Campbell Wright: Kiwi in America

Walk into a room with Campbell Wright and you’re struck first by his Kiwi accent, his lighthearted approach to life and his confidence. The junior world champion was born in New Zealand to American parents, one of four boys who grew up in Rotorua where mom put them in sports to burn off energy. A later move to the South Island put Wright onto snow. Today, he’s forging a career as a biathlete, hopscotching the globe with his new U.S. Biathlon teammates.

It’s official now, Wright’s American passport has been recognized by both the IBU and IOC. And he’ll be flying the stars and stripes when the BMW IBU World Cup begins in November.

In this fun episode of Heartbeat, Wright talks about growing up in New Zealand, skiing with the so-called Refugee Team, finding biathlon and making his pathway as a training partner with the U.S. Biathlon Team and now a member himself. Underlying his career today were a number of key individuals or mentors, and relationships he forged that taught him about sport and life.

Here’s a little sampling …

Tell us about New Zealand!

Well, for anyone who doesn't know, New Zealand is a pretty, pretty sweet place. Like very nice outdoors and mountains and so on and so forth. So it's pretty hard not to be into the outdoors. So I have a family of three brothers, so there's four boys. And of course mum wanted us to be tired at the end of the day. So she would send us out, go tire ourselves out. And whether that was biking or running or playing rugby or all of the other things that I don't know the great outdoors brings. But so always was sporty coming from a sporty family.

What's a typical day at the Soldier Hollow camp for you?

Wake up. Might have a coffee, go train and come back. And we have a lovely, lovely caterer who cooks us an amazing lunch and then generally a nap and then afternoon training and then a little chill out, then dinner, also by the lovely caterer, andrinse and repeat for three weeks.

How did you get into skiing in New Zealand?

The skiing part was just quite by coincidence when we moved down to the South Island. So obviously when you move to a new town, you introduce yourself to the neighbors and they had kids who were our age, and the person who started up the cross-country skiing field in New Zealand started up the Snow Farm. She was actually the one who took me skiing for the first time. She (Mary Lee) took me up to Snow Farm for the first time, and she also took me to my first international race in Australia. Just me and her went over to the Joey Hoppet.

Did you start off right away in biathlon?

No, no, I was, I was pretty, pretty cross country specific. I actually didn't really like biathlon all that much, even when I was like 14, it was just like, I'm a skier, I like skiing, I'm good at skiing. Biathlon didn't come until a bit later, probably till I turned like 15 is probably when I started shooting and actually taking it a bit more seriously.

What’s on your playlist?

What tunes are on my playlist? Yeah, well, my playlist is pretty sad boy oriented at the moment. I don't really know why, but what tunes are on my playlist? Bit of Joji and 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton. That's not really that sad, but I don't know –  Max played it in the van and I liked it, so I had my playlist.

What is Heartbeat: US Biathlon Podcast?

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.

S4 Ep2 - Campbell Wright
Tom Kelly: [00:00:00] It is beautiful fall color day here in Soldier Hollow. The fall has descended upon the Wasatch. There's snow up in the mountains and we are getting ready for the season ahead. With me now on Heartbeat this week. Campbell Wright. And Campbell, welcome to Heartbeat. Glad to have you here.

Campbell Wright: [00:00:15] Cheers, Tom. Good. Good to be here.

Tom Kelly: [00:00:17] So how's camp going? You're actually here for the extended camp. You're for a month now, right?

Campbell Wright: [00:00:21] Yeah, I'm here for three weeks, so. Yeah, pretty pretty comfortable in my hotel room by now. Like, well, moved in now.

Tom Kelly: [00:00:29] There's [00:00:30] a there's snow up in the mountains, but that's of course not what you're competing on or training on down here in the Valley. But what are some of the things you're doing at this camp, and why is this camp so important in your preparation for the season?

Campbell Wright: [00:00:41] Well, we're here for the altitude. That's the main reason we're here. So it's 1800 meters. I think we were sleeping. So it's a good it's good to build upon before the season, get four weeks of altitude, then go down for three, because then your blood gets nice and thick. Get some more red [00:01:00] blood cells carry oxygen to the muscles. So we're quicker I think. Is the idea behind it? Yeah.

