Teela Finishes Third in Whistler

Before today's race no one would have guessed what the podium after the men’s individual would look like. Not only that the winning Vincent Jay from France or Germany’s Daniel Boehm posted their first results on a World Cup podium, but it also was the biggest success for Jeremy Teela who finished third on the Olympic courses today.

With starting bib 51, Teela started in the middle of the field and while his team colleagues already had experienced some problems at the shooting range, he stayed clean the first stage but missed one in the second. Although it was clear that today’s winner would be Jay who hit all twenty targets, Teela didn’t put any pressure on himself and showed two amazing shooting performances in the last two stages. “I am really amazed how ‘cool’ he was on the shooting range today”, commented head-coach Per Nilsson on Teela’s shooting performance. “There were two shots that were pretty close to a miss but nevertheless he stayed focused and just put his race together!”

“I think that result was totally unexpected. Not only for him but for everyone here in Whistler”, stated High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler. “During training Teela always shows promising results but till now he never was able to show his full potential during a World Cup race. You can really say that today’s result is nothing less but a sensation and we are all very happy about it!”

Teela himself was beyond speechless after the race. “I felt really tired at the last two loops and did not expect that I would be able to finish on the podium today! Right now I can’t even really believe it…” After crossing the finish line the 32-year-old went right to his team to thank everyone for the support on the course and for the perfect skis he had today.

A big success for the whole team

Eisenbichler also shares the opinion that this success was only possible because the whole team worked together: “The technicians Andreas Emslander and Petr Garabik really did a great job today. But I also have to thank the rest of the team: Our head-coach Per Nilsson, Cary Colliander, James Upham, Martin Biermaier as well as Muck Bauer and Ed Merrens. Without all of them working together as perfectly as they did today, this would not have been possible.”

With that success today one can feel the new motivation within the team: “This result was posted on next year’s Olympic courses. So that means that everything – even a medal - is possible at the Olympic Games in Vancouver 2010!” smiles Eisenbichler before heading to the wax-cabin for a little party.

Given the fact that this was the first U.S. podium since Josh Thompson finished second in the Canmore World Cup in 1992, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the party continues a bit…