CALGARY—One of Canada’s most accomplished and respected biathletes on the international circuit, Christian Gow, has decided to hand in his international race bibs to begin a new career in coaching.

The 31-year-old Calgarian skis into retirement after a storybook career that spanned more than two decades and was highlighted with two trips to the Olympic Winter Games along with a historic bronze medal triumph at the 2016 IBU World Championships.

“As a kid, I wanted to excel in the sport, and I loved the dual challenge biathlon presents of shooting and skiing. I loved pushing myself further and knowing that I could work hard and keep improving,” said Gow. “That hasn’t changed, but I feel like the time is right for me to move on to something new and I am excited for the future.”

Gow followed his older brother, Scott, into biathlon, and then onto the World Cup circuit.

His chase to represent Canada at the Olympic Games was sparked early in his discovery of the sport at a summer camp at Canada Olympic Park in his hometown. Early in that program, his two coaches – Colin Bell and Tom Zidek – showed the wide-eyed youngster videos of World Cup biathlon racing and handed him a poster of the ‘King of Biathlon’ Ole Einar Bjorndalen.

“I put that poster on my wall and dreamed big from that day onwards,” said Gow, who joined the Rocky Mountain Racers at the age of 11 where he dug deep to maintain strides with his older brother.

“Having Scott on the World Cup with me was a huge highlight of my career. We were able to share an incredible once-in-a-lifetime journey together for 20 years, and eight of them at the highest level in the sport we love. Scott made my transition to World Cup racing a lot easier, and he brought familiarity to a brand new and intense environment. We had so many good times and grew much closer because of our time in sport.”

The brothers took aim at knocking down performance benchmarks in their progression through the athlete pathway, with the ultimate goal of climbing onto the international podium and hitting the start line at the Olympic Games.

Mission accomplished!

They first made history together as the first ever Canadian men to win a relay medal at the IBU World Championships when they celebrated the bronze with Nathan Smith and Brendan Green in 2016. The brother bond was strengthened when their Olympic dreams were realized together in 2018. Building on their Games debut in PyeongChang, the brothers played a key role in a historic Olympics for Canadian biathlon four years later where they were part of the men’s 4×7.5-kilometre relay team that finished sixth for Canada’s best ever Olympic result in the event.

“My dream was always to make it to the Olympic Games, so I feel very proud and honoured to have accomplished that twice. That relay in Beijing was a huge highlight and proud moment for me and the team, but the World Championship bronze medal in 2016 will stay with me forever. That was one of the most incredible days of my life,” said Christian Gow.

Feeding off each other, the Gow’s were Canada’s top performances at Beijing 2022. Christian Gow fired four, top-15 results including two in individual races. Inspired by Scott’s incredible fifth-place finish in the individual event, Christian battled to 12th in the 10-kilometre sprint and 13th in the 15-kilometre mass start, showcasing his strength in head-to-head racing.

“All of the results in Beijing were definitely career highlights. Having everything come together at the Games was the best feeling and it really made those Games stand out for me. We really threw down as a team there and it was a blast putting up top results every day. We weren’t the best team on paper, but we gave the top nations a real run for their money and qualified three men in the Mass Start for Canada,” said Gow, who also found increased enjoyment in the sport racing the mixed relay discipline with Emma Lunder.

“Coming into Beijing, I definitely found my strong suit in the head-to-head race formats. The pursuit, mass start, and relays were all some of my best formats. However, one of my favourite races was that sprint in Beijing. My goal in the sprint was to execute what I was capable of and to put together the best race I could on the day. I know that probably sounds obvious, but in this case, it took on new meaning for me. I shot clean and finished in 12th and I was really proud of that performance.”

Gow’s journey with a race bib on comes to an end having skied to the shooting range with the maple leaf on his back at two Olympic Games, eight elite World Championships, and five World Junior and Youth Championships, racking up historic results, international medals, national titles and becoming a Canadian hero in the sport whose photo will be on the walls of a new generation of young biathletes across the country with Olympic dreams of their own.

“I have been very fortunate to have spent my entire biathlon career with Christian. Most athletes don’t have the opportunity to train and compete alongside their sibling, so how lucky that I got to share so many years of my life pursuing biathlon with my brother. I don’t believe we would have had the success we had if we didn’t have each other as training partners,” said Scott Gow. “Christian’s meticulous nature and dedication to biathlon inspired me to push myself to match his work ethic and become a better biathlete year-after-year. He had a long, successful career in the sport and over a 10-year World Cup career, he was able to establish himself as one of the best biathletes Canada has ever had. I’m just happy I got to be a part of it.

“I credit a lot of my biathlon success to Christian, and the highlights of my career are the years spent together training and on race tours. I will never forget sharing the podium with him in 2016, or the amazing memories we made during our two Olympic tours. But through it all, what I cherish most, is the fortune of sharing all of my best results alongside my brother and I’m glad I was there for most of his as well.”

Christian Gow’s new journey off the field of play is now underway as he embarks on an opportunity to share his experiences with the next generation of athletes as an assistant coach at the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre. At the top of a long list of items to tackle on his “To Do List” is spending precious time with his family and also hitting the books and continuing his post-secondary education. 

“I got to chase my dreams for the last 22 years. I’ve loved it all and just feel so grateful for the experience. Biathlon may be an individual sport, but I am going to miss the team who have always been a highlight for me. I will miss the little moments together in between races or in training that seemed mundane but have stayed with me and have brought a lot of joy to my life,” added Gow. “I also owe a huge thank you to our community. We are a small group, but we are filled with amazing people who allow careers like mine to happen. I couldn’t have done this without all of the people supporting me and the biathlon community across the country.  I am filled with so much gratitude. I also hope that any kids who are thinking of chasing a dream make the decision to go for it and enjoy the journey it takes them on.”

Just like Christian Gow did.

About Biathlon Canada

Biathlon Canada is a non-profit organization recognized by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee as the national governing body for biathlon in Canada, representing approximately 2,000 registered members. Biathlon Canada is a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union.

For more information about Biathlon Canada, please visit biathloncanada.ca or contact us at info@biathloncanada.ca