Tom Kelly: [00:01:07] What's a typical day at camp for you?

Campbell Wright: [00:01:11] Wake up. It's might have a coffee, go train and come back. And we have a lovely, lovely caterer who cooks us an amazing lunch and then generally a nap and then afternoon training and then a little chill out, then dinner, also by the lovely caterer, and [00:01:30] rinse and repeat for three weeks.

Tom Kelly: [00:01:32] Beautiful. And is your training consisting of a blend of roller skiing, shooting, strength work?

Campbell Wright: [00:01:38] Yeah. Yeah. So so all of the above generally we'll have like a combo session of roller skiing and shooting in the morning, and then the afternoon will either be a strength or a bike or a classic or, you know, something else just to change the muscles a wee bit. Yeah.

Tom Kelly: [00:01:52] What's the importance of this? You talked about it a little bit with being at elevation, but you're we're doing this in the middle of October right now. I'm getting [00:02:00] towards the latter part of October pretty soon when this podcast will run. So you're just a little bit over a month out from the season. Now, what will this do to get you ready to kick off your season in late November?

Campbell Wright: [00:02:12] Honestly, like physiology wise, I don't really know. I kind of just come to the training camps and they say is good.

Tom Kelly: [00:02:19] And you follow the directions, right?

Campbell Wright: [00:02:20] Yes. It's it's honestly quite nice. Like not really knowing what's happening. You're just like like everyone says altitude is good and they say we're going to altitude. And I say sweet. But if [00:02:30] you want a better answer for that, you have to talk to one of the old boys or the coaches. I think they'd get it a bit more than me, but definitely a three week camp now is good. Okay for the for the physiology at altitude, but also just get get in all the all the team together and having good good hard training sessions together and being able to go to a place and just make biathlon your only real thing you got going on is a really good way to get quick, I think. So [00:03:00] more from more from that way just removes everything else in your life and you can just easily train.

Tom Kelly: [00:03:05] How many years have you done the camp here?

Campbell Wright: [00:03:08] Well, I've only been on the team two years, so this is my second time. But yeah.

Tom Kelly: [00:03:13] It's a nice place to be for a month.

Campbell Wright: [00:03:15] Yeah. Super nice. My first time here was at Junior Worlds and I had a had a splendid time there. So yeah. Good, good memories at the, at the lovely Zermatt and in Utah.

Tom Kelly: [00:03:26] Well, congratulations on getting the nationality switch from [00:03:30] New Zealand to the USA. I know that that is always a bit of an arduous process, but the IOC making its decision to give you status in the USA is that that's something that's been important to you.

Campbell Wright: [00:03:43] Yeah. But once again, that's one of those things that I don't really have to handle all that much. It just got done in the background and everyone told me congratulations. And I was like, I didn't really do much, but thanks, I guess. But yeah, definitely. There was a lot of paperwork to be done that [00:04:00] luckily I didn't have to do because, you know, the USA takes care of everything.

Tom Kelly: [00:04:04] Right? Well, it's done now and we're happy to have you on the team. Let's go back to your. Growing up in New Zealand, you were born in I think you were born in Rotorua on the northern island. Is that right? Yeah, yeah. And so just kind of tell me a little bit about your life in New Zealand and what ultimately got you on snow and got you to biathlon.

Campbell Wright: [00:04:20] Well, anyone who doesn't know New Zealand is a pretty, pretty sweet place. Like very nice outdoors and mountains and so on and so forth. So it's pretty hard not to be [00:04:30] into the outdoors. So I've, I've a family of three brothers, so there's four boys. And of course mum wanted us to be tired at the end of the day. So she would send us out, go tire ourselves out. And whether that was biking or running or playing rugby or all of the other things that I don't know the great outdoors brings. But so always was sporty coming from a sporty family. And [00:05:00] the the skiing part in particular, in particular, was just quite by coincidence when we moved down to the South Island. Our neighbour's parents started the cross-country skiing field. So obviously when you move to a new town, you introduce yourself to the neighbours and they had kids who are our age, and the person who started up the cross-country skiing field in New Zealand started up the snow farm. She was actually the one who took me skiing for the first time. [00:05:30] She she took me up Snow Farm for the first time, and she also took me to my first international race in Australia. Just me and her went over to the Joey Hoppet.

