Arie Verburg

A lot of very nice words from everyone. I'll be moving back to Rotterdam at the end of March. Right now it is uncertain what I will be doing in the near future, but I am looking into several options. Hopefully I can continue to play an active role in the international biathlon family, and I can put my 7 years as a professional biathlete and my Master in Sports Management to use. Whatever it is, it will be an environment where everyone is passionate about what they do. Because passion is the key. Herbert

The long version... :)

The End I have decided to end my career as a professional biathlete. The main reason for my decision is the disappointing season that’s behind us, after a summer where I broke all my personal bests. As a biathlete, the last two years supported by my own Team Cool, I have reached new highs for Dutch standards. However, this has never been my main goal. My goal was to reach the level of the world’s best, and in the past season I have seen that we are struggling to even reach the level underneath that. Nevertheless I am proud to have been the world’s number 50 at some point in time. The better you become as a biathlete, the fewer options you have to train with other biathletes your level. To train full-time with other athletes of my level was fundamental to achieving my goals, and we simply weren’t able to get this to work out. Of course the on-going crisis plays a big part in this as well; supporting a Dutch biathlon pioneer is a great idea, but in the end it is goodwill. And in times of crisis goodwill is the first thing companies cut back on. In the end I have many ambitions, and I have noticed that they stretch beyond what I can achieve as a professional athlete. Therefore it is now time to end a beautiful chapter of my life and start writing a new one, one that will hopefully be as beautiful as this one. I owe a lot to a huge group of great people who made it possible for me to go and chase my dreams. To experience how natural it was for people to help out time after time, was truly touching and surprising. Without the immense effort of so many people I would not have been where I am now, and I would not be the person I am now. I thank you for that. Love, Herbert

Herbie finished +10'03 behind the winner Jakov Fak (46'48)! Congrats to Jakov and great cheers for our local hero Herbie!! ^Team Cool

Let's Go Herbie! #127 ^Team Cool

Today (3.15pm) Herbie will compete in his last race of the season. Fortunately this is his favorite one, the 20km Individual race. To get you excited already, here a 'postcard' from Ruhpolding >> http://youtu.be/ST7gf-VKXlo ^Team Cool

Yesterday Herbie missed 3 shots due to "shaky" legs in his 2nd shooting. This great IBU video explains the difficult approach towards the shooting range >> http://youtu.be/2DBi9gNE2jw ^Team Cool

If you want to get some 'behind the scenes' from the World Championships what would that be? Let us know!

Herbie finished in 30'16 (+5'57). Not enough to join the Pursuit tomorrow, but we are proud to see him live on television with clean shooting. Way to go! Herbie ^Team Cool

3 misses in these tough conditions is too much unfortunately....

You can continue watching TV on ZDF or take this live IBU stream...

Herbie live on Eurosport with clean shooting!

Hi All, are you sitting on the edge of your seat watching Eurosport? Herbert will start under #115. The live tracker is on, but it might be difficult to get through. ^Team Cool

Do you want want to experience how Herbie will race over the course tomorrow? Watch this tour >> http://ow.ly/9pD7C ^Team Cool

As of today our dear media partner Eurosport will start its live broadcasting of the World Championships. Click the link for the schedule >> http://ow.ly/9nAeK As you can see in the events on this page Herbert will have his 1st race on Saturday. ^Team Cool

Just got back from the opening of the World Championships! It's crazy here, much much bigger than during a 'normal' World Cup. About 250,000 people are expected to visit the races during the next 10 days. Here's a short video from the 'Einmarsch der Nationen' when all countries are welcomed by the fans. Sorry for the shaky hand ;) ^Herbie

We are only 1 day away from the official start of the 2012 IBU Worldchampionships in Ruhpolding and Team Cool is getting excited about what it will bring for Herbie. Want to get a view on the training in the stadium? Here's some IBU footage of the training >> http://ow.ly/9l9bl Later on Herbert will show his view on #Ruhpolding2012 ^Team Cool

Being around the US team is always a lot of fun, and here's a video that shows you why. Head coach Patrick Coffey and wax tech Bjorn Bakken made this for Valentine's Day, as they could not be with their ladies, because we were racing in Canmore. FYI, the thing Bjorn is sledding on is actually a wax bench turned upside down. Hilarious!

With all the celebrations of last night (morning for Herbie) you might have missed todays 10km sprint race. With 2 misses Herbie catched 30th place, 2.14" behind the winner Nathan Smith (CAN). Still the best Dutchie though. ^Team Cool