WHISTLER, B.C. — When it comes to Canada’s biathlon battle, some wonder whether it’s time to call in the army.

Resurrecting the link between biathlon and military service is one idea being floated as the struggling women’s team wonders how to compete against mighty European rivals who rake in Olympic medals while earning salaries as military reservists.

Canada’s young female quartet placed a disappointing 15th in the Olympic biathlon relay on Tuesday, and individually the athletes were never even close to the podium at the Callaghan Valley course. The Russians took gold, the French silver and Germany bronze.

Zina Kocher, a 27-year-old member of the team from Red Deer was once a reservist and received a military salary as she shot and skied her way through international competitions.

However the program for elite biathletes ended about five years ago.

“It provided a very steady income for me,” Kocher said after the relay. “It definitely provided a lot more security and we had fun being part of a military group and going to international competitions.”

She said resurrecting the program would help bring biathlon back to prominence in Canada, and might provide greater depth to a faltering Canadian program.

“There were a lot more people who were involved in biathlon in eastern Canada because of the program, and we lost a huge base — especially in the men’s team — when the (program) fell through.”

Kocher and the other Olympic team members receive $900 per month from federal sports groups, and they rely on sponsors and equipment contracts to raise money for travelling to Europe.

Sometimes, making ends meet is a month-to-month affair for the athletes, prompting 21-year-old Rosanna Crawford of Canmore to suggest she’d happily join Canada’s reserves in an effort to relieve some of the financial pressure.

“We’re snipers,” she said. “Of course we want a bunch of gun-wielding women in the military.”

Kocher said her competitors almost all have full-time salaries as border guards, soldiers or police officers, but are allowed to train full time. Canadians might want to see more medals in the nordic sports of cross-country skiing and biathlon, where almost 25 per cent of all Winter Olympic medals are handed out, but that can’t happen without changes in funding, she added.

“In terms of money, it’s like a competition between a race horse and a donkey.”

Stephen Hale, the vice-president of high performance for Biathlon Canada who’s on loan from the Canadian military, recalled the era when the Olympians were soldiers in Canada.

“We had a very large military program, the Conseil International de Sport Militaire program, that we had operating until five years ago,” Hale said. “Due to internal pressures within the military the program was scaled back and no longer do we send athletes from that to compete internationally.”

The Canadian military currently has too many commitments to Afghanistan, Haiti and other international operations to justify such a program, he added.

Marie-Laure Brunet, a border guard from France who won a silver, said her job makes her performance possible.

“It’s very important for us because we can represent the nation, thanks to customs or army, and for our sport it’s important because we can do good training all year without having a real job,” she said after her race.

Not all Canadian team members believe military involvement would solve the funding problems.

Megan Imrie, a 23-year-old biathlete from Falcon Lake, Man., said she realizes “90 per cent” of her competitors are collecting full-time government salaries, but she doesn’t believe militarizing Canadian biathlon is the only answer.

“Maybe we’re lacking in that area, but I think it doesn’t have to be the Canadian military that funds it. There are so many great corporations out there that would be a good match for us,” she said.