Tom Kelly: [00:05:39] How old were you then?

Campbell Wright: [00:05:41] I've no idea. Would have been pretty, pretty young. Young though. Yeah, yeah I would have been pretty young probably like maybe I want to say like 11. Yeah. So she took me over to do that. And then she also helped set up my first exchange to the northern hemisphere. So she set up one one Canadian guy called Finn Darbson came down and stayed with me. [00:06:00] And then I went up to his house in Ontario and did the winter there. So honestly, yeah, a lot, a lot to owe to her for getting me into it because, yeah, she really just like held my hand along every, every step of the way and like, yeah, put put me on the path I'm on now, which is sweet. What's her name? Mary Lee. Yeah. Lots of credit to Mary Lee.

Tom Kelly: [00:06:24] You know, when you you know, I think with any athlete, when you ultimately have a stop to or can take a little [00:06:30] bit of a break and look back, I mean, there's going to be those individuals who were really influential in your career. I mean, without her, you know, you wouldn't be here today, wouldn't have a gold medal, all sorts of things.

Campbell Wright: [00:06:41] Yeah, I don't know, probably just be a dentist or something or there's.

Tom Kelly: [00:06:43] Nothing wrong with that. But so what prompted the family move down to the South Island?

Campbell Wright: [00:06:49] Well, I don't really know. I was eight at the time, so you don't really know much of what's happening when you're eight. So I kind of just went and then, uh, yeah, [00:07:00] I think it was just like lifestyle. Wanaka is a beautiful place. If anyone's been there, they would see why someone wants to move there. But yeah. No, it's it's I think that was the main reason I haven't really asked my parents to be honest. But yeah, maybe I'll do that after this.

Tom Kelly: [00:07:14] It'll come out in the film someday. Oh yeah. Undoubtedly. What, and were you competing in biathlon at that point or just cross-country.

Campbell Wright: [00:07:22] When I moved to.

Tom Kelly: [00:07:23] Well, when you started to compete out when you were.

Campbell Wright: [00:07:25] No, no, I was, I was pretty, pretty cross-country specific. I actually didn't really [00:07:30] like biathlon all that much, even when I was like through to like 14, I was a lot more. Just like, I'm a skier, I like skiing, I'm good at skiing. I did a few national champs and whatever and just like missed ten out of ten and I was like, yeah, I'm a bit rubbish at this. Not much point in me doing it. But now the biathlon didn't come until a bit later, probably till I, till I turned like 15 is probably when I started shooting and actually taking a bit more serious. [00:08:00]

Tom Kelly: [00:08:01] Yeah. When, when you were talking to me earlier about when you were young, did you have an opportunity to shoot a gun and just get accustomed to marksmanship a little bit?

Campbell Wright: [00:08:11] Yeah. Well, I grew up on a, on a farm, so I've, as you do, you shoot rabbits and you shoot. You shoot like a shotgun and shoot clay birds and stuff. So shooting definitely wasn't a new thing to me. And at Snow Farm, they have a range. And you go up on the Sunday [00:08:30] club day and shoot it, shoot it, shoot a gun for an hour. And so I was definitely familiar with guns and knew biathlon was the thing, but just didn't really have much interest in it until I joined a biathlon team and said I wasn't a biathlete, and then realized that means they just leave you at the hostel when everyone goes to a race. And then I was like, oh, I should probably just say I'm a biathlete so I can actually like race when I'm in Europe and not just train. But um, yeah. So that's kind of how the the [00:09:00] biathlon came about. It was a bit more of a, a bit more about the situation I was in. The biathlon team was the only thing I could really join.

Tom Kelly: [00:09:10] And what was the biathlon team?

