Faced with icy temperatures, fast descents and constantly changing conditions, Trevor Kiers overcame a number of obstacles earlier this month to earn himself a spot on the Canadian Junior Biathlon Team, and the chance to represent Canada at the upcoming World Championships in Slovakia.
Kiers leads the way during the Coupe Québec at the Centre Myriam Bédard de Valcartier
Racing against Canada’s top young biathletes in the Coupe Québec at the Centre Myriam Bédard de Valcartier, Kiers used his strong skiing and stronger willpower to finish third overall, despite a subpar shooting performance on his final day. Refusing to give in to his frustration, Kiers instead turned to his speed in order to secure his place on the podium and a spot on the national junior team.
“I wasn’t doing so hot on the range but on my skis I was one of the fastest guys out there, so I was really happy to see it come together like that,” said Trevor after the race. “With the combination of skiing and shooting you can always fight back, you can really change things around.”
The next event on Kiers schedule will be the World Youth and Junior Championships taking place February 22 to 28, his second trip to Europe in the last three months. Kiers will join his national teammates for a training camp in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic, ten days before the Championships, to get acclimatized to the local conditions and deal with any jet lag before the real competition gets underway.
“I’m feeling strong, throughout the winter I’ve been getting stronger and stronger, and that’s the way the training is set up with our coach,” says Kiers. “I’m going into these championships for the experience, similar to what I was doing with my first European trip, but now I know where the bar is set for my standards.”
Trevor’s first trip back in December yielded surprising and encouraging results, where he finished an astounding 38th in a World Cup event in his first year of full-time training. As a relative newcomer to the biathlon scene, in addition to being a ‘late-bloomer’ who only got into the sport at the age of 13, the finish had even Kiers’ coach Richard Boruta shocked.
My coach was very surprised with the results I have been achieving this winter. He is saying, ‘You’re not even supposed to be performing right now, this is still getting your body used to full-time training.’ I understand that I am 100 percent still in the development stage, and that I am not performing yet. With biathlon it is such a long development sport, you won’t peak in your performance until 27-28. He is suggesting next year will be my year of performance as a junior athlete.
Kiers first international experience was nevertheless an important one, as he rediscovered his motivation and renewed his sense of drive while watching the best young biathletes in the world race against each other. Just missing out on the final event of the competition also gave the Sprucedale native the rare chance to watch from the sidelines and study the technique and race execution of the top skiers in his category. Bringing these lessons back home will continue to help Kiers as he looks to cement himself as one of the best young biathletes in the country.
Living out west affords Trevor some incredible training environments, like the iconic mountains surrounding Lake Louise
In addition to the invaluable experience gained from competition, Kiers has found his new training environment and teammates at the renowned Biathlon Alberta Training Centre has also accelerated his development. After moving to Canmore last May, Trevor has had the opportunity to devote himself 100 per cent to his training for the first time in his life, and is surrounded by like-minded athletes striving to make a name for themselves in their sport.
“I go to the Nordic Centre every day,” he says. “We train beside the national team, and you see the cross country national team there, there are a lot of phenomenal mountain bikers who are in town, if you go for a road ride you are going to see a lot of road cyclists. The vibe for athletics in Canmore is huge and it’s amazing.”
While the high turnover of athletes means less of a sense of community than Trevor was used to back in Huntsville, the calibre of athletics and high proportion of top-tier competitors are what Kiers feels he needs to continue to hone his skills as a biathlete.
“The group that I’m with is extremely motivational for me. Going into it, all of the guys were better than me, and I knew that. It really gave me that motivation to say, ‘That’s where I’m going to be, that’s where I can get’. I can say confidently now that I’m right along with them, I can keep up with them.”
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