Kara Salmela lives in Rogers and trained in Duluth . The sports soldier studied at Northern Michigan University . She started biathlon in 1992 and competed in her first race in the biathlon world cup in 1995 . In Lahti she was 47th and 42nd in an individual sprint race. In Ruhpolding , Salmela took part in their first biathlon world championships in 1996 and finished 57th in the sprint. In Osrblie she participated in the 1997 Biathlon World Championships , where the American came in 53rd place in the individual and 64th place in the sprint. In Nagano , she first took part in the Winter Olympics in 1998 . At the competitions in Nozawa Onsen she was 56th of the individual and with Ntala Skinner , Stacey Wooley and Kristina Sabasteanski 15th of the relay race. In Pokljuka she was also 31st in the pursuit race based on the Olympic races at the Biathlon World Championships in 1998. Shortly thereafter, Salmela won the first World Cup points as 20th of an individual in Hochfilzen . The American achieved pretty good results with 28th place in the sprint and 34th in the pursuit at the 1999 Biathlon World Championships in Kontiolahti . There was also a 12th place in the relay race with Rachel Steer , Sabasteanski and Jill Troutner . In Valcartier she reached her best career result in the World Cup with a 14th place in a sprint towards the end of the season . Only a little later came a 16th place in a B mass start race at Holmenkollen in Oslo . In the same place she was 46th of the individual, which was rated as a world championship due to previous weather problems at the World Cup in Kontiolahti.
The 2000 Biathlon World Championships , Salmela's last World Cup, was also held in Oslo. In the individual, she finished 55th, was 67th in the sprint and did not reach the finish with Steer, Andrea Nahrgang and Sabasteanski as a lapped relay. Before that, Salmela started at the Biathlon European Championships 2000 in Kościelisko , where she was 30th in the individual, 32nd in the sprint and 31st in the pursuit. In 2001 , participation in the European Championship in Haute-Maurienne was the highlight of the season. In France, she did not finish in the sprint and did not compete in the individual. At the end of the season, she took part in the 2001 Military World Ski Championships in Jericho in her US homeland , where she was only beaten by Andreja Koblar in the sprint and won the silver medal. Final and final career highlight was the 2002 Olympic Winter Games of Salt Lake City , where Salmela reached the 59th place in the individual, was the sprint 49th, improved in the pursuit race at the 45th place and with Nahrgang, Steer and Sabasteanski at the competitions finished 15th in the relay race in Soldier Hollow .
Biathlon World Cup placements
The table shows all placements (depending on the year, including the Olympic Games and World Championships).
1st - 3rd Place: Number of podium placements
Top 10: Number of placements in the top ten (including podium)
Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks (including podium and top 10)
Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
United States