Campbell Wright: [00:09:11] Uh, I call it the refugee camp. I don't know if I'm allowed to call that, but it's a bunch of the non typical winter sport countries made like a yeah like a biathlon team. So we were training with Brazil Argentina. [00:09:30] Chile, Spain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. So a pretty, pretty mixed bag of of nationalities. And there wasn't really something like that in cross-country skiing that I had the opportunity to join. So it was more about doing that than doing like if, if you're only welcome in one spot, you just end up going and doing that instead of cross-country skiing.

Tom Kelly: [00:09:57] Do you stay in touch with any of those guys?

Campbell Wright: [00:09:59] Oh yeah. [00:10:00] Yeah, big time, big time. So Emil Brumatti, the assistant coach of national team at the moment, he was he did his first year of coaching. The first year I joined that group. So the Emil is a big one. This man, the Spaniard Roberto Perez Garcia, he still races every now and then. He's he's a big, I don't know, a big someone who helps me keep my head on my shoulders, that's for sure. It's important. Yeah, yeah. Big time, big time. And also yeah, a few of the Brazilians and Australians. [00:10:30] So no, it's pretty, pretty sweet. I'm going to give a shout out to also Mathias because he'll get sad if I don't shout him out. He's one of the Brazilian guys who still still keep in contact with shout outs are important. Yeah, exactly.

Tom Kelly: [00:10:43] So you ended up making being named to the Youth Olympic Games team in 2020, skiing both in cross country and also in biathlon. First of all, how did that how did that come about? Were you at that point starting to progress and then kind of more of an organized fashion in your career?

Campbell Wright: [00:10:59] Yeah, [00:11:00] I did one. Before that youth Olympic like. Before that Youth Olympic year. So the 2018, 2019 season, I had one good race, my first like actual good race where I thought, okay, I might be able to do something with biathlon if I'm not an idiot. Was I got third at an Alpine cup, which is Alpine Cup, which is just like all the countries in the Alps, and I'd say it's probably one of the more competitive races as a junior. If you're not in Scandinavia, it [00:11:30] would probably be that. And yeah, I don't know, somehow managed to make the qualification for the Youth Olympics. I think they kind of give give them away for free a wee bit. To be honest. I don't think it's too hard to well.

Tom Kelly: [00:11:40] Maybe in New Zealand but.

Campbell Wright: [00:11:42] Yeah, yeah in New Zealand. And I think the IOC is pretty good about giving spots to the bad nations for the Youth Olympics because they realize it's very development focused. So got got a spot through that avenue. And yeah, the Youth Olympics was like the best [00:12:00] race I've like that was the first race where I actually realized I wasn't bad at biathlon, which is always a nice feeling.

Tom Kelly: [00:12:11] Well, you finished fourth in the sprint, sixth in the individual, and you were 22nd in the cross-country sprint. So that was pretty good.

Campbell Wright: [00:12:17] Yeah, yeah. So that was definitely a big shock. So that whole like 2 or 3 weeks, however long I was there was definitely like I don't think very many people expected that, including including myself. So yeah, [00:12:30] that was a good, good little confidence booster.

Tom Kelly: [00:12:32] Was it a motivator? I mean, did you kind of say to yourself, hey, there's something in this for me?

Campbell Wright: [00:12:37] Yeah, but honestly, the real story about Youth Olympics is I left that super. I had no right to be disappointed with my results, but I left that Youth Olympics super disappointed. With what? Like getting fourth in the sprint by three seconds was honestly pretty, pretty heartbreaking for young Campbell. And it definitely, [00:13:00] I don't know, put a hard rock to sit on for a year just fourth by three seconds. And I think that kind of gave me a whole lot of motivation to train and not get fourth again. But yeah, I got a lot of force in my career, so maybe it didn't help.

Tom Kelly: [00:13:16] I'm sure you thought about this a lot, but what was the difference between fourth and a medal? Was it one shot? Was it a little bit of time in cross country? What would have made the difference for you in that on?

