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Heartbeat takes you inside the world of the unique Olympic sport of biathlon - a sport that combines the heart-pumping aerobics of cross country skiing combined with the precision element of marksmanship. The US Biathlon podcast brings you close to the athletes to dissect one of the most popularity of Olympic Winter Games sports.
Tom Kelly: [00:00:00] It is World Cup time and we are at Soldier Hollow this week with Heartbeat and joining me, we have two wonderful guests. First of all, Sara Studebaker Hall Director of Operations for US Biathlon, making your third appearance on Heartbeat. Thanks for joining us, Sara.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:00:15] Yeah, of course. I just love being here with you Tom.
Tom Kelly: [00:00:17] And the chief operating officer of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, my long-time friend Calum Clark. Calum, thanks for joining us.
Calum Clark: [00:00:25] I feel like a rookie, but I'm looking forward to this conversation.
Tom Kelly: [00:00:27] Well, you're going to do just fine. You know the cool thing for me driving in, we've had a pretty good winter here in Utah and to drive in and see fresh snow across all of the mountainsides. It's it's beautiful here. Yeah.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:00:40] It's just a beautiful location. You know, that's one of the things about this venue that is super special and really different I think from a lot of venues is we've got this beautiful view and you can see the whole race trail from this central area, especially for biathlon.
Tom Kelly: [00:00:54] Yeah, it's an amazing place. And Calum, you're in charge of the event. Did you turn on the snow at some point?
Calum Clark: [00:00:59] A couple of days ago we were looking around and yeah, with a little bit of warm weather and it was feeling a little bit melty. And our director of operations here, he said, you know what, what we need now is just a little bit of snow to brighten this place up. And and which is exactly what's happened. And to see the whites and the hills, it is truly spectacular. I feel lucky every time I come to this venue.
Tom Kelly: [00:01:19] So we are recording this on Monday evening. The event starts on Friday, so we're just a few days out. Sarah, when do the teams start arriving?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:01:26] The teams actually just got on the ground a couple of hours ago. So they are in the US. They are just getting to their hotels and they'll have their first chance to ski the courses and check out the range and see the venue tomorrow morning.
Tom Kelly: [00:01:39] Cool. And Calum, your team right now are finishing preparations. Everything's all ready. Yeah, we have.
Calum Clark: [00:01:44] A fair bit to do, but we feel good about where we are. We? It's been a long road in preparation, but tomorrow morning we'll we'll have our grooming crew out early tomorrow morning to make sure we make the most of this natural snow. And we want to put our best foot forward for these international athletes, that they have a really good experience when they first get on snow. Well, there's.
Tom Kelly: [00:02:02] A lot of new things here at Soldier Hollow, and we're going to get to that in a little bit. But Calum, maybe a little bit of background. Uh, uh, you have been working here. I think you're on your fifth anniversary with Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. But give us a little sense of your background and how you got into sport and how you found your way here to America.
Calum Clark: [00:02:19] Yeah, the interesting choice. You can hear my accent. Of course. Uh, I always get the head tilt, uh, when I first start talking, particularly in the winter environment. I'm Australian. I worked at the Sydney Games as an Australian. That was. I'm an Olympic fan, as you well know. Tom and I was young, just fresh out of college, and I bashed on that door until they let me in. I was lucky enough to work at the aquatic center and from that, uh, Sydney Olympics, they literally scooped up a whole bunch of us and said, how would you like to come and help out at the Salt Lake Olympics? And I was young, single, and I had no future job plans. And I said, oh, yeah, sure. Why not? Uh, I had a bit of a background in winter sports, so I was really keen to work on Winter Olympics. I was kind of a dream for me. Uh, and in coming to Utah, I was blown away about this, the unique nature of this place. And I'd been lucky enough to travel around quite a few winter areas in the world and, uh, went back home and through just a random set of circumstances.
