WHEN Kent biathlete Hugh Pritchard makes his debut at the Winter Olympics next week, it will be a fitting reward for the biggest gamble of his life. Most of the athletes competing at Salt Lake City are professional soldiers, many with years of experience in the art of shooting and cross-country ski-ing.

Contrast that with Pritchard, who until 18 months ago was still plying his trade as a chartered accountant with the NHS in London.

The decision to resign from his job as an internal audit manager in favour of training full-time for the Olympics was probably the riskiest he had ever made.

All three of his Team GB colleagues are professional soldiers, receiving full Army pay, while Pritchard has had to survive primarily on sponsorship, from his TA regiment, the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) and on a local level, the Wire Belt Company, Sittingbourne.

The odd bit of temping also helped keep the wolf from the door, but when the Canterbury-born athlete got the call saying he had won a place in Great Britain's men's relay team for the event in Utah it made the sacrifices worthwhile.

Pritchard, is the only civilian in the British squad and at 33 he will probably be the oldest man making his Olympic debut in the games, which get under way on Friday.

Around 20,00 people are expected to watch the biathlon events, which will be contested over distance sof 10k and 20k.

Pritchard, whose family home is in Whitstable, could yet win a discretionary place in the individual event, but for now, he is just happy to be there. "In many respects I'm still very much a beginner," he explained. "I first picked up my skis and rifle in 1993, but I'd had no effective coaching.

"I have really only been a serious biathlete for the last 18 months or so. Mike Dixon, my team-mate, has been in the sport since he was 19 while some of the top Germans simply lost their teenage years. They were training, training, training from the age of 12 but that's the price they have to pay for being top in a sport where they are ranked among the best."

Pritchard will be joined in the British squad by Jason Sklenar, 31, Mark Gee, 29, and the vastly experienced Dixon, 39, who will be making a record-breaking sixth appearance at the games.

Britain are ranked 19th out of about 30 competing countries, but this is their first appearance in the biathon since Lillehammer in 1994. Each relay team member will ski 7.5km and have two shoots, one prone and one standing.

The squad will have spent the two weeks leading up to the games at a camp near Calgary in Canada, a venue picked because it is in the same time zone and of similar altitude to Salt Lake City.