Campbell Wright: [00:13:28] Yeah. On that day [00:13:30] in particular, I just blew up quite dramatically. I quite like blowing up. So yeah, just had a real rough last day and lost like 20s so that that was the difference. But I think the main difference between the flowers that I've got in the past at youth, youth and Junior worlds compared to winning them this previous year because I've had the ability to win Junior Worlds. I think for the last probably three years, I've had the ability to do do [00:14:00] a good race there, but I've never been able to quite do it. And I think that's because, uh, I honestly think it's just because having training partners, I was never really used to, like, I had training partners, but having a bunch of guys your own age, shooting with you every single training session definitely puts you at ease when you're shooting for like in the big moments and also falling [00:14:30] over the years before. And the shooting's like 0002 the year before and Soldier Hollow to to miss out on winning that race was also sucked quite a lot. But I think joining the US and training with the US for that year really helped me. Just because the training environment every day, day in and day out at camps like the one I'm on now where you're just with a group of motivated guys who are always showing up, always, always shooting good, always shooting fast, always skiing. Well, [00:15:00] just, I don't know, makes makes you a little bit more comfy when you actually are in the in the race I think.

Tom Kelly: [00:15:07] Yeah. We're going to get into this more a little bit later. But I want to touch on this since you're down the road on it, but it's that that being together and having people to compete against who are, who are good, who are really world class, and you've got that now with the US team that's really hugely impactful, isn't it?

Campbell Wright: [00:15:22] Oh yeah. Massively. Massively. But not even in the in the like. Oh I'm going to be [00:15:30] able to go harder in this training session because there's someone because I don't I don't really fully believe in that. I think I think I have the ability to go hard by myself, but I think maybe then being like, oh, maybe you're going too hard in this training session or being able to come back and talk, talk with the guys at lunch, or having just people on the exact same journey that you're on and having the same problems, having the same. I don't know that everyone's living my life pretty much, and it's super nice to have [00:16:00] someone to talk. About that type of stuff. Yeah, and it makes the mental side easier in that regard.

Tom Kelly: [00:16:07] You eventually made your way onto the IBU Cup and into the World Cup, and I imagine that both of those were a pretty big eye openers for you.

Campbell Wright: [00:16:15] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, definitely. The I remember my first IBU Cup. I was just going into it expecting to get rolled, and I think I've had a few races in my career where I think I just surprised everyone, including [00:16:30] myself, and the one that sticks out in my mind quite a lot is the fifth at the IBU Cup Ann Arbor. I think I was 18 and it was my first ever IBU Cup. Did the two sprints before and when I got the fifth I was like, oh, I don't know. I don't even know what to think. I kind of thought it was like not real almost. It kind of just seems. Yeah. I don't know how many more times in my career it's going to happen where I just completely overperform [00:17:00] my expectations by like a lot. But it's definitely happened a few times in my career. Youth Olympic being one and then IBU Cup being another, and then World Cup with the 15th being another time where I'm just like, don't really know how I did that, but I'm just not going to question it and be happy with the result.

Tom Kelly: [00:17:16] No, you know the Overperforming though, your goals are going to go higher. You know, your expectations on yourself are going to go higher. So yeah, it's going to be tougher to reach that. Scoring points is a teenager that was a big deal on the World Cup.

Campbell Wright: [00:17:27] Yeah I think I think [00:17:30] I'm the second youngest second. Yeah behind good old Bjorn Dahlin. Yeah. So yeah that was pretty sweet. I had the opportunity to be the youngest the year before but didn't really didn't really have it in me I don't think. But yeah. No that was that was definitely sweet. I think that helped the New Zealand selectors kind of realize that biathlon is not a sport you're good at when you're 16, like freestyle skiing. So I think that little, little fun fact. Made [00:18:00] New Zealand Olympic Committee think like, oh, maybe we need to change the criteria for biathlon because it's not freestyle skiing.

Tom Kelly: [00:18:07] Yeah, I think a lot of people miss that because you, there's so much in this sport that you have to learn and experience that it's really difficult to do that at 17 years old.

Campbell Wright: [00:18:18] Yeah, yeah, yeah it's tough, but especially because in New Zealand not a lot of people know about cross-country skiing, biathlon. We're we're big into the flippy sports. So [00:18:30] I think like when they wrote the criteria they legit copy and pasted top six. And it's top 16 because the top 16 make the finals and like halfpipe. So that's why my qualification was also top 16 I.

