STOCKHOLM, January 28 (Xinhua) – The Olympic biathlon center in Zhangjiakou made a big impression on the head coach of the Swedish biathlon team, who after the first training session on Friday described it as “fantastically good”.
The team, including 11 athletes, arrived in China on Thursday and jumped at the chance to get acquainted with the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Center.
“It is really a very cool stadium and the pitches are very nice. I think the whole area is very good and it was a positive first day”, says head coach Johannes Lukas to Swedish Television.
He also said that he had expected to see a tough course and that he was not disappointed. “It does not have those long downhills where you can recover.”
In previous competitions this season, many of the team members have been very strong in the tracks and Lukas hoped that the topography on the Olympic track would give them an advantage.
“It is an interesting and harmonious course that I think suits us very well,” he said.
The first training day on site, however, did not give the athletes a taste of how conditions can be on the shooting range.
– We have talked a lot with everyone who has already been here for a while and people from the International Biathlon Federation who have worked with the shooting range for several weeks have confirmed that it usually blows more, says Lukas to Swedish Television.
“I think it is good that we are here early and have plenty of time, so we get used to the fact that it can be cold and windy,” he added.
The first biathlon competition, the mixed relay, is scheduled for Saturday, February 5.
Source: sn.dk