It was human error, but Canadian Jean-Philippe Le Guellec said he doesn't know whose it was his or that of the race starter who shouted "go" about 30 seconds too early at the beginning if the 2010 Olympic men's 12.5-kilometre pursuit race on Tuesday (Feb. 16) at Whistler Olympic Park.
But no matter, said the 24-year-old from Shannon, Que., who two days earlier had posted the best-ever finish by a Canadian male biathlete at the Olympic Games when he finished sixth in the 10 km sprint.
"It was part my fault and part his fault, but no big deal," Le Guellec said after he finished 11th in Tuesday's race.
"It's the Olympics and everyone is excited. It can be a bit confusing. It's just unfortunate and you can't blame anyone."
Sweden's Bjorn Ferry won the race after having started the staggered-start affair in eighth place. Ferry's winning time of 33 minutes, 38.4 seconds was 16.5 seconds faster than that of Austria's Christoph Sumann, who won the silver, and 28.2 seconds ahead of France's Vincent Jay, the sprint winner, who took the bronze.
Le Guellec said he knew "right off the start" that he had started too early.
"In the first few strides I noticed that No. 5 wasn't around. But I just said, 'there will be an adjustment,' and carried on and tried to have the best race I could."
Both Le Guellec and American Jeremy Teela were assessed penalties Le Guellec's 30 seconds, Teela 22 seconds after both were sent off too early.
Swedish stadium announcer Kjell-Erik Kristianson noticed the error right away and announced it to the crowd. But neither spectators nor the athletes knew how much Le Guellec and Teela would be docked until the race was more than half over, after officials had had a chance to review the videotape.
Le Guellec said some of the volunteers in the starting area are experienced biathlon people from Europe and some are Canadians with less experience. He said he didn't know whether the starter was from Canada or elsewhere.
"Whether it was a Canadian or a European, 'go' is 'go,'" he said, smiling.
"We have three lanes for the racers an I think he just got mixed up between my lane and the next lane. But I could have said something, too."
Le Guellec nonetheless said he had a decent race, connecting on 18 of his 20 shots and skiing reasonably well. After the first shooting, in fact, it appeared that he had moved up from his sixth-place starting position to second but that was before the penalty was assessed.
"I feel very confident," he said. "Eleventh place is a very good ranking. I'm feeling centered and that's where I want to be right now.
"Today I would have needed more" to catch the leaders, Le Guellec said, but added, "if I'm in good shape I think I can fight with those guys."
Ferry obviously skied well, making up a one-minute, 12-second difference on Jay, and missed just one shot compared to two each for Sumann and Jay. Each penalty loop assessed for missing a shot is worth about 22 or 23 seconds in the final standings.
"It's a great medal. It's a great feeling. I'm 31 and I've waited for this my whole life," Ferry said.