Tom Kelly: [00:18:44] Love that that is wild. Yeah. Olympic experience. You went to Beijing kind of an unusual Olympics. But what was that like for you?

Campbell Wright: [00:18:52] Yeah, I don't know. It was kind of kind of weird to be honest. It's going to an Olympics. [00:19:00] You can't really know what to expect. Like, unless you've done one. And now now I've done one going into the next one. I still don't know what to expect at a real Olympics, because everyone says that one was not legit and I don't know it was.

Tom Kelly: [00:19:17] It'll be different the next time.

Campbell Wright: [00:19:19] It will be different. But definitely going to the Olympics didn't really change all that much for me because it wasn't really a goal of mine. I just figured it was an unattainable [00:19:30] top 16 at World Cup. I was like, oh yeah, okay, whatever. I'm young. I don't need to go to the Olympics. Just focus on junior worlds. And also because of all the quarantine and masks and this and that and all the rest of it, I think I had a lot more fun at Junior World Champs and Soldier Hollow like the following week. So yeah, definitely was a strange experience, good experience to to learn from and like develop as an athlete. I think in that regard was super important to see what the what the biggest [00:20:00] stage in sport is. But yeah, definitely like wasn't really on my mind at all going to the Olympics and it kind of just came as a bonus.

Tom Kelly: [00:20:09] So when you went to Kazakhstan last year for Junior World Championships and helped me, was that your that was your last one as a junior eligible?

Campbell Wright: [00:20:16] Right now I'm still a junior.

Tom Kelly: [00:20:17] You still are junior eligible. So when you went to Kazakhstan last year, you had some experience under your belt. In that event you'd had some near-misses. Yeah. Did you have big expectations on yourself going there?

Campbell Wright: [00:20:30] Uh, [00:20:30] yeah. Yeah. I think anyone who knows me well enough will know, knows a little bit about me, knows that like everyone who knows me, knows I was going to go to the US the next year because the training was sweet, and I'd already seen enough by that point to know that I wanted to compete and train with the US team. So that was really my last shot to get a medal for New Zealand, and I knew that and everyone else also knew that. So [00:21:00] yeah, it was definitely try to win a medal or it would just be like a disaster type type thing for fourth and 40th would have had the same weight in my book.

Tom Kelly: [00:21:11] But you had a good day.

Campbell Wright: [00:21:12] Yeah, I had a good day. You had a good day. Yeah. So that's good. That's always nice when you have a good day.

Tom Kelly: [00:21:17] And Maxime had a good day that same day right.

Campbell Wright: [00:21:19] Yeah. Same day. Got got to share the podium with Max which was just mega because we talked about it a lot because also he had like I don't know I think any athlete that's somewhat competitive [00:21:30] going to a championship race has big expectations on themselves. So me and Max had talked about Junior Worlds a lot in the trainings. Like like that year, that summer at this camp, this time last year, it was definitely at the forefront of our mind. And after the individual like the first race, me and Max definitely didn't really do what we wanted to do, and we both knew that. All the coaches knew. Everyone knew we had bigger goals than what we did. So [00:22:00] that sprint was kind of like, okay, today we need to just do something or else there's not much point of us being in Kazakh. But yeah, I think, I think it shows a lot about Max as an athlete and also, I don't know, gives me a lot of confidence knowing that when it is crunch time, me and Max have the ability to to pull it out of the bag, which is nice.

Tom Kelly: [00:22:23] That this was a junior world championship. You're moving up now to the bigger leagues, that gold medal [00:22:30] winning experience. So that's going to go with you, isn't it? That's going to be a little experience for you to have in the back of your mind to pull out when you need it.

Campbell Wright: [00:22:36] Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Well, I remember in Soldier Hollow I was also shooting for the win in the individual, and I missed two in that instance. And going into the the final shooting, I knew I was shooting for a medal again in Kazakh because I had faster ski time and went clear. So I was just like, okay, going into that, I was like, you've been here before, just don't do what [00:23:00] you did last time. So no, definitely it gives you a bit more tools in the tool belt to help with the next time you find yourself in that situation.