Calum Clark: [00:03:21] I was coming back through Utah two years after the games, and a friend of mine was working coaches education at US ski and snowboard, and we were at a dinner party and he said, you should apply to be, uh, to take a job in the event department. And I said, sure, why not put my name down to be the president of the United States? At the same time, I probably have as much chance. But, uh, the US Ski and Snowboard, uh, took a chance with me as an event manager, and I managed to, uh, to stick with that for 17 years at US Ski and Snowboard from 2004 to 2019, uh, primarily working in the events world. So I was, I was, um, managing the rights and responsibilities for alpine freestyle, snowboard World Cup, Olympic trials. Tremendous job. A lot of excitement. Uh, and then in 2019, after the, uh, the freestyle free ski and snowboard world championships that were held in Park City, uh, where I was a chair of that organizing committee, I made the move over to the U. Olf so here I am.
Tom Kelly: [00:04:22] So, were you here for the last World Cup five years ago for biathlon?
Calum Clark: [00:04:26] They were my first. That was my first day. So. And you were, uh, I think I first met you. Closing ceremonies of the 2019 snowboard freestyle and Freeski World Championships was on the Sunday evening. The Monday was opening day for, uh, the, the Biathlon World Cup. And Colin, our CEO, said take some time. You need need a rest. And I couldn't help myself. It was another event. I'd come down and check it out and, uh, I was in it was it was great. And I got to work alongside Sarah. Those were my first days at the OLF. Pretty cool.
Tom Kelly: [00:04:58] Let's talk a little bit. More about the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. This is something that's really helped to preserve the spirit of 2002 and and preserve these amazing venues that we have across Utah. But tell us a little bit about the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and its role here in sport.
Calum Clark: [00:05:18] Uh, right. Yes. It's a really, really amazing legacy. And it's in the name, uh, of the 2002 games. At the conclusion of the 2002 games, there was a profit, uh, that was set aside as a legacy fund, uh, to help support the conduct of, uh, of primarily it started off as two, uh, legacy Olympic venues that the organizing committee knew that was going to be difficult to upkeep and maintain because they are not really financial, financially viable day to day. That was the Utah Olympic Park with the ski jumps and bobsled track, as well as the Utah Olympic Oval. Uh, Soldier Hollow Nordic Center was its own foundation, and in 2015, I believe.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:06:07] 15 or 16.
Calum Clark: [00:06:08] 20, 15 or 16, they, um, the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center fell under the umbrella of the ILF. This legacy fund is the fund that the organization draws from the the the venues run at a financial loss and the, uh, the passive investments that are made, uh, help subsidize those costs. But really importantly about the OLF is that we are not just a venue management group under the leadership of Colin Hilton. He he he has two comments. One is that these need to be gathering points for the community, really community gathering, gathering centers. So a lot of community events, a lot of community activity at all of our venues. And we're also here to further those sports that we are responsible for. So we have a thriving Team Soho here, that Sarah, until, uh, until she took on the job with, uh, US biathlon was, uh, taking charge of, uh, in biathlon and cross-country skiing. We do, um, our hockey programs and speed skating and learn to skate and figure skating. Uh, we are here to make those sports accessible and fun and, uh, and vibrant. As vibrant as these venues are.
Tom Kelly: [00:07:20] So, Sarah, you have a long background as an athlete, biathlete and Olympian. Give us a little for one one. We've had you on the show before, but for listeners who might not know you, give us a little background on yourself as an athlete.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:07:33] Yeah. For sure. So, as you said, I was a two-time Olympian in biathlon. I went to the 2010 and 2014 games. Uh retired after that and started coaching both in cross country. I worked at the University of Alaska Anchorage and then came down here to Utah to take on Team Soldier Hollow cross country team, and then pivoted from there into my job with US Biathlon. And kind of parallel to that, I've been also working as an official. So in a volunteer capacity, working towards my technical delegates license, which I got a couple of years ago. So I'm a technical delegate with the International Biathlon Union, going to other events around the world for that. And, you know, since 2019 have had my international referee license, which allowed me to be the assistant chief of competition in 2019 and then the chief of competition for our 2022 Youth and Junior World Championships. And now for this event, for the 2024 World Cup.
