We won the UKI USO Biathlon without winning!
02 Dec 2024
We won the UKI USO Biathlon without winning! Generally you want a path/strategy that lets you run your dog as fast as possible if you are trying to win at a big event. I used a different strategy for our Biathlon win.
Here’s the background. The winner of Biathlon is the team with the fastest combined time of the Jumpers and Agility courses. After jumpers Snap! and I were in second place 2.5 seconds behind the first place team. We were also 3 seconds ahead of the third place team. So we had to beat the first place team in the Agility course finals run by over 2.5 seconds to win it.
Knowing that team and the fact that we have stopped contacts meant it was unlikely that we could do that if they ran clean. So my strategy was to make sure we ran clean so we’d have a good chance at a podium spot (we had 3 seconds to “give” to the 3rd seeded team) and just wait and see if the 1st seed would run clean.
The finals courses are BIG and this course had at least 3 places you needed to get to to control your dog’s line to avoid an off course. As I watched the smaller heights run before us I was seeing more and more of the fast dog teams blow up with off courses when the handler couldn’t get to those critical spots.
My “run clean” strategy included sending Snap! away from me with a front cross at the second jump and briefly holding his contacts (in a finals!?!?!) so I could get/stay ahead and make it to those critical spots.
Once nice thing about the USO is they have 4 practice rings set up - one with each contact and a fourth with a bunch of jumps (the donation fee for the rings supports the world team). So as part of our warmup I was able to approximate my start line lead out handling in the jump ring and different weave handling approaches in the ring with the weaves. You can’t move any of the obstacles though! Then it was waiting for our finals run.
Waiting in the chute I just kept going through the course in my head over and over; looking out at the obstacles to keep myself oriented. I was definitely mentally fatigued, it was the fourth night of the competition. I might have noticed that the third seed had faulted just ahead of us but I was mostly focused on my plan.
On the lead out I was keeping my eyes on Snap!, I released him and kept drawing him forward well past the line of the second jump so I could send him away from me to that jump while I ran the opposite direction to get down the first looong line. I tried to stay as far lateral from him at every opportunity to save my steps and stay ahead. I held his DW and AF contacts for an extra beat to get ahead; trying to never stop moving.
Then it came to the teeter (which he wouldn’t hold just that morning for an E) and he “stuck the landing”. I finally had to be patient while he took the weaves and I rear crossed and moved forward slowly while giving his “go”, “go”, “go” weave command. Then it was a back side to blind to set him up for the final jump!
I was thrilled with our run and I knew we had run clean. I was pretty sure we had run pretty fast but it was all up to the first seed. I didn’t actually see their run but I heard the crowd’s reaction and I knew they had faulted. I checked the scores and it showed we were in second place by 0.25 seconds to a lower seeded team. Then the combined scores flashed up and we’d won by 4 seconds!
So this time being a little conservative and running clean paid off. You have to know when to apply this strategy but it worked for us this time. I’m so proud of Snap! for running so well and I’m so grateful for all the support from my friends and family. It was a great way to end our 2024 US Open.
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