Tom Kelly: [00:23:11] With Campbell right here in heartbeat, we're going to take a short break and we'll be right back here to Soldier Hollow. And we're back on heartbeat with Campbell right here at Soldier Hollow. The final preseason camp for the US biathlon national team. Let's talk about the move to America [00:23:30] and and joining up with the US team. And you've been training with the US team for a few years now right.

Campbell Wright: [00:23:36] Only last season. So I did one one year like being on the team but not really like a shadow member I think is maybe a way to say it. But yeah, had one year of training with the team before. And what were.

Tom Kelly: [00:23:48] Some of the things you were looking for in this relationship? What did you see? I mean, you had the opportunity to do this. What were some of the assets that you saw that you thought could could really help boost your career?

Campbell Wright: [00:23:58] Well, definitely [00:24:00] just having a bunch of people at a similar level to me and having pretty similar goals of not really going to be happy with just being 40th on the World Cup, like a bunch of guys who want more and have the potential to to go faster. Yeah, because I think the teammates we have or I have at the moment, I'm super lucky to have because all of them are young, talented, motivated and the the [00:24:30] old guard, I guess you could call it on the team are also super motivated. Still, like, I don't know. It's quite inspiring to see them still motivated when they're 30. I know 30 is not so old. You don't have a foot in the grave, but it's just it's just a really good group of dudes. And there's also a really great like leadership from the coaches aspect. I really have a lot of respect for the coaches and think they know what they're talking about, so that always makes it easier.

Tom Kelly: [00:24:56] So and what do you what do you see with any good partnership? [00:25:00] All parties provide something into the mix. What are the elements, Campbell, that you see that you provide into this program to maybe help motivate others or ideas and concepts that you bring? What do you bring to this, to this partnership?

Campbell Wright: [00:25:15] Well, I take a qualification spot. I don't know how many people are super, super happy about that, but I think the more competitive boys that there are, the just the better everyone gets. So hopefully me coming over, everyone's [00:25:30] already motivated to the moon and back, so I don't know if they can get more from from me being here, but I think I also bring a bit definitely a different mentality, different mindset around what it means to be. Like a professional, or what I think it takes to be good is definitely different to what some people on the team will think, because coming from the refugee team, I had pretty good results [00:26:00] with with not a lot. So I'm a real like keep it simple meat and potatoes type of athlete. I don't really think about anything too much or let let things get complicated in my head. So I think when I came here and for example, an example would be like slow fire, like just going to the range and focusing on precision. That's something I'd never done in my biathlon career ever, until I came to America. And then here. It's here. It's a huge part of the training. [00:26:30] Like the slow fire at the start of the season takes up a large portion of your time. So it's things like that. Well, I think maybe I can just bring a bit of a different perspective on some things, whether that's good or bad, I don't know, but I don't know. I like to think it's a good thing.

Tom Kelly: [00:26:49] No, I think it's I think it is a good thing. As we look at the season ahead, what's what's your competition plan right now going into the season.

Campbell Wright: [00:26:57] Like what races I'm going to do?

Tom Kelly: [00:26:58] Yeah.

Campbell Wright: [00:26:59] I only [00:27:00] really know the first one. I've pre qualified for the World Cup and Östersund.

Tom Kelly: [00:27:05] Östersund. Yeah.

Campbell Wright: [00:27:07] And after that I don't know if I'm bad. I'll go to IBU Cup and if I'm not okay. Not bad. Bad is not the right word. But if I'm not competitive on World Cup I'll go to IBU Cup and then I don't really know. But with the US, I think with the men's team we have at the moment, no one's really super locked in to where they're going or what they're doing. It's, it's I think they'll send the best people to the, [00:27:30] to the best races. And wherever I am is where I'll be.

Tom Kelly: [00:27:34] You have an opportunity to come back here to Soldier Hollow for the World Cup in March. What's your motivation to get back here and compete in front of your new home country?

Tom Kelly: [00:27:45] Yeah.

