Metropolitan Life has signed Canada’s best biathlon specialist to a two-year financial support program that puts her on the road to gold at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

Myriam Bedard, the 22-year-old Neufchatel, Que. native who won a bronze medal in the 15-kilometre biathlon at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France this year, says the support contract eliminates her money worries and leaves her free to train.

Bedard will be paid a salary and be eligible for some company benefits for the duration of her contract, which also provides bonuses linked to her performance in national and international competitions.

According to Richard Painchaud, Metropolitan Life’s vice-president of marketing, the Bedard deal could turn out to be a long-term commitment. DC