[00:00:00] Tom Kelly: Today we have a real treat. We are going live to Nové Mesto. It is the eve of the IBU World Cup there. But we're going to talk about the World Championships in Lenzerheide from just a couple of weeks ago. And with us, two-time silver medalist from the World Championships. Campbell Wright. Campbell, first of all, congratulations.

[00:00:19] Campbell Wright: Yeah. Cheers. That was a pretty cool two weeks. Thanks, Tom.

[00:00:24] Tom Kelly: Yeah, I bet it was. It was fun to watch it from back here in the States and been hearing an awful lot about it. But appreciate you taking some time to chat today on the eve of the World Cup. But, so when you went into the World Championships in Lenzerheide, you had the blue bib, the U23 blue bib. But did you have any particular expectations going into World Championships this year?

[00:00:48] Campbell Wright: No, but I never had any expectations going into any race because that just leads to failure and disappointment and bad things every single time. So no. No expectations as always. And yeah, it's a good way to set yourself up for success.

[00:01:08] Tom Kelly: I think that's an interesting approach to it. I mean, do you do goal setting like before the season or is it just kind of are they different kind of metrics that you look at?

[00:01:18] Campbell Wright: Uh, yeah. Also not a big goal guy. I would say I don't really set goals because I just … I think setting goals doesn't really change the work I'm going to do. You know, like I'm going to go train, do my best to do my training plan to the best of my ability, and I'm going to race as hard as I can every race. And having a goal doesn't really help me do that, in my opinion. It just is like another … Americans really love goals. I've learned this on the team. Like Lowell really wants to hear me setting goals and but I just don't think they really help. Honestly, as long as I'm moving in the right direction and I think I can be pretty honest with myself, I don't need to reach a goal to say a season was a success, and I think if I set a goal and reach it, that also doesn't mean a season and a success. I like to look at the bigger picture and look at where I am as a biathlete, as a metric, a lot more than a result, like in a world championship, for example. I don't really care about that so much.

[00:02:19] Tom Kelly: This is really fascinating, and I think you hit it on the head that this probably is very much an American thing. So, hey, just hang in there with it. You're doing pretty well. So. So don't worry about that. Hey, give us a little overview on what that day was like as you went to the start line. What were the crowds like? What was the weather like? What was the vibe that morning?

[00:02:37] Campbell Wright: I don't remember. We … all my morning started pretty similar, just going for the morning jog and activation with the team, some Nutella on toast with a coffee. And then we were racing in the afternoon and we were super lucky that first week. The conditions were amazing, like sunny, a little bit gusty on the range, but I think that actually helped me because it meant some of the other guys were missing more than they usually do. But not just a pretty standard race morning. I'd say wake up, do my stuff, get to the start line, and then, yeah, go from there.

[00:03:13] Tom Kelly: Talk us through the race a little bit. You opened up with a sprint. We'll get to the pursuit in a minute, but talk us through the sprint. You had a good day shooting, but what was going through your mind as you were racing out there? Was this just another race as you were looking at it on the course that day?

[00:03:27] Campbell Wright: Yeah. Yeah, I'd say the main thing in the sprint that I was looking at is in all my best races, I generally get a pretty good ride off someone like, I'm a strong skier, but I'm not strong enough to just ski a whole race by myself and be like top-ten course time. So I knew Ponsiluoma was starting a minute in front of me, and I know he's a bit bad at shooting sometimes. So I was telling Roberto, the Spanish biathlete before the race, like, I really just want him to miss three, and then me riding the second loop and then shoot standing and sure enough, came in prone shot, clean and right. As I left, I saw Ponsiluoma in front of me, who's one of the probably the strongest skier in biathlon. And I was like, well, this is just all going perfectly according to plan. And, uh, in my head. So yes, stayed behind him that whole second loop. I think we had course time two and three for that second loop. And then yeah, managed to hit five in standing, which actually felt a lot more controlled than I thought it would because skiing behind Ponsiluoma, he's a pretty strong skier. So I kind of burnt a match on that second loop, not knowingly burnt a match on that second loop to get behind him. And, yeah, figured that was a bit of a risk, but I think it was one I had to take.

[00:04:54] Tom Kelly: Well, as you're coming into the final stages of the race, how much do you know mentally about really where you are. I mean, did you have a sense when you crossed the line as to where you were?

