N.W.T. Olympic biathlete has strong start to season

N.W.T. Olympic athlete Brendan Green will take a break from the World Cup biathlon circuit to spend Christmas at home in Hay River.

"It’s been a pretty good start to the season," said Green.

"We did nine races total over the last month. I was able to bring in some good results and it was definitely one of my strongest starts to the season. Things are looking good."

His team placed sixth at the World Cup mixed biathlon relay in Austria on Sunday. The mixed biathlon is being considered for inclusion in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

On Dec. 15 he finished 24th in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint and on Dec. 11 he had a best-ever finish of 15th in the men’s relay.

There are 10 World cup events every season, plus the World Championships, which will be in Ruhpolding, Germany, in February.

"I’m hoping to have my best performances at that time in the season; that’s obviously the goal," he said.

For Green, the road to the Canadian national biathlon team began at the Arctic Winter Games.

"That was my start to international competition," he said. "Those were always big events when I was growing up. My goals were always centred around them so for sure that was my starting point."

His father Bruce Green has been involved with biathlon and the Arctic Winter Games since his children were young, and he's still at it.

He helped organize the N.W.T. team’s biathlon trials earlier this month and said it brought back memories.

"I was thinking 10 years ago Brennie would have been working hard to make the team."

At the tryouts, Bruce Green said he saw a lot of potential in the up-and-coming athletes, and that maybe in a few years there will be another Olympian from the North.

Brendan Green had this advice for younger skiers.

"Anything is possible with hard work and perseverance, and I’ve always found that the North is honestly full of a lot of opportunities, so take advantage of as many of those as you can," he said.