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Roberts never expected Olympic dream
Published 7:21am Wednesday, March 17, 2010Battle Lake resident Wynn Roberts didn’t set out to make the Olympic biathlon team – at least not at first. When he was first introduced to the sport at the age of 14, it just seemed like a good time.
Roberts was already involved in cross country skiing, both competitively and for fun, before he got involved in biathlon – a sport that combines cross country skiing and shooting at targets. He first heard about the sport when he was racing in Minneapolis and a woman approached his father and coach Paul Roberts about getting Wynn involved in biathlon. He attended a recruitment camp later that year, and the personnel at the camp connected him with a shooting coach in Brainerd.
He practiced shooting with that coach all summer long and began competing in biathlon races in the spring. He was still competing in regular cross country ski races at the time, but there was something drawing him towards becoming a committed biathlete.
Maybe it was just the enjoyment. “It was fun,” Roberts said with a chuckle. “I was a 15-year-old and I got to cross country ski and spend time outside and shoot a gun.”
Soon, however, he began to improve, eventually making the junior national team. The Olympics began to look like a possibility. He was on the junior team until the age of 20, and then he made the senior team. The Olympics were now firmly on his radar, but he was primarily focused on making the 2014 team for the Olympics in Sochi, Russia. “It’s rare for a 22-year-old to make the Olympic team,” Roberts said. “You’re normally at your peak in your late 20s, early 30s.”
The 2010 U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team qualifying trials took place in the second week of January of this year. By that time, Roberts was the No. 5 ranked biathlete nationally, but he still considered his chances of making the team a long shot. Three members of the men’s team had pre-qualified in earlier races, leaving two spots – one for the fourth team member, and one for the alternate – open. “I knew there was an outside chance, but I knew there were a lot of good athletes who were going to come out and try to make the team,” he said.
Roberts placed second in the trials, making the team as an alternate and surprising both himself and his family and friends. As an alternate, he had no guarantee that he would participate in any of events in Vancouver, but said it was still “awesome” to know he would be able to experience the games and represent his country.
While he was there, Roberts stayed in the Olympic village in Whistler, British Columbia. “I had to stay pretty focused and be ready to go,” he said. The biathlon events took place throughout most of the Olympics’ two-week span, usually occurring every three days or so. Since he was to be the stand-in for any athlete who might fall too ill or otherwise be unable to race, Roberts explained, “I was preparing and training like I was going to race every day.”
Every day, Roberts would wake up and travel to the training area to practice. Training usually took three or four hours because his gun needed to be checked through security. After training, he would go back to the village and eat lunch in a large cafeteria that served food prepared in the styles of many of the different nations at the games. Then he would take a nap, go for a run, and eat dinner, followed by a meeting with his coaches or a brief visit with his family. He would then head to Bible study, followed by a brief hour or so in which he could socialize.
Many of the athletes in the village weren’t much for socialization, said Roberts, not because they weren’t friendly but because everyone is so busy with preparing for their events. “Everybody is pretty serious, but at the same time it’s laid back and exciting,” he said. Roberts himself had so little free time that the only Olympic sport he was able to watch was a solitary luge event. When he did have time to socialize, he spent time with the U.S. and Canadian biathlon delegations, most of whom he already knew, and he met a few other people, including Steve Holcomb, the gold-medal-winning pilot of the famous “Night Train” U.S. bobsled team.
The real highlight of Roberts’ games, however, was the unexpected one. On Feb. 18, Roberts learned that Jeremy Teela, one of his biathlon teammates, had a sinus infection that would prevent him from competing in the day’s race, the 20 kilometer individual pursuit. Roberts was ready, and at 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time he was off with the pack. “It was really exciting,” he said. “It (felt like) a normal race, but I knew that I had a lot of friends and family watching, so that made it extra special.”
Roberts finished 86th overall, with a final time of 58 minutes and 49.2 seconds. Time is added when biathletes commit shooting errors. Roberts was happy with his performance, but he said he has a lot more training to do before hopefully making the team as a regular member for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
While he said that intensive, full-time training in both skiing and shooting is key, Roberts explained that his shooting is the area of his game that needs the most work. However, he’s confident that he’ll excel if he can stay focused.
Roberts isn’t slowing down, either. On the day of closing ceremonies, he flew to Estonia to compete in the under-26 Biathlon European Championships. He placed in the middle of the field in all of the races.
Now that he’s back home in Battle Lake, however, he is able to reflect a little on what he has already accomplished. “It was very cool, not even as much for myself as for the community and my friends,” he said. Roberts recalled times in high school when he began to get really serious about the sport, often missing school to attend the meets.
“(My teachers and my friends) all asked, ‘Where is this going to take you?’ and I said, ‘Hopefully to the Olympics,’” he said. “I wanted to show the community what they had helped me accomplish.”
