Ethan Holstein is a 13-year-old cadet from Yorkton. He is with the 2517 Melville Legion Army Cadet Corps.
Recently, Holstein found out that he excels at cadet biathlon, which includes cross-country skiing and marksmanship, when he placed fifth overall at the Saskatchewan biathlon provincials earlier in January. There were 77 kids in total who Holstein competed against from all over Saskatchewan.
To get to the provincial competition, Holstein first had to compete at stage II biathlon, which involves cross-country running and shooting, and was made up of kids from around the Yorkton area. He finished in first place in the junior division at that event, which allowed him to progress to the provincial competition. The junior event consists of kids from the ages of 12-14.
What makes Holstein’s story particularly interesting is that he has hardly had any training in cross-country skiing.
“We went out on snowmobile trails, and probably had about two weeks of training for it overall,” said Holstein.
Holstein explained the provincial race as, “fun but tiring.”
The next goal for the young rising biathlon star is to make it to the national biathlon. But in order to get there, he’ll need to place first at the provincial level. He plans to keep working hard so that he reaches his goal.
