Lanny Barnes didn’t hold anything back Friday at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Unfortunately, the result wasn’t what she was looking for. She “bonked” about halfway through her race and ended up placing 64th in the women’s 15-kilometer individual biathlon.
“It was definitely a brutal course and a brutal race,” Barnes said in a phone interview at about 10 p.m. Sochi time, after her evening race. “You have to go for it. I definitely went for it, and I ended up bonking.”
Barnes, 31, of Durango missed three of 20 shots during the four stops on the shooting range. She was 9 minutes, 42 seconds behind winner Darya Domracheva of Belarus on a slow and slushy course.
Selina Gasparin of Switzerland earned the silver medal, and Nadezhda Skardino made it a memorable day for Belarus by taking the bronze.
The top finisher for the U.S. was Hannah Dreissigacker of Morrisville, Vt., who placed 23rd, 4:32 behind Domracheva. Barnes placed 23rd in the 15K individual in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Barnes said she was disappointed with the result, but satisfied that she’d given it her all. She said she’d rather have left it all on the course than wondering if she could have gone faster.
Temperatures have been soaring for several days in Sochi, and Barnes heard that it was in the 50s for Friday’s race at the Laura Cross Country and Biathlon Center near Krasnaya Polyana, about 40 miles from Sochi
“Definitely not ideal conditions,” Barnes said. “But everyone’s out there struggling with the same difficult conditions.”
There were 84 starters in Friday’s race, which began at 6 p.m. Sochi time.
Lanny’s twin sister, Tracy, also of Durango, earned a spot on the Olympic team during U.S. trials – held in conjunction with a European race in Italy in January. Lanny was ill and did not compete that weekend. Tracy sacrificed her spot on the team for Lanny, a deed that captured worldwide attention. Tracy arrived in Sochi late Thursday night, then met up with Lanny on Friday morning.
Tracy painted her face in red-white-and-blue stars and stripes, and shouted encouragement to Lanny on the course.
“It wasn’t hard to spot her,” Lanny said.
The next women’s race will be a 12.5K mass start Monday. A first-time Olympic event called a “mixed relay” that features two women and two men is set for Wednesday, and the 4x6K women’s relay will be Feb. 21.
Lanny Barnes said that coaches had not set the lineup for each event.
johnp@durangoherald.com
