Greg Rawlings powered his way into the finish chute on Tuesday morning, glanced over his shoulder at the slender woman who had followed him for the past six miles, and skied to a graceful stop.

Then he began to smile, and to repeat a word over and over again.

“It was awesome,” he told anyone who asked. “She was awesome. She was awesome.”

Lixia Han stood at his side, panting. She smiled, too, despite the fact that she didn’t likely understand a word Rawlings was saying. Her expression bridged that language barrier, and spoke loudly on its own: It was an awesome day in Fort Kent.

Han is from China. She and countryman Tangbao Gao arrived at the International Paralympics Committee’s Nordic Skiing Championships with their skis, and with their teammates … but without guides.

Both are visually impaired, and needed guides in order to compete. A call went out, and Rawlings and Kris Cheney-Seymour, both biathlon coaches at the Maine Winter Sports Center, volunteered.

“I got a phone call, I canceled some work things for this,” Rawlings said. “[On Monday] when I skied her, it became personal. It was no longer, ‘The Chinese team needs a guide.’ It was, ‘This human being, who spent her entire life training for this moment, needs help.”‘

Rawlings and Cheney-Seymour were both game. But Rawlings was left with a nagging sense of dread.

His main concern, he said: “Am I going to go fast enough.”

Before they could get to that point, both Chinese athletes and their American guides had to learn to communicate. Each Chinese skier learned the few words they absolutely, positively had to know.

“We learned left and right, go, stop, up and down,” Cheney-Seymour said. “We worked on that, and that’s the way it went.”

Han, who skied with Rawlings, also learned “good morning,” “thank you,” “slow,” “fast,” and “OK.”

Rawlings gained experience giving lessons to visually impaired athletes while in college in Colorado. The deal back then was simple: Give lessons, and you get a free lift ticket.

On Tuesday, the stakes were higher.

“I was worried that I might slow her down,” Rawlings said. “This is her world championships. This is what she’s been working on, potentially, for her entire life. For this moment.”

Gao is blind. Han has partial vision. “I guess it’s kind of like if you put Vaseline in your eyes. She can see kind of a blur at five to 10 meters,” Rawlings said.

But Rawlings quickly learned that Han’s course memory was superb, and on downhills, she was able to rely on non-spoken cues perfectly.

“I would drag a pole and she would follow the tip of that pole all the way down the mountain, in a tuck, all the way through turns,” Rawlings said.

Han finished last of seven women entered in Tuesday’s races. Gao was 16th of 16 in the men’s race. But that didn’t matter much to Rawlings and Cheney-Seymour.

“It was fantastic, hopefully for both [Gao and me]. I had a wonderful time,” Cheney-Seymour said. “He worked very hard, had a lot of spirit, wasn’t frustrated with having a new guide and the language barrier. He did a wonderful job. [I was] very proud.”

And even an hour after the completion of his race, Rawlings couldn’t stop beaming … or using that word.

“It was awesome,” he said … yet again. “I’ve skied harder in races, but I’ve never smiled more in a race. It was fantastic.”

Sportsman’s Show on tap

One final reminder: The 67th edition of the Eastern Maine Sportsman’s Show will be held at the University of Maine fieldhouse Friday through Sunday, and I hope many of you will take the time to stop by the BDN booth and say “Hi.”

For the third straight year we’ll be giving away a driftboat trip with guide Dan Legere of the Maine Guide Fly Shop, and entry into our contest is free. The trip is a peak-season opportunity – June 19 – and will offer a lucky fly-fisher the chance to spend the day on the beautiful East Outlet of the Kennebec River. The only catch: I come along and write a column dealing with our trip.

After spending the week in Fort Kent at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships, I’m heading home and plan to be at the show for most of the weekend.

Truth be told, I’m a bit tuckered out – spending 10 nights in 12 on the road will do that to you – but my springer spaniel, Pudge, has informed me that he has been looking forward to the show (and all the dropped popcorn he sniffs out on his frequent walks around the fieldhouse), and rest is not an option. Of course, it’s easy for him to say: If he gets tired, he simply curls up behind the table of our booth and takes a nap … and people tell him how cute he is.

In any event, I’ll be there. And so will Pudge. Whether either of us is actually awake when you show up is another question.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.