SPECIAL SECTION/CANADA'S TEAM/BIATHLON	FEBRUARY 2, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 4
	Right on Target Myriam Bedard has struggled hard to return to her world-beating form By DAVE STUBBS iathlete Myriam Bedard's sport is the Olympic version of partisan warfare: between 30 minutes and an hour of heart-pounding cross-country skiing along 7.5 km or 15 km of twisting track, combined with stone-steady rifle shooting at either 10 or 20 targets along the way. The sport was compared by former U.S. biathlete Don Nielson to "sprinting full out around the neighborhood track and then stopping to thread a needle." Nobody is better than Bedard, 28, at this kind of stitchery. At the top of her game, as she was at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, Bedard took gold in both biathlon events and finished more than 45 seconds ahead of her nearest rival in the 15 km. She faced so little competition at home that she hired her own German-born coach and an entire support team in order to train at a level no other Canadian could approach. Bedard's appearance at Nagano, however, is a triumph of another variety. After Lillehammer, the Loretteville, Que., native married fellow biathlete Jean Paquet; gave birth to a daughter, Maude; and traveled virtually nonstop throughout Canada as a corporate spokeswoman and motivational speaker. All that took a toll. The summer after the Games, Bedard was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a condition that slows the metabolism. Then last February doctors found that she was allergic to many foods, including dairy products and bananas, two important energy sources for athletes. The odds against her returning to her peak levels of performance and qualifying for a third Olympics were astronomical. But rather than surrender to retirement, Bedard summoned the formidable reserves that have been her hallmark throughout a 13-year career. "What got me to come back was that I love my sport," she said. She took nearly four months off from her normally brutal routines, by far the longest break she had ever allowed herself, to rebuild her energy. Then she got back to work last summer, with only herself as a coach. She kayaked, cycled, ran, weight-trained and roller-skied, then came home to a cook's specially prepared meals. The Rocky-style preparation has paid off, though perhaps not enough for her to win another gold. In December she finished an encouraging 15th at a World Cup event in Sweden, her best result since Lillehammer. Magdalena Forsberg of Sweden, the current World Cup leader, must be considered the Olympic front runner, but no matter her performance in Nagano, Bedard figures she's a champion again. "I didn't quit," she says, "and that showed me something about myself." It showed everyone else too.
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