Biathlon

PEACE be the journey - that was the imortal line in the movie Cool Runnings as four Jamaican bobsledders set off down the ice. Well, you can't have anything much more bizarre in the world of sport than a Jamaican bobsleigh team can you?

Well, it's perhaps not quite as bizarre as that but the British Biathlon Union (BBU) have come up with two major initiatives they hope will do for biathlon what Doug E Doug and Leon did for the bobsleigh in the 1990s.

Come in Colin Jackson - the smiling face of British track and field - new president of the BBU. Now Jackson in a pair of skis trudging through the snow with a rifle strapped to his back? Well, peace be the journey wouldn't be a bad way to sum up it up, would it?

And, coupled with Jackson becoming president, the BBU has signed a sponsorship deal with long-term savings provider Skandia UK, as part of a new British Olympic Association Better Business Partnership to link leading blue-chip companies with Olympic governing bodies of sport in the UK.

So with the backing of the British Army and Skandia, and with Jackson in the president's chair - vacated by Colin Moynihan, who is now chairman of the British Olympic Association - and the leadership of chairman David Cranston the sport of biathlon is ready to lead the way into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Cranston said, “This partnership marks a new era for British biathlon and is particularly welcome at a time when financial support from UK Sport has been withdrawn. Skandia UK Group are already the title sponsors for the Royal Yachting Association’s elite squad, and we are thrilled they have chosen to support biathlon as their first winter sport. Over the next four years we hope to match their support with results that would bring credit to our new president Colin Jackson.”

Skandia UK has teamed up with the Army in providing support for the BBU, which aims to provide first-class training and development for athletes in what is one of the most demanding of winter sports. The new deal will enable the BBU to engage high-quality support and coaching staff for the athletes and will allow the introduction of development programmes for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games.