There is a high level of anticipation at the U.S. Biathlon Team training camp in Vuokatti, Finland, with both the IBU World Cup and IBU Cup series about to begin. Coming off a season of promising results followed by eight months of an innovative preparation period, now it’s go-time! Heartbeat headed to the Vuokatti camp this week to catch up with U.S. Biathlon High Performance Director Lowell Bailey to recap the past and outline the plan for the coming season.

The BMW IBU World Cup opens Saturday, Nov. 30 in Kontiolahti, Finland, with the IBU Cup getting underway Thursday, Nov. 28 at Idre Fjäll, Sweden.

Bailey, a world champion, is now entering his seventh season since retiring in 2018. Since then, he’s led high-performance efforts for the next generation of biathletes. 

“The more time I spend in this role, the more I realize the commonalities between what you do as an athlete and what you do as a sport director,” he said. “As an athlete, you're just trying to figure out ‘how I get better, how I find that half a percent improvement? Where is it going to be? Can I shoot a little bit faster? Can I ski a little bit faster? Can I ski a little bit smarter?’ You're constantly trying to find those little nuggets. My role right now is not that much different.”

It’s always fun to look back at milestone results. Last season’s men’s relay results, career-best finishes for Deedra Irwin and Campbell Wright, and an emergence of new future stars coming onto the scene form the foundation. The preparation period since last April was highlighted by a spring on-snow camp in Bend, Ore., European high-altitude camps at Lenzerheide and Livigno, an increasingly valuable October camp in Soldier Hollow, and now the final tune-up in Vuokatti.

Bailey is also quick to point at partnerships established with the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, USOPC, and a valuable physiological testing program with Montana State University that provides some of the best physical feedback for athletes and coaches ever.

Conditions in Vuokatti have been snowy and dark, with only a few hours of daylight each day. But the culture and training facilities have attracted more teams each year.

“Finland has a great culture and heritage of cross country skiing, so their venues are just top-notch, world-class venues,” said Bailey. “Because of that, you see a lot of the big teams from Central Europe making the trip up here to train.”

Listen in now to episode four of Heartbeat as Lowell Bailey sets the stage for the season ahead. And watch for another Vuokatti update with men’s team star Jake Brown coming soon.