Tom Kelly: [00:08:29] So what's your specific role here?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:08:31] Yeah, so I'm the chief of competition for this event. So I have my I'm in charge of essentially all of the field of play stuff. So I have a really great group of people working with me on the range and the course and timing in the stadium, and we make sure that the races run as they're supposed to.
Tom Kelly: [00:08:49] So you've been a big advocate for getting more women into officiating, coaching as well in biathlon. Can you give us a little progress update on that since we talked last?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:08:58] Yeah, for sure. We have really made, I would say, significant progress on that. We've gotten several women in through our US Biathlon level one and two coaching uh, and officials education and hopefully getting a few more people through our international referee test. We had Maddie Phaneuf take that test and pass a couple of years ago. So she's one of our licensed referees there. And then at this event, you know, a couple years ago we didn't have any other women serving on the competition group. And we have two that will be joining us this year, one in the competition office. And then Susan Dunklee, who of course, will be well known to our listeners, is assistant chief on the course. So it'd be really great to have her working on that side of things this time.
Tom Kelly: [00:09:40] Now, I know you left Soldier Hollow to move back east. Uh, I know it's great for you to come back out here, but US Biathlon now has established Utah as its headquarters. Can you give us an update on that?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:09:53] Yeah. We are so excited to call Utah our home, uh, for our administrative operations here. And, of course, this beautiful building, which is nearly done, is going to be our home very soon. So, uh, we will have a great presence here. And, you know, of course, alongside the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. It's just a wonderful place to, to be.
Tom Kelly: [00:10:14] One of the things that really struck me when you made that announcement this fall is that you've also identified other areas of the country that serve an official role of, of some importance with us biathlon. Can you run through a little bit of that and the strategy behind that?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:10:29] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're a big country, so it's really important to us that we have kind of a foothold in a lot of different areas. Of course we have our junior team, which is based up in Montana and Bozeman at the Crosscut Mountain Sports Center, and that's a really great venue for us. It's kind of coming online, growing every year. They've, you know, put in some more pavement, working on potentially a snowmaking plan going forward. And then, of course, our national team is based in Lake Placid, and they have the Olympic Training Center there and have done a lot of work. They will be having an IBU Cup in 2026, which is really great. We'll be bringing the the International Biathlon Union family back to the US again and really excited to host them there in Lake Placid.
Tom Kelly: [00:11:10] And Calum, let's talk a little bit more about Soldier Hollow. This is a place that has a great history. Most of us in Utah know it from 2002. But what's the origins of this place? How did the name Soldier Hollow come about?
Calum Clark: [00:11:23] Yeah, it's a really interesting story. This. We sit on state park lands. Uh, and when it was discovered and identified as an Olympic venue, uh, it was a sheep grazing area. And the sheep and sheep and goats, sheep and goats were, uh, grazing on the space. The, uh, the history of this place is, uh, apparently, uh, before, uh, Utah became a state, Union soldiers would camp in camp here in this, uh, protected hollow, uh, before heading down onto the the Great Salt Lake and on the Oregon Trail. Uh, this place has had a history of, um, of activity and of grazing. And then, as you said, in the lead up of the 2002 games, they identified this as an ideal location because of its aspect and aspect, topography and elevation for a Nordic center, and became the site for the 2002 games for cross country skiing and biathlon. So this.
Tom Kelly: [00:12:19] Venue is used has been used continually since the 2002 games. What are some of the other events that you've had here that might be interesting for listeners?
Calum Clark: [00:12:27] We go with all of the above, uh, from uh, National championships, uh, Western Region championships. We host the, uh, the National Guard do a do an annual biathlon event here. Uh, and then as we go into the shoulder season in the summer, we, we host, uh, the Soldier Hollow Bike Fest, which is a fantastic mountain biking program. Uh, the Soldier Hollow classic. This is a great legacy of a long-time general manager Howard Peterson, who saw this place as, again, as a as a place to bring the community and the community activation to have sheepdogs here and a three-day sheepdog trial attracting 20 to 30,000, uh, spectators. That's a highlight for us in the summer. Uh, in the fall, we do fun runs. We do color runs. We, uh, again, all of the above weddings, parties, everything.
