Canadian biathlete Jean-Phillippe Le Guellec led the men's 12.5km pursuit for a brief, exhilarating moment.
He shot 10-for-10 in the first two rounds at the firing range and from fifth place, jumped ahead of both the world champion and the sprint gold medallist.
The packed stands at the Laura Biathlon Centre went wild with delight as Martin Fourcade missed and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen stumbled. They went even crazier to see thier own idol, Russia's Anton Shipulin, in the hunt.
But Le Guellec led them all.
For a moment, Canada cared about biathlon.
Then JP, in the No. 5 bib, faltered. On a sharp slushy turn, he fell and later broke a ski. That was it. He finished 26th.
(The results of the 10km sprint determin the athletes' order in the 12.5km pursuit. If you finish five places and 9.7 seconds behind the sprint winner, as Le Guellec did, then you start fifth, 9.7 seconds behind him in the pursuit.)
In the mixed zone afterwards, dozens of media outlets let JP walk by. I chased after him -- the most exertion journalists ever demand of themselves -- and stopped him before he left. A scrum of roughly 12 reporters quickly formed.
Why did you lose the lead? Did the ski snap? Did you feel pressure to be in front? How do you feel right now?
That last question was one of the best of the interview. "How do you feel," is the worst way to start any conversation with an athlete, but the answer is critical. So it came up after Le Guellec had spilled the detals of his fall.
"I want to punch a wall and hopefully break through it," he answered.
The lead in the Toronto Star? It comes directly from this quote.
(This is the peak of excitement for an uncredited, anonymous labourer of a wire service. We deliver quotes. To see them used is satisfying. The Star credits the Canadian Press, who also had a reporter at biathlon.)
Le Guellec had other colourful comments. His broken ski was "like an open mouth, flapping." His derailment meant he'd been thrown "a snowball."
And why not break a ski at least once before retiring, he said.
Le Guellec will race again in the 20km individual on Feb. 13. It airs 6 a.m. Vancouver time.
(As I write this, Canada also sits atop the medal table with three gold, three silver and one bronze.)
