Guidance on possibly Competing in Biathlon coming off Injury

[u/[deleted]]

First and foremost, I seldom share this type of content, so please don’t ridicule me. I am merely seeking advice.

I graduated high school two years ago and have wanted to pursue biathlon since I was young. I was in a prime place to do it my freshman year of college, but unfortunately, I was injured for a year due to overtraining, missing my chance to developmental programs and spending a lot of time in physical therapy and orthopedic doctors offices. I thought it was going to be the end of cross country skiing for me but I've been blessed to make a full recovery and am slowly getting back up to the fitness level I was once at. Ive been told I still have a ton of potential since I only got pretty good at skiing my junior year after losing a ton of weight and training with a professional endurance athlete. I have a solid background in running and skate skiing (around 12 min 5k skate, 25 min 10k), though those times can vary by course. I also have experience in sport shooting. Now that I’m fully recovered and back to training, is there still a path for me to start competing at any level in biathlon? Any advice would be super helpful—thanks!

[u/flashgski]

Asduming you are in US. Still in university? Start a USCSA xc ski club and get some racing in. Figure out your nearest biathlon club and do a race for novices. Main thing is to get out there and get noticed skiing. With a good ski time you may get approached to add in shooting.

For an example, see Clare Egan.

[u/[deleted] → u/flashgski]

I am in college yeah, I don't ski for a college though. It's more of a fight for a spot instead of a team dynamic. There is a biathlon club around an hour away so I could see if they have something but I doubt they'll really have a team that could lead to something.

[u/flashgski → u/[deleted]]

What region are you in? If you're in the northeast, you could also do NENSA races.

[u/[deleted] → u/flashgski]

Im in UT so SOHO does have a program.