FORT KENT (AP) – Even at the top of their game at an international competition in their home country, American biathletes sometimes have to ask fans to cheer – that is when they’re not explaining what biathlon is.

Those in the United States who know about the sport, which combines the rigors of cross-country skiing and the finesse of marksmanship, are the rare fans of winter. The biathlon being held this week among the potato fields and forests of northern Maine is only the third licensed World Cup venue in the United States.

“People have not grown up with biathlon, even in the northern latitudes,” said Carlton Dubois, a spokesman for the organizing committee. “It’s slowly gaining traction, though, mainly because it’s now an Olympic event.”

Just miles from the Canadian border in Maine’s snow-draped hills, decidedly the nation’s fringe, even those who know about obscure sports such as competitive bass fishing and skeet shooting, regard biathlon as a niche all its own. Lake Placid, N.Y., and Salt Lake City are the only other U.S. cities to host a World Cup biathlon.

It doesn’t draw big-name U.S. sponsors like auto racing. It doesn’t have the breakneck plays of the NFL. It’s a quiet affair – all things considered – where the crowds rarely drown out the pop of an athlete’s small-caliber rifle.

It’s true that American biathletes are competitive, but they often finish at the back of the field. During Thursday’s first World Cup race, the top three finishers were French, German and Slovakian.

The closest American came in 29th in a field of 67.

“In Europe, practically all of these athletes are professionals,” said Janez Vodicar, the International Biathlon Union official overseeing the games in Maine. “In the states, you are just starting to build a system as you already have for sports such as basketball and football.”

The product of European cultures that took to the snow with rifles and skis to hunt, the first competitive biathlon was held in the 18th century, when Swedish and Norwegian border patrol units joined in competition. The sport did not appear in the Winter Olympics until in the 1960s.

U.S. team members agree that American inexperience is the likely reason biathlon hasn’t caught the attention of stateside spectators.

“I can’t tell you how many times I get asked what biathlon is. It’s a little frustrating,” said Tim Burke, a U.S. biathlete who finished 57th in Thursday’s race. “The bottom line is it’s never going to get any bigger in the U.S. until we have results.”

To many American sports fans, winter is considered the long wait for baseball spring training. American biathlon officials say that as long as that attitude lingers, they’ll be a newcomer to a sport immensely popular in Europe.

“You have to have volume to get quality,” said Jerry Kokesh, spokesman for the U.S. Biathlon Association.

Considered one of the top competitors on the U.S. team, Jeremy Teela of Anchorage, Alaska, finished 29th.

Thursday. Still, he said he was happy with the results.

It’s only a matter of time before U.S. biathletes compete neck and neck with Europeans, he said, smiling despite the odds.

When Teela crossed the finish line on Thursday, the crowds were the loudest they had been since they event began, chanting “U.S.A.” and ringing bells.

In northern Maine, where the winters are long and cold, the biathlon combines two favorites, it seems.

And while the crowd played to the television cameras, the only coverage of the event came from a German network. It was good enough, though.

“This must be what the Germans feel like in Germany,” Teela said.