Tom Kelly: [00:13:21] I know the cross country world and the biathlon world also looks every October to shoots and ski. Can you give us a background on that?
Calum Clark: [00:13:29] Yeah, that's a really fun event and growing very quickly. And this was done, uh, in the onset with, with Sarah as something to do to, to bring the communities of both Biathlon and Cross Country together and that critical fall training period when the, traditionally the teams would come here and do fall training where temperatures are ideal, they use our roller ski trails and, uh, turning a time trial into an event, turning a time trial into a community fun event for the youth to, uh, saddle up beside the national teams, uh, for cross country skiers to try biathlon. Uh, and then, uh, we we've added a fun run to, uh, to it as well. Add in the chutes and ski a little bit of a tongue in cheek on the, uh, and the Oktoberfest style. Break out some German beer, um, uh, serve some brats and have a good time.
Tom Kelly: [00:14:25] It is a good time, Sarah. From a from an athletic viewpoint, in the strategic plan for U.S. biathlon, you have an initiative to really bring the cross-country and biathlon communities together. How is Schützenski really helped with that?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:14:37] Yeah. You know, our feeling with development for young athletes is that if we can expose them to biathlon, then it just gives them another option, another opportunity to pursue winter sports. So, you know, we think that the more exposure that we can get young people to biathlon the better. So, you know cross country is already coming here. They're already having their camps and races. We're already coming here having our camps and races. If we can scooch everything just a little bit closer together and overlap a little bit more, then we can all benefit from that. And it's great for both for the youth but also for our elite athletes because, you know, cross country is obviously got some very strong athletes. We've got some very strong athletes. Everyone benefits from being able to train together. And, you know, at the heart of it, they're very, very similar sports. We add shooting. They do classic skiing. Otherwise we're the same thing. So you know if we can have more opportunities to work together towards common goals of more kids involved in sport and more medals that we can win at the games, then all the better for all of us.
Tom Kelly: [00:15:37] Just as an outside observer, it just seems to me like over the past few years, there are more and more examples of biathletes in cross country and cross country skiers finding biathlon. I know that this strategic plan is relatively new, but are you seeing sensing that you have a little traction here?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:15:55] Yeah, for sure, for sure. And you know, for us the start of this was always of course, that cross country had was well established with really good regional racing programs, really good junior national championships. So it only made sense for our youth athletes to also be doing cross country so that they could get more opportunities just to race, because they learn when they race, whether they're racing with a rifle on their back or not. And now, you know, as we are seeing more athletes at the high levels come in, you know, from cross country switching over to biathlon and having really good results at World Cups and IBU Cup levels, then I think we see more people thinking that way and thinking, hey, you know, maybe I'm not the strongest classic skier or I'm almost there, but I'm not quite going to make that national team. And maybe I could try biathlon and get even better.
Tom Kelly: [00:16:43] Sarah, let's talk about the World Cup that's coming up this weekend. We haven't had 1 in 5 years here in America, the IBU Biathlon World Cup is one of the most established tours in all of winter sport. How big a deal is it to get this event here to America again?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:16:59] Yeah, it's a huge deal. And, you know, it's it's really, really exciting to be able to host this here because this venue is just so beautiful and it's really a great place to be. But you know, more than that, I think it's it's really important for us biathlon community to be able to host a World Cup because, you know. Biathlon is the most televised winter sport in Europe. When we had our last World Cup, we had more viewers worldwide than the Super Bowl and so it's a huge deal. It's a huge deal for Utah. It's a huge deal for us, biathlon and of course for the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and for us, you know, we get to have the local kids come and be forerunners, come and help and volunteer. We get to have, you know, the US biathlon community. We have so many people coming into town just to help with this event. And, you know, you can't you can't be something that you can't see. So, you know, bringing this here and being able to see their idols race on trails that they get to race on to, that they get to ski on every day is really inspiring. And, you know, we saw that a little bit with the youth and junior championships. We had kids who for ran and volunteered at the 2019 World Cup, and then they got to race in the youth and junior championships on these same courses in 2022. So, you know, our hope, of course, is that the 2034 Olympic athletes are out here volunteering and helping and seeing what they what they are aspiring to be.
