isle, ME during the week of February 27 through March 8th.
Competing in the Youth Woman category (17 and 18 year olds), Phaneuf took a fourth place finish in the Sprint competition, 24th place in the Pursuit competition, and eighth place in the Individual competition, a feat that not only garnered her the honor of being the top American woman at this year’s race, but the top-performing American woman in her age category in the last 10 years.
During the week-long event, the U.S. teams competed against 250 athletes representing over 25 countries in Youth Woman, Youth Men, Junior Woman and Junior Men classes.
Following the competition, Phaneuf was invited by U.S. Biathlon to join a team that will compete at the Swedish Biathlon Championships at the end of March.
“I have never gone anywhere besides the USA and Canada, so I’m hoping this will be an eye-opening experience,” she said.
Due to her top six performance results, she has also pre-qualified to race at the 2015 Euro Cham-pion-ships in Finland and the Youth/Junior World Champion-ships in Belarus.
Currently, she is competing in the 2014 U.S. Biathlon National Championships in Jericho, VT from March 13 through 16th. But prior to leaving for Sweden on March 24, she plans on coming home to squeeze in some time with her family and friends and ski on the home trails where she got her start.
“Knowing that I can compete with the best youth biathletes in the world and come out with two top 10 finishes and a top 25 gives me a lot of confidence and makes me want to continue seeing those types of results. I’m excited to train another year as a full-time biathlete, and hope to see as much improvement as I have this past year,” Phaneuf said.
A 2013 graduate of Town of Webb School, she is currently training with the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, ME.
As a member of the Webb’s nordic ski team, coached by John Leach, she was named Section III Nordic Ski Champion for five consecutive years.
She was introduced to biathlon just three years ago by Coach Carl Klossner at the biathlon range at McCauley Mountain.
Biathlon is a winter Olympic sport that combines cross country skiing with rifle marksmanship.
Competitors are challenged to ski fast while interspersing the skiing competition with shooting stations, with penalty laps added to the ski course for every target missed.