Despite only being a biathlete for four years, a Comox Valley teenager has already racked up some impressive credentials following appearances at both the Canadian national and world biathlon competitions in March.
Daniel Gilfillan earned two gold medals and one silver medal at the nationals held in Prince George, B.C., after previously facing 60 competitors in his age category at the worlds held in Utah.
“My best result was 29th in the worlds and I had a really great day that day.," said Gilfillan. "My goal was about mid-pack and that’s about where I ended up so really happy with it."
The 17-year-old trains six days a week at the Vancouver Island Biathlon Club on Mount Washington and says he got into the sport after first trying it as a cadet.
“The cadets had a biathlon program and I thought this is the perfect fit. I love exercise and marksmanship is my thing,” he said.
Biathlon is a sport where participants cross-country ski for a distance and then must quickly transition to aiming rifles they carry towards a series of targets. The transition takes discipline in order to accomplish properly.
“I have key words that I use in my head so I say ‘focus’ when I come into the range and that switches my mindset and I’m able to shoot pretty precise,” Gilfillan said.
The team’s head coach, Glenn Rupertus, attended three Olympics as a biathlete and says he noticed Gilfillan’s talents right away.
“As a coach I watched Dan at nationals and I was really proud of him putting it all together with the pressure and that level of competition. He’s just on the cusp of being the perfect athlete,” Rupertus said.
He believes Gilfillan has the potential to make it to the Olympics but that is several years away.
“He’s still pretty young," Rupertus said. "He’s only 17 so he needs a couple of more years at the junior level to get that experience at the international level so for me as a coach I would encourage him and we have a European tour next year for the juniors and that’s what he should be setting his sights on."
Gilfillan appears to be up to the challenges posed by those international competitions.
“We have to start changing our sleep schedules before we leave for the venue as well as altitude change," he said. "At Mount Washington here, we’re only about 1,000 metres but we can race up to 1,800 and that’s pretty hard on your lungs."