[00:05:07] Campbell Wright: Yeah. On the last standing, everyone was saying, like, I'm in the lead by 30s on my last loop. But I know that didn't really mean a whole hell of a lot, because the top 15 biathletes in the world all started behind me. So winning at that stage was kind of like, yeah, okay, there's still the best 15 guys coming. It's great. It means I'm not going to do horribly. Like for sure I'll be in the top probably 15, maybe even the top ten. I was pretty confident I would be in the top ten, but yeah, no idea that I was going to be second. That was definitely I finished and Jani, our massage man said, like today I think you'll get a podium. And I just said, don't even begin to say that until like another 20 guys have finished. Like, don't even start to say that a little bit until. But he was right. So I guess he had the right to say that, and it kind of sunk in when Fillon Maillet crossed the line and he was behind me. That's when I was like, oh yeah, okay. Yeah, you've done well here. Campbell so probably then is when it started to sink in the most.

[00:06:14] Tom Kelly: Yeah, you did pretty well. Campbell I just you know, I've always been having worked in sports where it's individual starts and some athletes are going to come to the finish and not really know where they stand. And you have to go through that. Five, ten, 15, 20, whatever it is, minute waiting period to really see where you stood. You're a pretty cool guy. But what were your emotions like during that time when you were just kind of waiting there?

[00:06:40] Campbell Wright: Well, I, I would have been super happy with that result, no matter. Like I would have been super happy with that race, no matter where I ended up. Even if I ended up 10th, I would have been over. Like going to world champs, feeling like you skied to the best of your ability and shooting ten targets. That's already like a huge achievement. No matter where you're ending up on the result list, that's already like a big, big plus, I would say. So I was going to be happy no matter what. But then when I found out how good I did, that definitely got amplified a wee bit.

[00:07:13] Tom Kelly: Let's go back a few years when you won gold in the sprint at the Junior World Championships. Are there any comparatives to those two?

[00:07:22] Campbell Wright: Yeah, definitely. For sure. For sure. I think racing though, that race gave me a lot of confidence actually for the pursuit, to be honest, because in that pursuit, the next day at the Junior Worlds, I shot eight misses and just had a horrible day. So but the the feeling of doing well, honestly, I think at their Junior Worlds was even better. To be 100% honest with you. I feel like that was. I don't know, both felt pretty good, but that Junior Worlds definitely will always have a special spot in my heart.

[00:07:57] Tom Kelly: Yeah, you take a lot of learnings away from that, don't you?

[00:08:01] Campbell Wright: Yeah, yeah, I think especially just knowing that you can do well and confidence wise, I think that's probably the biggest thing I learned from that. Junior worlds is like, I am a good biathlete, even if on World Cup I'm coming in 30th, 40th, like in the juniors. I'm good. And I think also being able to race to win. Okay, at World Champs, I wasn't racing to win, I was racing to do my best. But knowing that I can be there is hugely important. Whether it's true or not. I think just believing it is the important part. So yeah, I believe I can do it and I think that's a huge, so a huge positive.

[00:08:46] Tom Kelly: Did your family have a chance to watch? I don't think they were there with you, but did you have family back in New Zealand that stayed up in the middle of the night to watch you race?

[00:08:54] Campbell Wright: Yeah, yeah, my mom, my dad and a bunch of people from the cross-country skiing community back there were watching. So yeah, they all are. Maybe for the sprint. Not all of them stayed up, but definitely for the pursuit because they can't watch all my races, you know? They would have the worst sleep schedule in the world. It's perfect. 12-hour time difference from Europe to New Zealand. So I tell them that when I do a good race to watch the replay, then that's ideal that we got.

[00:09:24] Tom Kelly: Well, I have to imagine that after you won silver in the sprint, that there were a lot of people in New Zealand tuning in at 4 a.m. in the morning to watch you.

[00:09:36] Campbell Wright: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Definitely. That next day in that pursuit was. Yeah, I'm sure there was a lot of, uh, red eyes in the morning from not getting a good night's sleep after that pursuit.

[00:09:48] Tom Kelly: Yeah, but well worthwhile. Now, you had won a silver medal. You knew you had to race the next day. I'm sure you had some kind of celebration, but how did you and your teammates celebrate that day or that evening?

[00:10:03] Campbell Wright: Honestly, I was really trying to just not get super hyped up because I knew that tomorrow I can make a real dick out of myself by doing a bad race. I knew that was very like, possible, so I tried to just be as regular as possible. Like, stay off my phone, just play. Play. I'm really addicted to this one computer game at the moment. Just stay off my phone, play this computer game, not really talk to anyone and just try to not get too amped up. You know, just not avoid people. But I definitely knew that I had to kind of go to my room and chill and decompress. And because it's a hard thing to do after being that amped up.

[00:10:49] Tom Kelly: Yeah. You know, that actually is a really important skill of top athletes to be able to kind of say, okay, I got a job to do, and I got to stay focused on that. And kind of to that point, what was your attitude the next day going to the start line in the pursuit? Was it any different than it was a day earlier with the sprint?

