Biathlon closes amid praise, pride Weeklong event in Presque Isle ‘set the bar for the future,’ officials say

PRESQUE ISLE – After the last race was run and each spectator had left the venue, volunteers for the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships were undertaking their last major task on site: cleaning up and putting everything away after the largest international biathlon event they’ve ever hosted.

At a quarter after four in the afternoon, just a core group of volunteers remained at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, host site for the championships, taking down the video wall in the stadium, putting away flags and banners and otherwise returning the area – which was bustling just hours earlier with athletes, coaches and volunteers – back to a wide field of snow.

Event manager Melanie Stewart said Friday that approximately 18,000 people attended the event between the opening day of races a week ago today and the close of competitions Friday. About 4,000 people showed up just during the weekend to take in the first two days of races, she said.

“This actually went beyond my wildest dreams,” Stewart said. “We started out with the theme ‘It’s our time to shine.’ I’m going to tell [the volunteers] that they’ve all gone beyond shining. They’ve just been wonderful.”

Volunteers, athletes, coaches and the community were expected to gather Friday night for the final event connected with the world championships: the closing gala at Slopes Restaurant and Brewing Co. Stewart said she and event director Tim Doak would be recognizing everyone involved in helping to pull off the international event.

Essa Haapala, the International Biathlon Union technical delegate, was expected to formally close the 2006 championships at the closing gala.

With hours to go before the formal closing, Doak said Friday that local organizers feel “incredibly proud and absolutely overwhelmed” at the events of the last week but know they’ve done a top-notch job.

“We have repeatedly heard from IBU officials that this has been the best-organized event and the best-attended event in terms of spectators ever,” he said. “Our event has set the bar for the future.”

Both Doak and Stewart said the closing of the event hasn’t really hit them yet.

“I don’t want it to be over,” Stewart said. “It’s going to be an empty feeling.”

Doak added: “I have a feeling between great happiness and sorrow. I’m happy it all went off so successfully, but it’s sad to say goodbye to everyone we’ve met. I’m looking forward to the rest, but also looking forward to the future and what lies in store.”

They say the future for the Nordic Heritage Center looks bright, especially because of all the volunteer efforts.

“We’re so proud of how the volunteers accomplished the missions set before them in the last two weeks,” Doak said. “We owe the entire success of this event to them.”

With cleanup still under way at the venue, volunteers said they were happy, weary and ready for a rest.

Tearing down old race results, Carol MacPherson, competition secretary, admitted she had not had a chance to catch her breath yet.

“Monday, I’ll go back to work and it’ll feel good,” she said with a smile.