Tom Kelly: [00:18:25] Sir, do you think that you'll have biathletes from clubs around America coming here to spectate this weekend?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:18:31] Yeah, for sure we will. I mean, you know, in 2019 we had pretty good turnout. Uh, it was, you know, definitely a little bit smaller than we had hoped. But this year already we have, you know, VIP and premium seating is all sold out. General admission is free. And so we anticipate that there will be quite a few people coming. And we know it's a big deal for our community that we have this World Cup. We know there's a lot of people coming, you know, just to volunteer, just to help be in the jacket, be on the range, you know, help, help make the event happen. But for sure, there will also be tons of people here just to watch and see this event.
Tom Kelly: [00:19:06] I want to explore a little bit what it takes to get the event here, what work had to be done behind the scenes. Calum, I'll start with you and then go to you sir. But what needed to be done in this partnership between Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and U.S Biathlon to bring this event here.
Calum Clark: [00:19:21] The amazing thing about the IBU is they have a great strategic plan and a very, very clear objectives on their their calendar. I believe it was four years ago that there was an outreach by the the IBU through US biathlon calling for bids for the World Cup. Uh, we did a deep dive on the financial analysis of that event with the experience of 2019. Uh, we, uh, in partnership with Canada or strategically, um, you know, we said to Canada, we're we're in if you're in and they said we're in also so that we could put forward a North American, um, uh, combination of, uh, of starts and then proceeded with the bid. Uh, that bid took about six months for it to go through their processes and review and, and, and votes. And then we were awarded the World Cup. Um, as always with these events, uh, the UOLF is busy. We took that went great. We go to the World Cup and, uh, that was pre-COVID. We, uh, set that down and got to work on the day to day. Uh, but I would say 16 months ago, 18 months ago, that's when we really started picking up the ball again and looking with our partners that us biathlon the details of what we're going to deliver, how we were going to deliver it, how we were going to stand on the shoulders of the last two successful events we hosted here to really deliver a great event.
Tom Kelly: [00:20:49] Sarah, from Ucsb's perspective, how is this partnership work to bring the event back here? And what did you guys have to do in kind of the governance side internationally to to get this event back after five years? Yeah, you know.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:21:01] Obviously it's a challenge. Anytime you're bringing a whole bunch of people with rifles from Europe to the United States. So there's there's a, you know, both the, the mental blocks of people just feeling apprehensive about traveling that far and also the logistical challenges that we have to overcome. So we worked really hard with IBU to make sure that that could be as smooth as possible. And there's obviously going to be some challenges along the way. And we, you know, hope to minimize those and weather those as best we can. But, you know, it's it's really important for us. You know, IBU wants to grow the sport of biathlon US biathlon the you know biathlon in the US is a ripe place to do that. We have a lot of runway to grow this sport in the, in this country. And so that fits really nicely with IBU's goals there. You know. That said, I think the great thing about this venue is that they host a lot of different things all the time. So they've got that going for them. The challenge is that the last time we hosted a big event was in 2022, and the last time we hosted a World Cup was in 2019, and it's always a little bit of a challenge to get all of those things going, get the dust dusted off and get things rolling as they should be for this high-level event. But, you know, we've got a great team and it's a really good partnership. And everybody's you know Calum's out there with a shovel. Colin Hilton's out there scrubbing floors getting the. Done. And so it's really all hands on deck. And you know that no one's above doing the work. So it's it's really good.
Tom Kelly: [00:22:24] We're going to explore more as to what's going to go on here this weekend. In just a minute, we'll take a short break and we'll be right back on Heartbeat.
Tom Kelly: And we're back on Heartbeat here in the venue at Soldier Hollow. Ibu Biathlon World Cup coming up this weekend. Calum, you've worked major events around the world. You've worked Olympic Games, World Championships and more. What goes? What goes into the production of an event like a Biathlon World Cup?
