The Barnes twins won’t return from the Olympics empty-handed.
Durangoans Tracy and Lanny Barnes on Tuesday were awarded by the International Committee for Fair Play, an international organization founded in 1963 by UNESCO and international sports governing bodies.
The 31-year-old Barneses, along with Canadian cross country ski coach Justin Wadsworth and the Russian cross country ski team, were presented trophies during a ceremony at the USA House inside the Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia.
Lanny is competing on the U.S. biathlon team during the Winter Olympics, but she wouldn’t be there without a selfless act by her sister. Tracy made the U.S. team after a qualifying race in January in Italy. But because she believes Lanny was having a better overall season and wanted to do something special for her sister and best friend, Tracy declined her spot. Lanny was next in line to make the team.
“This is incredibly humbling,” Tracy Barnes said upon accepting the award, according to a news release from the committee and an email sent Tuesday by Lanny. “I think sportsmanship, which this award embraces, is a way for people to go beyond the playing field, or the ski course, and recognize that there is more to sport than just a win.
“Sportsmanship is about creating champions, both on and off the field. And while I am not a champion in my sport, I do strive to be a good person and do the right thing,” Tracy said.
Lanny competed Friday in the 15-kilometer individual race. She placed 64th among 84 competitors. Tracy arrived in Sochi early Friday morning and was on the course pulling for her sister.
“In sport, there is winning and there is losing, and sometimes in order to win, you must lose or at least sacrifice the win,” Tracy said. “I didn’t go to the Olympics to compete, but I feel I have won. I had the most incredible experience of cheering my twin sister and best friend in the greatest sporting event in the world. And I couldn’t be more proud of her effort.”
The trophies, named for modern Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin, are given annually to those who are “excellent ambassadors of fair play.” They were presented Tuesday by Committee for Fair Play President Jeno Kamuti and Secretary General Sunil Sabharwal.
Wadsworth, the Canadian coach, came to the aid of Russian skier Anton Gafarov during a Nordic event at the Games. Gafarov fell and broke a ski, and Wadsworth helped him remove the ski and give him a spare he was carrying for his own team.
“I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line,” Wadsworth said at the time, according to the news release.
The Russian team was awarded for helping their German competitors after the Germans’ drilling machines – essential equipment for working on skis – were broken. The Russians gave the Germans access to their machines.
Lanny and Tracy Barnes have been competing in biathlon since 1997, when they were students at Durango High School. Both made the Olympic team in 2006, but only Lanny competed in 2010. Lanny may be part of the U.S. women’s relay team, which will compete Friday.
Their parents, Thad and Deb Barnes, are former teachers who still live in Durango.
“In biathlon, Lanny was not only my best friend, but my greatest competitor,” Tracy said. “And I’ve come to realize over the years that without your competition there is no sport. You have to show the same kind of respect to your competitors that you do to your teammates. That’s what makes you a good competitor both in life and in sport.
“I hope that my story will help to inspire people to do something good for the people they care about. Their friends, their family, their teammates, their competitors and their neighbors.”
johnp@durangoherald.com
