Winners: Myriam Bédard, Biathlon

1994 - Feature Story

Myriam Bédard always made greatness tough on herself because she did everything her way, which meant alone. “I can’t stand anybody around me when I train. I feel I’m not free,’’ she said of her solo workout regimen. Bédard had earned the reputation as the world’s best female biathlete when she followed her Bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games at Albertville, France, with a Gold medal in the 7.5km sprint and a Silver medal in the 15km individual at the 1993 World Biathlon Championships in Borovets, Bulgaria. At the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer Norway, she secretly communicated with a mystery off-site coach by fax and telephone, winning Gold in both the 15km individual and the 7.5km sprint. She achieved heights never before approached by a non-European in the sport. She made the 7.5km triumph tougher on herself by racing on mismatched skis. A brief lapse in concentration, she admitted, had caused her to select a ski from each of two similarly marked but differently prepared skis. Furthermore, she needed to ski a pair of penalty loops in the 7.5km. Yet she overcame it all to be a double Gold medallist. 

Career Highlights

• 1994 Gold Medals in the 7.5 km and 15km biathlon at the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer
• 1994 Lou Marsh Memorial Award
• 1994 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
• 1993 Gold medal in 7.5km and Silver medal in 15km at the World Biathlon Championships in Borovets, Bulgaria  
• 1992 Bronze medal in the 15km biathlon at the Olympic Winter Games in Albertville