[00:11:10] Campbell Wright: Yeah, I'd say it was even like it was definitely maybe not not more confident. That's not the right thing to say, but I'd already proven what I needed to prove. So I knew that I could, like, do a bad race and still be fine with that. Like I that world champs was already a huge success no matter what happened after. So that actually let me race pretty free. Like I felt very no pressure or no stress or like just on the start line. I was just thinking, I'm going to enjoy this race because it's such a like, awesome opportunity that I got to start second in a pursuit at World Champs. Like enjoy every single meter of this race. And that's exactly what I did. So definitely wasn't feeling any stress or pressure or anxiety or anything like that. Just just happy to be there. I think that's the main thing. Just happy to be there was was more my attitude for that race.

[00:12:07] Tom Kelly: With the pursuit completely different than the sprint and the sprint, you go out individually, but in the pursuit, you know at every moment on the course where you stand. How does that I mean, this is really more a general question, but how does that change your kind of approach to a competition when you're racing in the pursuit and you know where you stand?

[00:12:28] Campbell Wright: Yeah, I'd say on the shooting range, you definitely are. I don't I don't even know, though. I think it's just being in that situation where you're shooting on point one, two or three or, you know, you're shooting for a medal like in the sprint. I didn't know what I was shooting for at all on the standing, like I knew I was doing well. But so the stakes are definitely put in front of your face a bit more. But I think once you've been in that situation a few times or even once for me, because I had one pursuit in Oberhof where I was in the same position on point, I don't know, 4 or 5 into the last shooting and missed two and ended up 12th or something. But I think being in that situation one time before this world champs was super important for me. So having that race in Oberhof, where I got to that last standing and mucked up and fell back spots, I think that was an important thing to be like, okay, don't do that again. Just do what you know. Do what you can do, hit the targets and get out of here more than. And that Oberhof pursuit, it was a lot more like oh I'm shooting with Fillon Maillet like I need to shoot quick. He's shooting quick all the time and missed two and just yeah. Did bad work. Didn't do my work on the range but I was a lot more confident to just go there and do what I knew I could do on the last standing. So yeah, it changes it up a little bit, but I think it just shows the people who got a bit more balls. I think maybe.

[00:13:57] Tom Kelly: Probably in that in that last shooting stage in the standing, you actually looked a little bit surprised when you hit that last target. When you when when you finish that last shooting stage, you know where you're going. You know where the race stands. Uh, did you have a feeling of comfort as to where you stood at that point?

[00:14:18] Campbell Wright: I knew that Eric was behind me and Soerum was behind me, and I knew they were going to shoot clean. And Eric was skiing insane at that champs. So I still was not safe, like, you know, so I was I was definitely just trying to ski away from those guys. It's not over until you get to the finish line. And I'm pretty known for having some dramatic blow ups, so that's definitely on the forefront of my mind. Like Campbell, don't blow up, don't blow up, don't blow up, don't blow up. Chill. Ski off the pace like this is definitely going through your head. But no hitting. The last shot was, I think, more just pure joy than surprise, you know? Just more like, yeah, More. Just pure ecstasy. Like the best feeling in the world in that last shot. It's amazing.

[00:15:09] Tom Kelly: Did you have time to celebrate that day?

[00:15:12] Campbell Wright: Also, no, because that was the first two races of that championship. So there was like four races still to go. So once again, go home, relax, chill, take some time, try to go into the shell a little bit, tune out everything else and just know I still have four races to go. And I think when you're fit, like I was at Lenzerheide, like it's a waste to just go out and celebrate and kind of squander the opportunities for the next four races, because I think you're pretty, you're doing pretty well to get to a world championship, fit and healthy and not sick, and skis are working well, and you're hitting targets for all these things to come together. It's very rare, and I know I've done it at a young age, but I still am super aware that that's a very lucky thing to happen. So I just didn't want to waste my my form. So. Yeah. Back. Back home. Back into the hotel. Chilling.

[00:16:13] Tom Kelly: Well, you're mature beyond your years. We're going to take a quick break on Heartbeat. And we will be right back with Campbell right here on Heartbeat.

[00:16:45] Tom Kelly: And we're back on Heartbeat. And today we are going live to Novo Mesto with Campbell. Right. Talking about his silver medals at the World Championships. Thank you for walking us through the sprint and the pursuit. I want to just take a little bit of a different approach. Uh, you joined the US team a few years ago, and I know everyone's excited to have you. And, uh, what you accomplished at world championships had never been done before. Two silver medals by a US athlete at the World Championships. And I know that you're kind of new to the US biathlon family, but what is that history and heritage mean to you and how does your accomplishment in Lenzerheide fit into that in your mind?

