SOLDIER HOLLOW — Biathletes faced brutal wind, soft snow and cloudy conditions here Friday — all combining to make the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games interesting to say the least.
"The snow is soft and it makes for a rough ride much like the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland," said Candace Cable, a four-time Paralympian of Truckee, Calif., who carried the USA flag in the opening ceremonies. She finished last in eighth place in the women's 7.5-kilometer sit-ski biathlon competition.
High winds hampered the shooting for Salt Lake City's Keith Barney who placed 29th, next-to-last in the men's sit-ski race. "It's the worst I've ever done," he said, hitting a mere four out of 10 targets.
Complicating that was overcast skies making it difficult for Rob Walsh of New Hampshire to see the targets in the visually impaired men's competition.
"I missed three shots, which is pretty painful," said Walsh, who finished 17th.
Steve Cook of Salt Lake City wasn't complaining about his near-perfect shooting in the men's standing competition, but it wasn't the weather he expected.
"I had hoped for Olympic-style weather where it was blue sky," Cook said. "But I shot and skied well," he added, placing 11th in a field of 21 competitors.
Paralympic biathlon featured men and women competitions in three categories: sit-ski, visually impaired and standing. Competitors ski a 2.5 kilometer loop three times, stopping twice in prone position to fire five shots at targets 10 meters away. A penalty of one minute is added to the time for each target missed.
In the sit-ski races, competitors propel themselves forward using two poles while sitting in a specially designed chair that is attached to skis.
Rudolf Weber, a 1994 silver medalist of Switzerland, cleaned all 10 targets to win the gold in the men's sit-ski race in 25 minutes, 54.2 seconds. Just 14 seconds behind, Oliver Anthofer of Austria won the silver. And an elated Roland Ruepp of Italy captured the bronze.
Norway's Ragnhild Myklebust won the gold in the women's sit-ski competition. Perfect shooting and fast skiing put her two minutes ahead of the Ukrainians — silver medallist Olena Yurkovska and bronze medallist Svitlana Tryfonova.
"It is obviously great to take the first gold for Norway in this Paralympics," Myklebust said.
In the visually impaired competition, athletes ski with a guide. A computerized acoustic rifle system allows them to adjust their aim according to audio cues heard through a headset.
Germany dominated in the men's competition, with Wilhelm Brem winning the gold in 19 minutes, 22.9 seconds. Marian Balaz of Slovakia won the silver over a minute ahead of Germany's Frank Hoefle who won the bronze.
On the women's side, Verena Bentele of Germany won the gold in 22 minutes, 39.3 seconds — two minutes ahead of Tone Gravvold of Norway who won the silver and Emilie Tabouret of France who captured the bronze.
In the standing competitions, disabilities vary. Athletes with an arm disability are assisted in holding the rifles at the shooting range.
Germany captured both the gold and the silver in the men's competition. Thomas Oelsner won the gold and Josef Giesen the silver. Russia's Valeri Darovskikh won the bronze.
On the women's side, Netherlander Marjorie Van De Bunt won the gold, France's Anne Floriet won the silver and Poland's Bogumila Kaploniak won the bronze.
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