Jay Hakkinen

Jay Hakkinen (born July 19 1977) is a professional biathlete, a three time U.S. Olympian, and is from Kasilof, Alaska.

Background

At the age of three, Hakkinen learned how to skate. Soon after, he picked up cross-country skiing, where he won the Junior 5 km freestyle. He got involved in biathlon when in 1994, he went for a year to a Norwegian town in a student exchange program. His host parents were able to arrange for him to trade with a local biathlon club. Within three years of returning home to Alaska, he was the Junior Champion of biathlon.

Performance in Turin

In Turin at, the 2006 Winter Olympics, Jay Hakkinen got off to a rough start in what was considered his best event, the 10k sprint, where he missed all of five of his targets, and accidentally skiied six penalty laps. He finished 80th in the event.

However, his stardom came at the Olympic men's 4 X 7.5-kilometer relay, an event in which four team members go around the track twice, and shoot from two positions: prone and standing.

The United States has never been a threat in such an event, however, this suddenly changed with Hakkinen in the first leg.

Hakkinen surprisingly took the lead in the first leg "(first laps, first biathlete to go)", shocking many fans - and finished ahead by 6.3 seconds ahead of Ricco Gross of Germany.

Eventually, the three other members of the U.S. Biathlon failed to hold the lead for the United States, as they eventually dropped to Ninth, despite Hakkinen's amazing performance. The ninth-place showing is the U.S. best since 1972, when the U.S. Biathlon team finished in sixth.

In the first biathlon event of the games, the 20k individual, Hakkinen finished 10th, with 3 penalty minutes for missed shots. One of his misses was a split bullet that hit the target but did not knock the target down. This cost him what would have been a bronze medal. Hakkinen, did however, have the second fastest ski times behind Bjorndalen in the event.

In the 15k mass start, Hakkinen started towards the back of the pack, and with only one miss throughout the four shooting stages, had an outside shot at a medal but all the strength that required him to get to the front cost him, and he faded during the last ski loop.

Competition Results

"For more information on these competitions, see Biathlon

World Championships Results

"For more information on this subject, see Biathlon World Championships

2005 World Championships

* Men's 10 km Sprint: 18th

* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: 23rd

* Men's 20 km Individual: 69th

2004 World Championships

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 18th

* Men's 10 km Sprint: 47th

* Men's 20 km Individual: 70th

* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: "Lapped"

2003 World Championships

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 17th

* Men's 10 km Sprint: 47th

* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: 51st

2001 World Championships

* Men's 10 km Sprint: 31st

* Men's 20 km Individual: 39th

* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: 41st

2000 World Championships

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 16th

* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: 30th

* Men's 20 km Individual: 31st

* Men's 10 km Sprint: 32nd

1999 World Championships

* Men's 10 km Sprint: 16th

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 18th

* Men's 15 km Mass Start: 18th

* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: 24th

* Men's 20 km Individual: 48th

1998 World Championships

* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: 39th

1997 World Championships

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 20th

* Men's 20 km Individual: 37th

Olympic Results

"For more information on Olympic Medalists in these events, see List of Olympic medalists in biathlon

Torino, 2006 Winter Games

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 9th
* Men's 20 km Individual: 10th
* Men's 15 km Mass Start: 13th
* Men's 10 km Sprint: 80th

Salt Lake City, 2002 Winter Games

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 15th
* Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: 13th
* Men's 10 km Sprint: 26th
* Men's 20 km Individual: 26th

Nagano, 1998 Winter Games

* Men's 4x7.5 km Relay "(Team Event)": 17th
* Men's 20 km Individual: 42nd
* Men's 10 km Sprint: 60th

World Cup Standings

"For more information on World Cup winners, see Biathlon World Cup"

2006 World Cup Standings

* Individual: 20th
* Pursuit: 41st
* Sprint: 60th
* All: 48th

2005 World Cup Standings

* Sprint: 18th
* Pursuit: 36th
* Mass Start: 40th
* Individual: 61st
* All: 33rd

2004 World Cup Standings

* Individual: 29th
* Sprint: 48th
* All: 53rd

2002 World Cup Standings

* Pursuit: 39th
* Individual: 61st
* Sprint: 71st
* All: 57th

2001 World Cup Standings

* Sprint: 48th
* All: 61st

2000 World Cup Standings

* Sprint: 25th
* Pursuit: 37th
* Individual: 47th
* All: 36th

1999 World Cup Standings

* Sprint: 28th
* Pursuit: 51st
* All: 39th

1998 World Cup Standings

* Sprint: 65th

* All: 74th

External links

* [http://www.jayhakkinen.com/ Official website Jay Hakkinen]
* [http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5074949/detail.html?qs=;t=14;tab=Results NBCOlympics.com - Athletes - Jay Hakkinen]
* [http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5074949/detail.html NBCOlympics.com - Athletes - Jay Hakkinen Bio]
* [http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_690.htm Jay Hakkinen's U.S. Olympic Team bio] with photos, wallpapers
* [http://data.biathlonworld.com/data/archives.aspx?IbuId=BTUSA11907197701 IBU Profile]