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Myriam Bedard

Competed At Nagano



As the Olympics grew closer, Bedard believed she was regaining her form, until she suffered a lower back injury in early 1998. She wanted to compete, though she did not need to do so for a living. She told Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette, "I'm a competitor, a perfectionist. Every race I do I really want to do well. I'm not satisfied just being here. With all I've been through the past few years, this is the way I probably should feel. But I don't. It's against my nature."



Chronology

1969 Born on December 22
1985 Competes in first biathlon, a mixed relay team race
1986 Buys her own equipment to compete in biathlon
1992 Competes in Winter Olympics
1994 Sponsorship contract with Metropolitan Life is not renewed; marries Jean Paquet in March; daughter Maude is born on December 22
1995 Signs sponsorship deal with Canadian National Railways
1997 Is diagnosed with hypothyroidism
1998 Finishes 33rd in the 7.5-km event and 50th in the 15-km at the Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan; switches to long-track speed skating, leaving biathlon behind
1999 Competes in first race as a speed skater, at the Canadian Long-track Sprint Championship; competes in last biathlon at the World Cup

Awards and Accomplishments

1987 Won first and second Canadian Junior Biathlon Championship
1988 Won first at Canadian Junior Biathlon Championship; won two North American championship races; won first and second at Canada Cup tests
1989 Won Canadian Senior Championship; competed in World Junior Championship, finishing fourth in a sprint
1991 Won gold medal at the World Cup Biathlon; won medals in five of six biathlon competitions; finished biathlon season ranked second overall
1992 Won bronze in 15-km event at Winter Olympics in Albertville, France
1993 Won gold and silver at the World Biathlon Championship; placed second in World Cup standings
1994 Won gold medals in the 7.5-km and 15-km event at the Winter Olympics, Lillehammer, Norway; won silver in the 15-km event at the World Cup; won Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's female athlete of the year; won Lou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year; awarded the Meritorious Service Cross
1995 Received the Velm Springstead Award for being athlete of the year in 1994
2001 Received Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee

In Nagano, Bedard was one of the oldest competitors in the women's biathlon. She finished 33rd in the 7.5-km event and 50th in the 15-km event. Although after the Olympics she said she would still compete, Bedard's last event in biathlon was in March 1999, a World Cup event that was on the Val Cartier military base where she first learned the sport. As Stubbs wrote in the Montreal Gazette, "Bedard sees only straight ahead, enjoying life without benefit of a rear-view. And it's plain to see she has discovered something that pleases her every bit as much as did biathlon when she came to it as a teenaged army cadet, wearing rented, ill-fitting equipment."

Where Is She Now?

In the summer of 1998, Bedard decided to quit biathlon and become a long track speed skater. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, other Canadian athletes suggested that she might be good at speed skating. She competed for the first time during that summer. Bedard had planned to train for two years to see how well she could do, and if she could make the national team. While she had great strength and endurance because of her biathlon training, Bedard needed to improve her mental fitness and her speed skating technique. While she raced in the 500, 1500, and 3000 meter races at the Canadian Long Track Sprint Championship in 1999, it was decided that 3000 would be her best racing option. After years of training as a biathlete, Bedard enjoyed the reduced training of speed skating.

Additional topics

Famous Sports StarsBiathalonMyriam Bedard Biography - Introduced To Biathlon, Won First Championships, Won Big Competitions, Won Olympic Gold, Could Not Return To Form