Photo By Joshua Cohen | U.S. Army Spc. Vasek Cervenka, a Carpentry and Masonry Specialist assigned to...... read more read more
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Three Vermont National Guard biathletes are training hard in anticipation of attending the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. If selected, VTARNG members will make up 37 percent of the U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team.
The event will mark the first time Spc. Deedra Irwin will take part in the international games. A member of 86th Troop Command, the 29-year-old biathlete is “excited about the possible opportunity to represent my country and my team, participating in the Olympics has always been a dream of mine and something I've worked towards for a long time.”
The 42A Human Resource Specialist has been in the Vermont National Guard just over two years. “I joined the National Guard to compete in biathlon with the Guard program and to help pay off my student loans from college.”
Irwin said she was drawn to the biathlon sport from Nordic ski racing because of the added difficulty of shooting mid-race, “it combines pure endurance and grit with the steadiness and accuracy of precision shooting, and I’ve never been more challenged in my athletic career than I have been by biathlon.”
Since 1973, the Vermont National Guard has maintained a dedicated biathlon program at the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, one of the oldest Biathlon facilities in the United States.
The program has two primary missions according to the National Guard Biathlon Coordinator, Maj. Kevin Elmer. "We have athletes who come here to train to qualify for events like the Olympics," he said.
Of nine elite biathletes now training at CEATS, Elmer said he expects three will attend the 2022 Games in China. “Two experienced Olympic veterans, Spc. Leif Nordgren and Spc. Sean Doherty will accompany Irwin, both represented the U.S. at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia and 2018 games in Pyeong-Chang, South Korea.”
"Doherty, Nordgren and Irwin also just finished the 2020 World Cup, which means selection for Olympics is highly likely," Elmer said, explaining that U.S. members will not officially be named until January.
Elmer explained that Solders named to the U.S. National Biathlon Team are placed on year-round full-time orders. Most of the training is conducted at CEATS where biathletes reside in an athlete's barracks complete with a specialized exercise area configured for biathlete training.
"Anytime a Soldier has a top ten finish at the National Guard Championships our coaches begin evaluating if they have the potential to make a U.S. National Team," Elmer said.
For the past several years Spc. Sean Doherty has participated in the World Cup. “That, combined with training as a member of the national team has all been a part of the four-year lead-up to the Olympics, this racing is all part of the preparation for the games,” he said.
Doherty, a 12W Carpentry and Masonry Specialist with Detachment 1, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Garrison Support Command, is now serving his fourth year with the Vermont Army National Guard.
“I joined because I wanted to continue to further my career as an athlete as well as create options for myself going forward, I would say the National Guard Biathlon program is one of the best in the nation, if you are serious about competing at a high international level the program here has all the resources to get you there,” he said.
Spc. Leif Nordgren, an experienced Olympic biathlete, will accompany Irwin and Doherty.
Nordgren, a 15P Aviation Operations Specialist joined the Vermont Army National Guard in 2019 “for the short-term goal of getting great support while I finish out my biathlon career, and the long-term goal of becoming a pilot.” He is assigned to Detachment 2 Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 224th Aviation Regiment.
“Biathlon is a lot of work, it takes a ton of dedication and personal drive to push yourself to be the best athlete you can be, the Soldiers with those traits will take to biathlon very naturally as there is always something to improve, whether its ski technique, shooting precision or technique,” he said.
Depending on the training cycles, preparations “can be anywhere from 15 to 25 hours per week of purely physical training, add to those 2 to 10 hours of shooting training, dry-fire, stretching, proper nutrition, and sleep, biathlon is a full-time job,” Nordgren added.
Elmer mentioned another biathlete with high aspirations, “Spc. Vasek Cervenka is a rising star in the sport and has a chance to make the Olympic team as well, in order to do so he will need to have an amazing summer and fall and outperform some exceptional biathletes, but he is focused on his goal and has a legitimate chance to make his dreams a reality.”
A 12W Carpentry and Masonry Specialist, Cervenka has served in the Vermont Army National Guard approaching three years. “I joined back in early 2019 to help fund my biathlon career, which I hope to finish out as a Guardsman then I’ll explore the other opportunities the Vermont Army National Guard has to offer,” he said. Cervenka is attached to Det. 1, HHC, GSC.
Elmer explained the Biathlon Program's second mission is training Soldiers across the Army and Air National Guard in the skills to be able to move on snow and shoot effectively. Approximately 180 Soldiers from National Guard units across the country gather twice a year to conduct biathlon races in addition to serving with their assigned units across the country.
"We have races and compete against each other, these Soldiers then go back to their home units where they teach the skills they learn to their fellow Soldiers, so that's the primary purpose," he added.
Biathlon training involves cross country skiing between rifle ranges, at each participants engage targets at 50 meters. The exercises help Soldiers to shoot accurately after moving quickly across snow covered terrain, in the case of CEATS, mountainous terrain.
“If you are already in the guard and interested in biathlon then give it a shot, talk to your chain of command and see where the nearest Guard Biathlon program is; the sport is a great way to stay in shape and work on your precision shooting skills,” Cervenka said.
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.09.2021 14:28 |
| Story ID: | 398500 |
| Location: | COLCHESTER, VERMONT, US |
| Web Views: | 164 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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