Kiwi-Canadian has biathlon in her sights

Tucked away in the bottom of Sarah Murphy's suitcase is a battered, eight-year-old sweater.

It no longer fits but it will stay in the suitcase for at least another four months because for eight years it has served as an inspiration for Murphy.

Plastered across the front of the sweater are the numbers 2010. They have been a constant reminder of a goal Murphy set herself as a 13-year-old to compete at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next year.

When she set her goal Murphy was living in Canada and her dream was to represent that country in biathlon, but she has since changed her allegiance and is now aiming to become New Zealand's first representative in the sport at a Winter Olympics.

Murphy's mother is a New Zealander and her father Canadian, so she decided two years ago to try to win a place on the New Zealand team.

She came to New Zealand last winter for the first time and last northern hemisphere winter raced in a series of World Cup races in Europe and Canada the first time New Zealand had been represented at World Cup level.

Competing in the World Cup has been a character-building experience.

As the lone New Zealander on the circuit she has teamed up with the Ukrainian team.

"My coach is Slovenian and he had some contacts with the Ukraine team. They don't speak any English and I don't speak any Russian. It's been quite an experience."

She got her grounding in the sport at Canmore, in the Rocky Mountains close to Banff.

Biathlon is a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting but is not on the programme of the New Zealand Winter Games which start in Central Otago today. But Murphy will enter the cross-country skiing next week for some much-needed competition.

She says it is disappointing she cannot compete in her sport, but the racing will be good preparation for another assault on the biathlon World Cup races in the northern hemisphere where she will have to qualify for the Olympics.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee has deemed she will have to finish within 12.5 percentage points of the winner of any of the six World Cup races.

"Last year I was 13.3 per cent away so it means I have to improve about another 20 seconds."

That might sound a large gap to reduce but Murphy says the sprint biathlon is over 7.5 kilometres and that the gap is definitely surmountable.

"I will just have to keep trying and I won't know until the last minute if I have made the team. They will decide the last places in the field on January 28 which is only 11 days before the start of the Olympics."

The 7.5km biathlon comprises three 2.5km skiing legs with athletes stopping at the end of the first two legs to fire five shots at targets 50 metres away.

For each missed target competitors have to complete a 150m loop before they can go onto the next leg, so knocking over all 10 targets is imperative for a good time.

"We use .22 calibre rifles with open sights, no scopes," Murphy says. "At the moment my shooting is better than my skiing so the shorter race is better for me. There is also a 15km race which I will probably move up to as my skiing gets stronger."

The Kiwi-Canadian would love to be among the athletes at the opening ceremony in Vancouver on February 12 next year, but if her bid fails she knows she has time on her side.

"There will still be 2014 in Russia or even 2018."

- © Fairfax NZ News