FORT KENT – The last time Bill and Carol Beste saw their son Jacob was in September when the 25-year-old biathlete dropped off his cat before hitting the World Cup circuit.

On Thursday morning, the Bestes were in the stands at the 10th Mountain Division Ski Center to watch Jacob compete as part of the U.S. biathlon team in the 2004 Biathlon World Cup in Fort Kent, taking place March 3-6.

The elder Bestes had traveled from the family home in Minneapolis to attend.

His son placed 60th in the Men’s 10-kilometer Sprint Thursday.

“This was the first time we had seen [Jacob] in a World Cup race,” mother Carol Beste said Thursday. “It was so exciting to watch him, and I was really pleased he held it together so well.”

The only other time the family had reunited during a biathlon season was in 2000 when their paths happened to cross in Oslo, Norway. Jacob Beste was competing there and his parents were winding up a trekking tour of the country.

Regardless of the venue, watching their son compete is always a bit nerve-wracking for the Bestes.

“It’s very hard to watch him shoot because we really know how critical the shooting is,” Bill Beste said. “For every shot missed, that’s a 150-meter head start you give to the next guy behind you.”

Biathletes are required to ski a 150-meter penalty loop for every shot missed out of the five targets on the range.

“Every time we see him go to the range and he gets ready to shoot, Carol says, ‘I hate this sport,'” Bill Beste said.

In addition to his parents, Jacob Beste has an additional voice cheering him on in Fort Kent. His wife, Jill Krause-Beste, is here, competing for the women’s U.S. biathlon team. The couple live and train in Vermont.

“It’s really good to see them here,” Krause-Beste said of her in-laws. “We just get to see them so rarely.”

For the Bestes, cross country skiing has long been a family tradition.

“We selected cross country skiing as our family sport when Jacob was quite young,” Bill Beste said Thursday as he had lunch with his family at the competition venue. “There soon came a point when [Jacob] was way too fast for us.”

It didn’t take long for the parents to recognize their son’s potential.

“There he was, just skiing alone when he was little,” Carol Beste said. “Then suddenly one day we were driving to watch him ski.”

Of course, the parents did not immediately realize what they were in for.

“You think this would be a good sport,” Carol Beste said. “You start with a pair of skis, then you need more skis and then the rifle comes into the picture.”

Despite the increase in time commitment and gear, both parents remained solidly behind their son, a fact not lost on the biathlete.

“This sport is so small and financially can’t support you,” Jacob Beste said. “You can’t really go to college and train [so] you have to put your life on hold, and a lot of parents don’t like that idea. My parents supported me 100 percent on that.”

These days, Carol Beste said, their support is more indirect.

“At this level we are pretty much at the fringe,” she said. “We are out there to watch, and seeing him so happy makes us very happy.”

Still, even a World Cup athlete needs his mom and dad once in awhile.

“I have arranged for the shipping of his skis at times,” Bill Beste said. “I guess he does still need us.”

And remember the cat back at home in Minneapolis? While his parents attend the competition in Fort Kent, friends are taking care of the feline, Bill Beste said.

“So I guess you could say it takes a neighborhood to raise a biathlete,” he added.