Olympics rep praises Fort Kent Collard suggests areas for improvements

FORT KENT – Paul Collard is creating a biathlon venue in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and Fort Kent was one of his stops last week.

Collard said he was at the Maine Winter Sports Center’s 2004 Biathlon World Cup because he had heard good news about the effort in northern Maine.

He’s been working on the biathlon venue for the 2010 games for six years, and has six years more to go.

“I want to look at the sport at all its levels and places,” said Collard, sports chairman for biathlon in 2010. “There are not many venues in North America, but I have attended competitions at both Nagano [Japan] and Salt Lake City [Utah].

While the western Canadian city made a play for the Winter Olympics in 1963, the 2010 games will be its first. Collard said the city, with 2.5 million people, is the largest ever to host a Winter Olympic competition.

“It’s very important for us to produce the best Winter Games ever,” he said. “Right here, right now, you have some of the best efforts in the world.”

He said he was told by Janez Vodicar, sports director of the International Biathlon Union, that the Fort Kent Biathlon World Cup is “world class.”

“The people here have done an outstanding job,” Collard said. “They have a foundation to back this effort, and that is critical to make this work.”

Collard did notice a few negatives with the Fort Kent venue, but he said it was nothing that money can’t fix.

Biathlon, he explained is a “made for television sport.” Two areas are very important to television drama: the shooting range and the finish line.

In Fort Kent, he said, the range needs to be wider and away from the lodge. He also noted a “too short” straightaway when athletes enter the shooting range and finish line.

“You need to have a longer straightaway to allow television and spectators to see more of the athletes as they come into the stadium, both for the shooting range and the finish,” he said.

He found another plus, besides good funding, in Fort Kent.

“There is great community spirit here, people working together to make this happen,” Collard said. “Not only are they working together, there are having fun doing it.

“It’s an excellent committee, with all levels of social clubs, businesses and individuals involved,” he said. “I’ve noticed people of all social levels, and all ages helping out.”

Overall, Collard rated Fort Kent’s venue very high.