Rising star Neuner attracting lofty comparison

PRESQUE ISLE – Fans watching the action at the Nordic Heritage Ski Center may not know it, but they have a genuine star in their midst. Hailing from what is likely the most biathlon-mad country in the world, Magdalena Neuner of Germany has been anointed the sport’s next dominant woman.

Neuner, who blew away the field and the fans with how easily she won Sunday’s 10-kilometer junior women’s pursuit, is being compared to biathlon’s great star, the retired Magdalena Forsberg of Sweden.

Forsberg won two bronze medals at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and six world championships, and earned four straight World Cup overall titles from 1998-2002.

Neuner’s results at the international level have made her the talk of the biathlon community. Only 18 – she’ll turn 19 on Feb. 9 – she placed 11th in a World Cup pursuit at Antholz, Italy, and was 19th in a sprint at the same location, and then took 21st in a pursuit in front of a home crowd in Ruhpolding, Germany.

“The World Cup starts were something [extra],” she said. “… The results weren’t so important. I hoped I can collect a good experience. The 11th place, I was so happy. The results were better from race to race and I think I can bring more. Shooting wasn’t so good sometimes. I know I can do it.”

She also finished second in Saturday’s 7.5K sprint and seventh in Tuesday’s 12.5K.

This is Neuner’s first year as a junior, but because she was born in 1987 she could have remained at the youth level one more year. In 2005 she won the sprint and finished second in the pursuit and fourth in the individual at the youth level of the junior worlds, and the year before won the sprint and took second in the pursuit.

There has been some pressure, she said, to perform.

“People at home say, oh, Magdalena, gold medal,”‘ Neuner said. “But I’m the sportsman and I have to do this race. It’s difficult.”

Her performance in Presque Isle has taken off some of the pressure.

“A mountain falls from my heart,” she said of her relief.

Many of the observers here have been impressed with how quickly Neuner shoots on the range. Not only did she shoot quickly, but she missed just two targets in the pursuit.

It’s something she learned in World Cup competition.

“In World Cup everybody shoots, so you do it, too,” said Neuner, whose government job as a customs officer allows her to train full time. “The experience [was] very important. The people, the fans, it’s all new to me.”

The German coaches had considered sending her to the Olympics because she had partially qualified, but decided to let her work her way into international competition. Expect to see Neuner in Vancouver in 2010.

So does Neuner plan to celebrate her birthday?

“I don’t celebrate my birthday,” she said with a smile. “I have to train and I have no time.”

Baldacci to start Friday race

Gov. John Baldacci’s office confirmed Monday he will be at the Nordic Heritage Ski Center to fire the starting gun Friday morning for the junior women’s 3x6K relay, which is scheduled to start at 9:45.

Baldacci also started a race in the 2004 World Cup at Fort Kent’s 10th Mountain Division Ski Center.

On Jan. 10 in Augusta, the governor declared the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 3 the “2006 International Biathlon Union’s Youth/Junior World Championships Week”.

Spector riding wave from trials

Five members of the U.S. youth and junior team are back in Maine to compete for the second time this month. Laura Spector of Lenox, Mass., is hoping she can repeat the fine performances she had the last time she was in Aroostook County.

Spector finished seventh in the U.S. Olympic trials at the 10th Mountain Division Ski Center in Fort Kent, just two places out of earning a berth on the U.S. team that’s headed to Turin, Italy. The top five qualified and the sixth finisher was the alternate.

She was encouraged by her results in Fort Kent.

“I had a lot more confidence after that, because I know this is a sport I can compete in,” Spector said. “It’s new to me. So it kind of confirms that I’m following the right path now and there’s a lot of other people who have confidence in me, too, so that helps a lot.”