Biathletes expose Olympic sport By RICHARD BEALES, SUN MEDIA

Megan Imrie, Rosanna Crawford and Zina Kocher visited Mohawk College on Thursday to show off their biathlon gear and promote the team which will be competing in the 2010 Olympics. (Sun Media/Brian Thompson)

BRANTFORD -- Alberta Olympians stopped here yesterday to expose their sport to the masses.

And exposure -- to the elements and, um, otherwise -- is something this squad of biathletes, gearing up for the 2010 Winter Olympics, knows a lot about.

Red Deer's Zina Kocher, and Canmore's Rosanna Crawford, and Manitoba teammate Megan Imrie, are raising funds during a swing through southern Ontario.

They're part of a team notorious for raising $100,000 with a 2008 nude calendar.

Kocher admits stripping and posing left her "skeptical and unsure ... but it actually became very easy and a fun experience."

The three athletes talked about their sport to students at a local community college.

Biathalon -- cross-country ski racing combined with target shooting -- is huge in Europe.

Imrie notes: "There are (rifle) ranges and ski trails literally everywhere in Germany."

"And every single race is on television in Germany," added Kocher.

The biathletes admit feeling pressure from a nation that wants all of its athletes to go for gold.

Kocher said she's aiming for a Top 10 finish, "although my dream is to be on the podium."

Imrie hopes to crack the Top 40 in her first Olympic experience, while Crawford just wants to make the team.

At the end of November, the younger sister of Torino 2006 gold-medal cross-country skier Chandra Crawford will head to Europe for International Biathlon Union events. Then it's on to the World Cup.

Even if she gets that far and does well, there's no guarantee. "There are three of us going for that spot," she said.

Until then, however, she's keeping positive and training strenuously. Like her colleagues, Crawford is a full-time athlete. School is too much of a distraction, they find, and so is work, leaving them dependent on drumming up funds with events like the nude calendar shoot.

Their southern Ontario sojourn is a little tamer than that, however. Tomorrow, they'll attend a $75-a-plate dinner at a Kitchener gun club.