Biathlon: Campbell Wright on lessons from busy debut season on World Cup stage

Campbell Wright in action during the 12.5km pursuit at the IBU World Cup Biathlon event in Ruhpolding. Photo: Imago/Actionplus/Photosport

Going into his debut season on the biggest stage in biathlon, Campbell Wright wanted to take on everything he possibly could.

The lone New Zealander on the World Cup circuit, and only the second Kiwi to ever represent the country in the sport at the Winter Olympics, Wright set out on his season campaign with the hope of getting as much experience as possible.

It was an important learning process for the 20-year-old. Now, as he prepares for the next season starting in September, he says his approach might be a bit different early in the year.

"I know going into that season I was a bit eager to race quite early," he reflects. "I was pushing my coach to put me in cross country races, but now I know it's is a long season and by the end you're going to be pretty knackered.

"I had a few races there where it was just me and my coach. I'd do one race and not qualify for the next and it felt like a bit of a waste of time. I know it's not a waste of time, but travelling all the way to a different country, having one race, not getting the result you want then travelling back, it's not ideal.

"Take your recovery where you can and take the race days where you can and don't do everything. Just pace yourself a little bit."

Despite being without his own wax technician – a vital asset in cross-country skiing – and doing all of his training alone with his coach, Wright made his presence felt on the World Cup stage and achieved a season-best finish of 15th in the individual race at Antholz, Italy, and 25th in the sprint format in Ruhpolding, Germany.

Qualifying for the Olympic Games in Beijing, Wright was the only athlete from the Southern Hemisphere in the field – as well as the youngest. He had a strong performance in the individual race, missing just two targets at the four shooting ranges to finish 32nd in the 92-man field.

"I was not really that nervous going in, which is always a good sign in my sport because you need to shoot a gun – and doing that nervous is terrible," he says of the Olympics. "I had a good day out, and I have to be pretty grateful that I had a good day out when you're at the Olympics."

A bout of Covid-19 soon after the Olympics ended his season a little earlier than anticipated, however, but allowed him some extra time to exhale and take stock of the year that had been.

Since the start of the season in September, Wright's schedule was packed through until late February. He says finishing slightly earlier allowed him time to assess his performances and where he needs to work on improving.

"Once you see how big the gap is, you realise you actually need to be pretty on it everywhere."

Currently, Wright is back home in Wanaka enjoying some down time and working at Snow Farm - New Zealand's only cross-country skiing facility. While the facility will be in its current location until October, Snow Farm is in a race against time to raise money for a new base before next winter and is seeking partners to help with the $1.7m project to bring the facility a permanent venue.

Before returning home, Wright was working alongside the American biathlon team. The US team have kept an eye on Wright as he could have changed his allegiance to the US and raced for them at the Olympics.

There appears to be no hard feelings about the young athlete deciding to stick with New Zealand, as they have welcomed him into their program to train alongside their athletes. Wright says it is a relationship that will continue, and he was able to use the USA team's wax technicians throughout the season, which gets underway in November.

"It's kind of the perfect set up for me this year."