[00:17:05] Campbell Wright: Yeah. I think, um, like growing up, being from New Zealand, and when I started watching biathlon or getting to know become a bit familiar with biathlon is when Tim and Lowell were really in their heyday, like, uh, so those guys I look up to a lot and knowing that Tim only is having one silver medal at World Champs and now I have two. Like, it's it's, uh, it's a hard thing to say without me sounding like a dick, but I really respect the career that, uh, Tim had, and I think he had an awesome, long, successful career. But I think that really goes to show how lucky I was to have a World Champs like this where everything went right. Because for sure, Tim was a better biathlete than me at this stage of where I am now. But he just, I don't know, it never came together. And I think that's honestly just luck when it comes down to it, unless you're Yohannes Bo, we don't need you. Like when you're that good, you don't need to be lucky anymore. But for where I'm at, everything really had to come together. And I know people compared me a lot, not compared, but said it was similar to Tim and Lowell's medals and I don't know, being like putting my name next to theirs is pretty cool. I don't think I'm there career-wise, but on the medal tally it says I am. But in real life, I still don't think I can compare my career to those. Those guys had awesome long careers, but that's what I mean. I watched them when I was growing up, so I don't think I'm ever going to think I'm as good as them. But, uh, no, it's it's it's it's super cool to be part of us. Biathlon. And add to that list, I don't know, add to the yeah to the list.

[00:18:58] Tom Kelly: Yeah. You're definitely on the list. Uh, what did Lowell have to say with you after those silver medals?

[00:19:05] Campbell Wright: Oh, All was stoked. Low low was that that guy has a lot of passion for what he does, and it's really cool to see like because he was out on course cheering every loop. And I did the joke with him. Oh, I didn't hear you cheering lol. But he was just screaming his head off every single time I went by. So, no, he was very congratulatory. But it was also the thing where I think this proves that the US biathlon system and what we're doing is going in the right direction. So I think it's also more of a win for what the Federation has built, that they have a system in place and a training plan and like they can produce medals. You know, it's not a pipe dream. What we are given is enough for us to do well. So I think he was also super happy about that. Also super happy about my result, of course, but I was also congratulatory to him to say like, thank you for giving me the opportunity and the tools I need to get here as well. It's … I'm the one with the skis on, but it's definitely not a one-horse race. You know, there's probably a hundred people behind me getting me where I am. And it's a win for everyone.

[00:20:16] Tom Kelly: You know, having a US athlete on the medal stand is good for sport. And I imagine you heard from athletes and coaches, from other teams celebrating the USA, taking two silver medals.

[00:20:31] Campbell Wright: Yeah, I think because we're a smaller team in the scheme of biathlon, I think when a smaller team is doing well, everyone is like super stoked. To be honest, I think it's, uh, you know, you always root for the underdog. Always, always. It's just human nature. You want the little guy to do well. And yeah, there was a lot of congratulatory from big nations and people I wouldn't really expect to congratulate me or so. Yeah, very, very supportive of of the whole thing. And I think it's a win for biathlon if more nations are doing well than just the status quo.

[00:21:08] Tom Kelly: Looking ahead to Milan-Cortina next year, you will be there with the team you now have pre-qualified for the games. How important is that milestone for you to have kind of checked that box before the end of the 25 season?

[00:21:23] Campbell Wright: Uh, I don't think it will change much, honestly, going into that, I think all it means is I need to do more podcasts and interviews and that type of stuff. But mindset-wise, I don't think it's really changing much for me. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and maybe do a few more hours of training here and there. But yeah, nothing really. I think mindset wise it's not going to change very much for me. I'm a very come and prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and whatever comes, comes. And I think I'll at the end of that games, I'll be able to say I trained my hardest and I tried my hardest. And if it's my day, it's my day, and if it's not, that's also fine. There's 100 other guys on the start line training just as hard as I am, so I don't deserve it any more or less than them. So. Yeah. That's the beauty of sport, I reckon.

[00:22:10] Tom Kelly: Campbell, you have a few more weekends of World Cup through March, and then you head into a little break in April. What are you going to do for fun once the season is over?

[00:22:19] Campbell Wright: I am going to go to Spain for two weeks and see my two older brothers, and then head to New Zealand with my girlfriend and spend a month there. So I am, I've got a very good off-season planned, and I'm really looking forward to that little bit of decompressing and just hanging out with family. I don't get the opportunity to do that with my job. I'm always in in the biathlon world or in the US or somewhere else. So really looking forward to spending some time with my family, my mum and my dad and my brothers.

[00:22:48] Tom Kelly: Well, Campbell Wright, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with our audience on heartbeat. Congratulations on your silver medals and good luck through the end of the World Cup season. And I know you're looking forward to that break in April, but thank you for joining us on Heartbeat.

[00:23:03] Campbell Wright: Cheers, Tom. Thanks for having me.