Pragelato, Italy – Even as she pronounced her cross country career over for the second time, Rebecca Dussault began thinking the retirement-comeback thing was so much fun the first time she might try it again.
The Gunnison skier walked away from a promising junior career and quit the sport at age 19, got married, started a family and then returned to the sport after a three-year hiatus in 2004 because she felt a “calling” to see how far her talent could take her.
It took Dussault here to her first Olympics, competing in the 15-kilometer pursuit (48th), 4 x 5-kilometer relay (14th) and 30K freestyle (43rd).
“I’m sad it’s over,” Dussault said after Friday’s 30K, which took her 1 hour, 31 minutes, 43 seconds. “I think I’ll cry if we talk about it.”
Dussault let a wave of emotion pass and continued.
“I might come back again,” she said. “We’ll see.”
Dussault’s son, Tabor, is 4. The deeply religious Dussault and her husband, Sharbel, would like to have another child, but maybe there will be time after that to push for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
“My heart’s in it,” said Dussault, 25. “I feel like I have so much left to give. I’ve still not hit my potential. That’s the sad thing. That’s what hangs down my heart a lot. I could still be the best if I just did things right, and for long enough.”
Dussault had some encouraging results the first year of her comeback, but fought sinus trouble last season that impaired her performance at the world championships. She had hoped to avoid that this season, but the sinus problems recurred in October.
“I finally have felt good here at the Olympics, but I’m just not that fit,” Dussault said. “I’ve done like eight sets of intervals all winter. You’re usually doing eight in a month, not eight in five months or whatever.”
The top American in Friday’s race was Laramie’s Sarah Konrad, who also made the U.S. biathlon team, making her the first woman to compete in two sports at the same Olympic Games. Konrad, 38, finished 32nd Friday.
“It’s been great to be here, for sure,” Konrad said. “I always hope for as good a performance as I can get, and I think I didn’t really reach my potential in these races. That’s a little disappointing, for sure, but overall I’m really glad with the experience.”
Konrad blamed a position at the back of the pack in the mass start race for her less-than-satisfying finish. Konrad wore bib No. 52, Dussault No. 59.
“All of us Americans are ranked so far back with FIS points so we started in the second to the last row,” Konrad said. “It was really, really hard to move up and get around people. A lot of the first K was either walking or sprinting.”
Konrad was 31 when she competed in her first cross country nationals. She didn’t pick up the biathlon rifle until she was 35. A former instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School, Konrad earned a doctorate in geology from Wyoming in 2001 and has been training full time for the past year and a half.
“It’s just the joy of doing it,” said Konrad, who finished 62nd and 75th in biathlon. “It’s challenging yourself and pushing yourself. There doesn’t really have to be a monetary payoff. It’s just seeing what’s possible, and to know you’re one of the best in the world, that’s a great feeling. Not everyone gets a chance to go to the Olympics and compete at these events. OK, I’m not winning them, but I’m definitely competing, and I’m good enough to be here.”
Dussault, who had two top-15 results at the 2000 world juniors championships, remains convinced she could compete for medals at major events with the proper training.
“Definitely,” Dussault said defiantly. “It looks far off. I know, though, that I could be. I’ve seen what I’ve done the times I have had a breakthrough and what I’ve done it on (training). It’s been so minimal. I just have to do things right for the right amount of time.”
Dussault will never have any regrets about putting family first.
“Tabor, my family, they’re an everlasting thing,” she said. “They’ll go on forever, into eternity. A medal will tarnish and get lost or stolen. It’s a mortal crown. I’m racing for an immortal crown.”