Calum Clark: [00:22:58] Uh, where do you start? Um, I guess the it all starts from the the premise that we're hosting a sporting event. So everything comes out of the field of play in the athletes. So we start with that first ensuring that we have, uh, the right venues, the venues that are, that are correct. Then we've got the we've got the infrastructure in place, the snowmaking and the cats and the and the ranges in being well maintained, uh, in order to facilitate a world-class event. Without that first element, we don't have, uh, we won't have a credible event. And then the layers of the onion begin from, as Sarah rightly pointed out, bringing in, uh, a large number of athletes into the country with firearms is not the most straightforward thing. So we are we have, um, with our partners at the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, been working very diligently in government relations to make sure that that, um, security was aware that we had our six Nia forms, that we had good partnership with the ATF, with the approval of the firearms coming in, um, ensuring that we have a really robust logistical plan for our, uh, broadcast partners so that we can, uh, load this venue in.
Calum Clark: [00:24:14] And the venue is showcased in its best possible light, as, um, is so important. And then we keep going, uh, the, the the physical facilities, uh, the athlete facilities, and then the last piece, and it's the icing on the cake. It's the people. As Sarah said, we've had a great relationship here with us. Biathlon and, uh, through their leadership, have developed a new wave of officials in, in key positions in our chiefs and that ownership and that, uh, that sense of understanding of what needs to be delivered. And when is the magic sauce? You combine that with a very, very interested community of biathlete families that have traveling in to support this event in a voluntary capacity, along with our local community who just want to be involved. They love hosting international events. We have 350 odd volunteers that are that are supporting this event, and that is truly the the icing on the cake that makes it all happen.
Tom Kelly: [00:25:18] Calum, you have been promoting this event very heavily across Utah in the past months. What do you expect for spectators and how can spectators have the best experience when they come to the World Cup here at Soldier Hollow?
Calum Clark: [00:25:32] As Sarah said, we were very, very pleased. We've we, uh, in winter sports, it's really unusual to sell tickets to, to an event. And, uh, we started with a premium seating area. Uh, we, uh, promoted that in the late summer, and we have been blown away by that level of interest, both domestically and internationally. And we've sold out, as Sarah said, it's it's open to the public, free, um, uh, general admission, uh, a couple of pointers. Um, uh, uh, get your ways or your Google app, uh, to to make sure you know where you're going. Uh, carpool. We are trying to be as low carbon footprint as possible. Dress warmly. Uh, bring it. Bring your own water bottle. We are trying not to have single use plastics, and we have volunteers that will direct you. You will have the opportunity to be in and around the stadium, out on the course, so you can get out on the, um, on the cabin hill, for example, and watch these athletes up close, uh, and really have a great time. Beyond that, we also have a whole lot of activities. We have, uh, two free concerts, um, on, uh, Saturday and Sunday. Uh, we have a festival area. Um, we have a mechanical bull for those people who want to be thrown off a mechanical bull. Uh, we have activities. We have laser rifles so that you can try your hand at, uh, biathlon yourself. So, again, trying to build this out as a great sporting event, but also a chance for the community to to have fun and enjoy themselves.
Tom Kelly: [00:27:05] Sarah, as an athlete and a two-time Olympian, you know the action down on the on the track and in the range. What advice would you give to spectators for this weekend as to where are some interesting angles or spots to watch the competition?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:27:19] Yeah, you know, we are really lucky. We have a really great schedule this weekend. So we have races Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We have relay racing happening on both Friday and Saturday, as well as sprint racing which are short individual start races. And then on Sunday we have pursuit races and there. All just super fun to watch and really easy. Even if you don't know anything about biathlon, to watch and to follow. So you know, of course come right up. And I would say start in the range and watch from the stadium here to check things out. Watch how things are happening within the stadium and then also on the shooting. And then, you know, this is a great venue. You can just walk right over to the other side of the spectator area and see the trails and watch these skiers, because they truly are the best skiers in the world out there on these courses. And these are tough courses, so they're going to give them a run for their money.
