Prince George biathletes Aliah Turner and Liam Simons now know what it’s like to compete on an Olympic biathlon course.
At the FISU World University Games on Turin, Italy on Tuesday they raced the first of five events on the course that will used for the 2026 Olympics.
Turner finished 22nd out of 47 biathletes in the women’s 12.5-kilometre short individual race.
The 18-year-old University of Calgary student shot 16-for-20 (1+1+0+2) and crossed the finish 5:50 behind gold medalist Noemmie Remonnay of France (37:37, 0+1+1+0).
Anna Perry of Calgary was the top Canadian, finishing 19th (+4:57, 0+3+1).
Simons finished 29th in the men’s 15 km short individual race. He was 6:12 (1+1+1+3) behind race winner Bohdan Borkovskyi of Ukraine (0+0+1+2).
Simons, 20, was the top-ranked university biathlete at the Canadian team trials in November and was a silver medalist in the sprint at the world junior championships team trials last week in Prince George.
Other Canadian results were as follows:
- Women – 31. Dannika Burke, University of Calgary; 34. Isabelle Caza, Gatineau, Que; 36. Quinn Morgan, Thompson Rivers University; 47. Ella Wiedre, UBC-Okanagan.
- Men – 30. Mathieu Lacasse, Gatineau, Que; 35. Zachary Grappolini, Calgary; 39. Simon Gauthier, Gatineau, Que; 46. Dawson Schigol, Athabasca University.
Allie Dickson of Burns Lake is the head coach of the Canadian team in Italy.
Biathlon resumes Thursday with the sprint races.
More than 2,500 athletes in 11 sports are competing at the Games, which end with the closing ceremony on Jan. 23.
