This first year senior athlete had one penalty and finished just 1:22.1 behind Ole Einar Bjorndalen (and tied for 14th with Michael Roesch). This is a huge jump for an athlete who finished 69th in the Sprint last year in Ostersund, Sweden.

 100% Increase in Training

The big improvement for the young Croatian athlete comes simply because of "a lot of hard work and probably a 100% increase in his training," according to Slovenian Coach Uros Velepec. Fak has trained with the Slovenian Team since last May.

 Velepec says that Fak is "very talented. He was a cross-country skier for Croatia and started doing biathlon several years ago. Until this year, he has not trained very much, so that is why his results as a junior (10^th Sprint best in 2008) did not show all of his talent."

 His one penalty under hard conditions, in the Sprint shows talent on the shooting range. Velepec added, "He is a good shooter. Recently, since he realized that he could be this good, he has started to think about it and puts more and more pressure on himself."

 Missed 10 Days of Training

The big breakthrough in the Sprint actually surprised his coach. "Jakov was sick for 10 days last month around the time of Antholz. He did not train at all, so I was surprised that he came back so strong. His goals for the season included maybe getting in the World Cup Points a couple of times this year, but this is another level."

 Good for Slovenian Team

The Slovenian Coach said that Fak has added a new dimension to his team. "Having him training with our guys like Bauer and Maric has been good. They all push each other."

 As for the future, Velepec cautioned that the improvements will not come as fast. "Jakov was training at such a low level that we could make a 100% improvement in his hours. From this point, he can only add maybe 10-15% to his work."

 With his big performance jump here, there is no question that Jakov Fak is a rising star in biathlon.

http://www.biathlonworld3.de/en/press_releases.html/do/detail?presse=423