Winter Olympics: Biathlete Campbell Wright earns spot in New Zealand squad for Beijing

With his hopes of a spot in the New Zealand squad for the Winter Olympics in Beijing fading, biathlete Campbell Wright needed a strong result.

As is the case for the Summer Games, the New Zealand Olympic Committee's selection criteria requires an athlete to be capable of achieving a top-16 finish in order to be picked for the Games.

For Wright, that level was looking slightly out of reach. In his first full-time season on the world biathlon circuit - the youngest of more than 100 athletes in the men's field - Wright had impressed with some of his results and became just the second teenager to pick up World Cup points in the circuit's history.

Despite that, with the Games starting in early February Wright had nearly run out of time to qualify, but the 19-year-old found a way.

Wright achieved a remarkable finish at the World Cup event in Italy overnight, finishing 15th in the 20km race - ahead of world No 1 Quentin Fillon Maillet of France.

"This was a big one," Wright said. "I wasn't quite expecting to get 15th here, but when the shooting is good, who knows what can happen.

"I only missed two shots out of 20 which was enough to keep me up there."

The result followed a previous season's best of 25th achieved in the 10km sprint race in Germany a week prior. It was this performance which earned him his spot in Beijing, and his latest result in Italy merely proved the selectors right.

Wright's selection is huge for the sport in New Zealand. Just the second biathlete to qualify to represent New Zealand at the Games, after Sarah Murphy in 2010, Wright representing the country at the Olympics gives him exposure and experience, and also raises the sport's profile.

Eligible for the USA team through his parents, Wright had to knock back several advances from the Americans about taking a spot in their team for the Olympics, as he hoped to qualify for New Zealand.

In an interview with the Herald last month, Wright said he would be trying to qualify for New Zealand, but his hand might be forced by the challenging qualification criteria.

The sport allows an athlete to change which nation they represent once in their career, so had he switched allegiances for the Olympic Games, Wright would have spent the rest of his career representing the United States.

The United States had four spots for male biathletes in their squad, and wanted Wright to fill one of them.

A proud Kiwi, he wanted to fly the flag for New Zealand, and Wright said it was a privilege to be selected and he was looking forward to experiencing the environment.

"The atmosphere in the World Cup's good because it's the biggest stage in biathlon, so being here is already good - and I imagine the Olympics is just going to be that on steroids," Wright said.

"It was a bit touch and go as to whether I was going to go, because the qualification set was pretty hard, but we managed to make a pretty good case for me and I was pretty emotional when I found out."

Not only did the result earn Wright his place in the Olympic squad, but it also saw him qualify for the prestigious mass start event in Italy on Sunday, a 15km competition in which only 30 athletes are selected to compete in.

"That's a super cool achievement as well, and a big privilege.

"It shows I actually do belong and I'm not just an idiot from New Zealand who has made it to the World Cup."