Tom Kelly: [00:28:07] Sarah, you've been to many of our really all of the great biathlon venues around the world. Any experiences that you can relate of, you know, from either as an athlete or in your current role at being in one of these great biathlon venues during a World Cup?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:28:22] Yeah, you know, biathlon, as I said, it's so popular in Europe. And so the memories that I have of being able to race in some of these really historic venues like Ruhpolding and adults are just the fans are so loud and it's so exciting to ski in front of people that are so excited to watch you. So if you do come out this weekend and you watch like, do not be quiet, be as loud as you can, it's really exciting for the athletes to hear fans cheering for them. And you know when you get to race at home, because I was lucky enough to be able to do that in my career. And, you know, unfortunately not here in Utah, but in northern Maine. Um, but it was a beautiful venue there in Presque Isle and in Fort Kent. And being able to race at home is so special, and most of these athletes will get the chance to do that once, maybe twice in their career. And so, you know, being able to race in front of that home crowd where they're really cheering for you as an American is it's there's nothing like it. So, you know, I think it'll be a really special experience for our athletes this weekend.
Tom Kelly: [00:29:20] Calum, as we record this, we're in the new competition building here at Soldier Hollow. Uh, a dramatic expansion of the building that's been here since 2002. Can you give us a quick little virtual tour of this amazing new facility? Yeah.
Calum Clark: [00:29:34] Thanks, Tom. We are so excited that this is the unveiling of our our new center here. Uh, this is a 20,000 square foot expansion on really what was initially built as purely functional, uh, timing and scoring and officiating space. Uh, the, the competition management building was built purely for that reason for the 2002 games. Uh, we are now expanding this to, for it to also have our Nordic center and, uh, day facilities. So the expansion is three levels. Um, the lower ground level will have a gymnasium, and the gymnasium is here to serve as both Team Soho as well as us biathlon athletes, uh, with a state of the art facilities, as well as our rental center that will allow kids to and and adults to come in easily, rent their gear and get out onto the snow easily and effectively above that, on the ground level, we have an amazing new day lodge, and what is so special about this space is the these floor to ceiling windows that look out both to our biathlon range and to the cross country side to the south. Uh, and then above that we have an event center. So the idea here again, is a place for the community to, to gather on a day to day basis to enjoy. If you are a committed athlete, um, to be able to train here or to enjoy yourself and recreate, but also to be able to flip very quickly to become a world class event center.
Tom Kelly: [00:31:05] And one of the reasons that, I mean, this building will serve multiple purposes, but we hope that in ten years it'll be serving an Olympics. Where does that stand?
Calum Clark: [00:31:13] Yes, that's a very good point. This building is built for everyday use, but it has. The architects had worked extremely closely with us to know that this is fully flexible for a future Olympic Games. And, uh, it's an exciting time in Utah and Olympic sports. Uh, Thursday, uh, the Olympic bid team submitted the bid file for the 2034 Olympic Games. Uh, the OLF is partnered with the bid committee. And that was an amazing process to to go through that documentation. I know there is a sense of relief that that documentation is now in Lucerne, in Lucerne and over with the IOC, but this, uh, expansion and this development is both a precast but also it's another chapter in what Utah, I believe does so well, uh, we are building things for everyday use. We are building things for Long Terme lifelong athletic development that will also be an asset for the Olympic Games.
Tom Kelly: [00:32:14] Sara, from a USA perspective, who should we watch this weekend here at Soldier Hollow?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:32:19] Yeah, you know, we're coming off of a super successful World Championships. Uh, you know, we had our men's relay team have their best ever World championship finish in fifth place in Nove Mesto, and that's the very first event that's going to kick off our races here. So we're really excited of course, to watch. Them. Deedra Irwin as well on the women's side is having a really great season. And Campbell, right on the men's side is really I think every weekend has had a best ever, you know, since world championships. So we're really looking forward to seeing some awesome results. And of course everyone gets a little extra adrenaline from racing at home. So hopefully a few more people can pop some season bests here in Soldier Hollow.
Tom Kelly: [00:32:59] Calum, how about a quick snapshot of the schedule coming up this weekend, right?
