FORT KENT – The 10th Mountain Division Lodge venue of the Maine Winter Sports Center was just too close to not take the time to visit it while in northern Maine.

Two Austrian biathlon coaches who ventured to Fort Kent on Saturday were as impressed with the site as they had been with Presque Isle’s Nordic Heritage Center, where the International Biathlon Association held its Youth and Junior World Championships last week.

Gunther Hufnagl and Wolfgang Waldhuber liked the facilities at both centers and were awed by the lodges, something they don’t see in Austria. They said money is sparse back home, and lodges like they saw in northern Maine were not available to biathletes.

In Fort Kent, they were hosted by Philip Soucy, a friend of John Badger of Presque Isle, who chauffeured the 23-member Austrian team of athletes, coaches and support staff during their stay. Edeltraut Thiele, a Fort Kent resident of German descent, was their interpreter.

But it’s not facilities America needs, both said.

“There’s is much to do in America for biathlon, because people don’t know about [the sport],” Waldhuber said. “There needs to be some education.

“It is the number one sport in Europe,” he added. “Twenty [thousand] to 30,000 thousand people go to competitions, and it doesn’t matter what the weather is.”

The 13 Austrian athletes and 10 coaches and support staffers made up the largest of 26 contingents at the world championship.

They also were very successful, with the daughters of both Hufnagl and Waldhuber winning gold medals in their team’s first appearance at the IBU World Championships.

Visiting the United States for the first time, both men said they were filled with wonderment at what they saw here, especially since the facilities were built in the short period of seven years.

“We were very surprised,” said Waldhuber, the one coach who could speak any English. Both noted how spectators have good views of athletes at both venues, especially in the stadiums where the shooting takes place.

“The people are so nice, it’s indescribable,” Waldhuber added. “We enjoyed it very much. We would like to stay here, but we have families back in Austria.”

He said the two venues were perfect, and they expect to return to northern Maine when their daughters will be older and competing with the adult teams in 2009 when a World Cup could be held again in northern Maine.

While at the 10th Mountain Division Lodge on Saturday, the two men passed out Austrian biathlon stickers, always looking to promote the sport. They talked with several adults and children at the center. The center has programs for children on Saturday mornings.

“I like seeing the kids training,” Waldhuber said. “It’s super.”

Both men took a number of photographs of children training on the shooting range.

“These centers were built to train local youngsters to beat the Austrians in the future,” Soucy told the men.

“Good luck,” Waldhuber said, not missing a beat.

“I am so impressed with all your volunteers at these centers,” he said. “With us, even if the sport is number one, we have to pay volunteers for them to work.

“Here, your volunteers are like a big family,” he said. “That’s great.”

Waldhuber said he believes Europeans will come to northern Maine in the future. They were introduced to Fort Kent during the 2004 IBU Biathlon World Cup.

“When it is even better-known, Europeans will come.”