The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang South, Korea will undoubtedly see a spike in interest within Prince George.
The northern capital boasts three athletes who will be attending from February 9th to 25th.
Among the local trio is Megan Tandy who will be competing in Biathlon.
The 29-year-old is no stranger to the Olympic stage after being selected in 2010 and 2014 in both Vancouver and Sochi, Russia.
She believes the added experience can be asset heading into the games.
“Yeah, it means a lot to have this opportunity 12 years after I really started pursuing this sport to still be able to be on a level that I have an honor like this is huge.”
Tandy is hoping the third time’s the charm when it comes to reaching the podium, however, she says the journey has been a long-winding road.
“It would require the performance of my life to be a podium contender and of course, it’s the Olympics, that’s exactly what I want to bring is to go there and to be healthy, fit and bring the performance of my life but that would be a pretty far stretch I think. I do, however, have goals there and I do think the racing I’ve done so far this year will help me get me on the right track.”
“A lot of my goals are about my personal performance. I can’t control what the other athletes are going to do but what I can control is what I’ve been practicing the last 12 years. I can ski as hard as I can and I can shoot quickly and aggressively, that is one of my strong points is shooting under pressure.”
The 2017 Biathlon season hasn’t been met without its challenges for Tandy who had some early obstacles to overcome in order to be selected by Biathlon Canada.
“I was sick a lot this fall and had a little bit of a rough start to the season and since Christmas, I’ve just been feeling better and stronger every single race and it’s such a motivating feeling as the Olympics come closer every training session that ends I’m not feeling tuckered out and still recovering, my legs are feeling good and I’m looking forward to the next session.”
The goal of being an Olympic athlete is met with sacrifices and the local product is no different with a young family of her own that includes her son Predo.
Tandy says because of the time difference, the dynamic will be a little different this time around.
“My family won’t be watching these games. I kind of think we had the ultimate family Olympics in Vancouver because there is just nothing like starting those races in my home province and it was amazing because I got to have a lot of my own family there but for me, my parents as well as my son they’ll be staying at home and watching the games from afar and to be honest, I spend so much time traveling I actually prefer it that way.”
“I’m going to go there and I am going to focus on my races and if we have the time for overseas flights to visit each other then I prefer to take advantage of that in the summer when we get really quality visiting time.”
While the 29-year-old has compiled no shortage of accolades in her athletic career, none of this would have been possible without the countless hours invested by her biggest supporters right in her own backyard.
“The reason I am able to pursue this sport is that of volunteer coaches, community ski programs and people dedicating their time and passion on weekends guiding biathlon trips for us as kids and I really feel like there is an entire ski community in Prince George where I grew up.”
Tandy’s best finish at the Olympics was in 2014 where she placed eighth in the 4X6 Women’s Biathlon Relay.
Meryeta O’Dine (Snowboarding) and Sarah Beaudry (Biathlon Alternate) are the other two athletes from Prince George who will be in South Korea next month.