CESANA, Italy – The American biathlon team arrived for training Sunday with a newfound swagger thanks to Jay Hakkinen.

His 10th-place run in the men’s 20-kilometer race Saturday, the best finish ever by an American, had teammates all but strutting on their skis and his coaches downright defiant.

“I think the young ones can see that we can compete with the best in the world,” U.S. coach Algis Shalna said of Hakkinen’s teammates.

Fans, he should, shouldn’t laugh at the notion of the Americans reaching the podium at Cesana San Sicario. As for other countries, well …

“I think it’s a clear message that we’re not joking around,” Shalna suggested.

Forgive them if they’re getting a bit carried away, but the Americans had never finished above 13th place in any international biathlon competition. Europe’s most popular winter sport has long been dominated by Norway, Germany, Russia and France.

But for a split bullet that failed to knock down the target, Hakkinen, whose previous best Olympic performance was a 13th in the 12.5km pursuit at Salt Lake City in 2002, would have won bronze.

“Definitely, it’s very inspiring,” said women’s team member Lanny Barnes, who was preparing for Monday’s 15km race. “He was within grasp of a medal. It should motivate us for tomorrow.”

Most of the American women declined interview requests as they prepared for an event the Germans expect to dominate. Half the top 10 women in the world are from Germany, including World Cup leader Kati Wilhelm and Uschi Disl.

The American women are confident they can post personal bests but they’re not even dreaming of a Hakkinen-like finish.

Still, their teammate’s historic finish eased everyone’s nerves.

“Now we have the best performance we’ve ever had in the Olympics. Bam! It’s done. We did it on the first day,” national development coach James Upham said. “Now it takes the pressure off and we can just focus on improving the performance aspects.”

That would be prone shooting, which gave the Americans fits Saturday. Hakkinen missed three targets, resulting in a one-minute penalty for each. His final miss was a split bullet, half of which hit the target but failed to knock it down.

“You medal is that far away,” Upham said, peering between the little slice of sunshine that made it through his pinched finger and thumb out on the shooting range. “Half a bullet tip away.”

Hakkinen did post the second-fastest ski time behind five-time gold medalist Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, and that bodes well for the rest of the races, where penalties are a 150-meter loop, something top skiers can overcome.

Teammates Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey and Jeremy Teela also posted very good ski times, “so they’re there,” Upham said. “We have four very solid guys.”

And four question marks for the women, led by Rachel Steer of Anchorage, Alaska, who has had an up-and-down year. “I think we would be happy to (see her) get into the top 20,” Shalna said. “We have to at some point be realistic.”

Steer is joined by Lanny Barnes and her twin sister Tracy, who are world-class shooters but uncertainties on skis; and Sarah Konrad, who is a fast skier but has only been shooting rifles for three years.

As for Hakkinen, he was invigorated but also disconcerted as he prepared for his best event in the famously unpredictable sport, the 10km sprint on Tuesday.

“The 10th-place kind of demonstrates this love/hate relationship I have with biathlon. There’s just so many variables and I conquered every one except for the prone shooting and that’s what cost me a win,” he said. “And that’s how biathlon is. It’s maddening like crazy, but at the same time that’s what makes it such a great sport, and if I do achieve a medal, that will make it all the better.”

AP-ES-02-12-06 0949EST