Calum Clark: [00:33:03] Yes. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. As Sarah said, we are, uh, working through a flip flop of relay and pursuit. Uh, so, uh, I'm going to get this wrong without looking at my notes. So let me let me look at my notes before I start putting my, uh, in my foot, in my mouth. Uh, men, start with the relay on on on Friday at 1225. Start. Uh, then we have at 3:00 pm, we have the women's sprint. 7.5km. All action right out of the gate on Saturday. Uh, we start with a women's relay. This is a four athletes, six kilometer, um, um, each, uh, then returning to men for the men's sprint. Then on Sunday, really exciting program with the with the pursuit. Me personally, I've, uh. I'm, uh, how would I say a recreational, um, uh, spectator for, uh, for biathlon, unlike Sarah, who's an expert. But I've really enjoyed watching The Pursuit as a really, really great way to cap off the weekend. So again, 10 a.m. for the women's pursuit and 1050 for the men.
Tom Kelly: [00:34:08] Should be a great weekend. We're going to close it out on heartbeat with our final segment. We call on target. Uh, Sarah, I'm going to go to you first. Uh, we had a surprise mascot five years ago. Uh, tell us about that. And what's up for this time around. Yeah.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:34:22] So, uh, you know, our mascot here at Soldier Hollow has become the dinosaur. Of course, lots of fossils here in Utah. So very fitting. But it happened to us a little accidentally. We had one of the volunteers put a dino suit on and chase around some athletes during training, and then grab an American flag for the races and on skis. Uh, he was on foot. Um, so he was, but he was chasing the athletes that were on skis and, uh, yeah. So he grabbed an American flag and there's just some really awesome shots from 2019 of him running alongside athletes with an American flag and his little dino hands. And, um, you know, we anticipate seeing this, uh, Dino here again. And of course, we've got some small little dino friends who will be joining us on the range. And so you should look for them.
Tom Kelly: [00:35:07] Do you have some dino merchandise?
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:35:09] Oh, man, I don't know about that.
Calum Clark: [00:35:10] Yeah. See that you always the good ideas. Time. It's this week.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:35:14] To talk to you. Two months ago.
Tom Kelly: [00:35:15] We have four days. Calum, I'm going to get off the mascot kick here. But you have a great background in running major events over the years. Any unusual stories or story that you might want to share that you've experienced?
Calum Clark: [00:35:31] I'm going to do one that's directly attributed to IBU and biathlon. Many organizations have in their job descriptions other duties as assigned. And one of the great um, moments was for me to assign, uh, Colin Hilton, our CEO, with a duty. Uh, he had to go out and find, uh, three bulletproof vests that were a required for broadcast. Uh, these, uh, these camera people are in very safe locations, but another layer of of safety for for these cameramen. But, uh, he is working with our, uh, local, uh, law enforcement, and we are procuring and borrowing from the great people of Wasatch County, uh, bulletproof vests. So that's always a little surprise.
Tom Kelly: [00:36:18] You know, you never think of things like this. You know, we sit and we watch it on television or watch the live streaming. We don't think about how did they get that image on the range?
Calum Clark: [00:36:28] That's right. That's a really interesting point that these, uh, these boxes that are protected for the, for the cameras and the little slots for the camera lens to slot through. But yes. And, uh, as always with broadcast, they know exactly what they need. They are looking for exactly the right angle so that they can get the perfect shot of these athletes.
Tom Kelly: [00:36:49] If, uh, folks at home want to watch this weekend. Sarah. Where can they do that? Yeah.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:36:54] So there's, all of our IBU races are live stream available here in the US, so you can go to, uh, biathlonworld.com and get a link from there. Watch live on Eurovision. And so you should be able to see them there.
Tom Kelly: [00:37:07] Great opportunity. Calum Clark, Sarah Studebaker Hall, thanks to both of you for joining us on Heartbeat. We look forward to a great event here at Soldier Hollow this weekend as the IBU World Cup comes to America.
Calum Clark: [00:37:19] Thanks very much, Tom.
Sara Studebaker-Hall: [00:37:20] Thanks, Tom.