After an euphoric UKM party on Saturday night, 10 brave students left their warm beds ‘very early’ on a rainy Sunday Morning, have breakfast, grab skis and heroically face a Biathlon competition in Nordal.
As Arne drove the RCN van towards Nordal, rain turned into sleet and then into snow, allowing the students to notice a great difference between the weather at sea level and the stunning white landscape on the mountains.
After getting the numbers and faking a quick warm-up, the students joined Norwegians from all ages at the starting line. One by one, the participants were told “GO” by Arne. As the biathlon is a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting, the competitors had to complete two laps skiing in a short circuit and, after each lap, leave their skis aside, grab a special weapon and strive to hit, with 5 bullets, the 5 black spots on the target. To win, a participant had to hit more targets than everyone else and have the lowest time between the first and the second lap.
The RCN competitors were fearless and their diverse origins turned the competition into a Biathlon World Cup, as Arne pointed out. Furthermore, one member of the team, Luis Mendieta, had the honor to earn the third place in the competition. He hit 9 targets out of 10 and had a difference of mere 35 seconds between the first and the second lap.
At the end of the competition, the students had a rather pleasant snowball fight with little Norwegian kids, whose aim and physical condition turned out to be way better than the RCN representatives.
Many thanks to Arne for providing those 10 students with a very joyful Sunday and congratulations to Luis!