Campbell Wright: [00:27:46] Definitely competing in front of the home country thing, something I'm going to have to adjust to. It doesn't really sound 100% authentic coming off my off my lips, but I'm super excited for the men's relay at that [00:28:00] race. I was looking at the schedule two days ago and realized they had a men's relay there, and I think being a part of the men's relay team, the US men's relay team in US World Cup will just be mega. I reckon they'll be sweet. So yeah.

Tom Kelly: [00:28:14] It should be a good event.

Tom Kelly: [00:28:15] Yeah it should, it.

Campbell Wright: [00:28:15] Should be a good.

Tom Kelly: [00:28:16] Event. We're going to.

Tom Kelly: [00:28:17] Move in now into our final section. I call this on target. Just a series of fun questions to wrap it up. You know first thing I want to know is what's what tunes are on your playlist right now?

Campbell Wright: [00:28:26] What tunes are on my playlist? Yeah, well, my playlist is pretty sad boy [00:28:30] oriented at the moment. I don't really know why, but what tunes are on my playlist. But a Joji but a 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton? That's not really that sad, but I don't know. But a bit of everything. Yeah.

Tom Kelly: [00:28:43] How did you get Dolly Parton in there?

Campbell Wright: [00:28:45] I don't know, Max played it in the van and I liked it, so I had my playlist.

Tom Kelly: [00:28:48] Okay, Max, it's.

Tom Kelly: [00:28:49] On you now, buddy. Yeah. Favorite biathlon venue? You've been around a little bit now. Have you? Kind of formulated a favorite venue you like?

Tom Kelly: [00:28:57] Uh.

Campbell Wright: [00:28:58] Yeah. Antholz. Yeah, [00:29:00] I love it there.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:01] You've been to.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:01] Anholt's.

Campbell Wright: [00:29:01] Yeah, yeah. Like, I think it's, I don't know, good. Course I like altitude, so. Yeah. Absolutely gorgeous. Oh, no, I take that back Lou Gramm. Bonnard la grande Bonnard is sweet. Big fan of la Grande Bonnard.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:14] What's the.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:15] Elevation there?

Campbell Wright: [00:29:16] I don't know, but good venue.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:18] It's beautiful. Yeah.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:19] How about something unique that you can do in New Zealand that you can't do in America?

Campbell Wright: [00:29:25] Ski in summer.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:27] That's great.

Campbell Wright: [00:29:28] Yeah. So I know it's all winter, [00:29:30] but.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:32] And what's what's one thing that you really love about being in America?

Tom Kelly: [00:29:37] Oof!

Campbell Wright: [00:29:40] Is it a bad thing? It's taken me a while to answer this question.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:43] No.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:44] Everybody takes a.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:44] While.

Campbell Wright: [00:29:45] What's my favorite.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:46] Thing about the.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:47] Next question is going to be even harder.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:48] So, um.

Campbell Wright: [00:29:51] Honestly, I just love the the aggressive patriotism and cowboy hats. Those are two things I love.

Tom Kelly: [00:29:58] You like cowboy.

Campbell Wright: [00:29:58] Hats? Like. Yeah, like national [00:30:00] anthem and cowboy hats.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:03] Awesome. Yeah.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:05] That's a great answer. Final one. One word. What? Just one word. What does biathlon mean to you? In one word? You can go anywhere you want, but just one word. This is the one that people take a long time on.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:19] Just one word.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:21] He's sitting back in the chair thinking about this could be about your team. It could be about the sport. It could be about the environment. He's [00:30:30] thinking.

Campbell Wright: [00:30:35] I want to do like a saying like like biathlon. Like busts your balls. I don't know if there's one word.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:42] Well, just.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:42] Say it is.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:43] It's good enough.

Campbell Wright: [00:30:44] Yeah. Just like, bust your balls.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:46] Love it.

Tom Kelly: [00:30:46] Campbell. Right. Thanks for joining us on Heartbeet. All the best to you this season.

Campbell Wright: [00:30:50] Cheers. Thank you. Cheers. Thanks. Thanks for the podcast.