LIMESTONE – Three major biathlon events expected to draw several Olympians, originally scheduled to be held in Quebec, have been relocated to the Maine Winter Sports Center facility in Fort Kent.

The North American Biathlon Championships, Canadian National Biathlon Championships, and a component of the U.S. National Championships are scheduled to start Thursday and finish Sunday. The events were originally set for Val Cartier, Quebec, but water from snowmelt on the biathlon range forced the relocation.

Biathlon Canada decided to move the races to Fort Kent after consultation with Max Cobb, program director of the United States Biathlon Association.

“The success of the recent Junior National Biathlon Championships, held at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent three weeks ago, played a key role in the decision,” Cobb said.

Biathlon is an Olympic sport that combines cross country skiing and rifle marksmanship.

Nearly 200 athletes are expected to arrive in Fort Kent this week and some have already arrived.

Among those are Olympians Kara Salmela of Minnesota, Stacey Wooley of New Hampshire, and Christina Sebastianski of Maine. They will compete for the U.S. Championship.

In the men’s field, three-time Olympian Kurt Schreiner of New York is a favorite along with past Olympians Dan Westover of Vermont and Rob Rosser of Oregon.

“Schreiner is an athlete to watch,” said Algis Shalna, U.S. National Team coach and gold medalist the 1984 Olympics.

“Last week he finished sixth at the World Military Biathlon Championships by shooting clean in the 20K individual event,” Shalna added. “Shooting clean means that Schreiner hit 20 out of 20 shots – no penalties.”

Juniors, seniors, and masters (over age 35) will be competing for the Canadian National Championships titles and U.S. Senior athletes will be competing for championship titles in the individual events and relay. The races also serve as qualifiers for the Senior U.S. National Team.

Race officials and volunteers are preparing for the event and the trails are in execellent condition, according to Carl Theriault, a Maine Winter Sports Center trustee.

Spectators are welcome and admission to the events is free. The races are set to start 9:30 a.m. each day.

The men’s and women’s individual 20K and 15K races are Thursday, the shorter sprints are Saturday, and the relay races are Sunday. The biathlon stadium is located off Route 11, just outside of Fort Kent.