Andrew Newell was born in Shaftsbury, VT in 1983 and began ski racing when he was five in the Prospect Mountain Bill Koch Program. During his developmental years he attended Stratton Mountain School in VT under the coaching of Sverre Caldwell and Amy Caldwell and was named to the US Ski Team in 2005.
Kris Freeman was born in Andover, NH in 1980, began ski racing at age five, and hasn’t stopped since. Freeman won J2 Nationals at 15, took 8th in the sprint at World Juniors at 18 and is the only male junior besides Bill Koch to ever win a Senior US National Title.
Kikkan Randall began ski racing in high school as a way to stay in shape for running during the off-season and quickly became one of the top U.S. Junior racers, following in the footsteps of her aunt and 1980 U.S. Olympian, Betsy Haines. As part of the U.S. Ski Team, Kikkan has been a nine-time US National Champion, posted six World Cup top-ten results, been on two World Cup podiums, and in 2008 ...
Originally an alpine skier at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont, Liz Stephen switched to Nordic in 10th grade. In her six years as a Nordic skier, Stephen has quickly ascended the ranks of Nordic competition under the coaching of Matt Whitcomb and the support of her teammates at Burke as well as on the U.S. Ski Team.
Morgan Arritola was born in Bend, OR in 1986 and began skiing at 16 for the Sun Valley Sports Education Foundation. Despite her late start, Arritola clinched four JO titles and has been a member of the World Juniors team and U23s for the last 4 years. Arritola credits her coach Rick Kapala from SVSEF for her success as well as her teammate and training partner Liz Stephen.
James Southam was born in 1978 in Anchorage, AK and began skiing as a freshman in high school after he was cut from the basketball team. The highlight of Southam’s junior ski career was when his team won the relay at Junior Nationals. Southam attended both the University of Nevada and Western State before joining the APU program that allowed more flexibility for athletic development.
Caitlin Compton began her ski career as an alpine skier and switched full time to Nordic her junior year of high school. After winning a race at JOs in 1999 and being named to the Junior World Team in 2000, Compton pursued her studies at Northern Michigan University.
Torin Koos was born in Leavenworth, Washington in 1980 and began skiing with his local Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. Encouraged by his parents and first coach T.J. Owen, Koos knew in second grade that he wanted to be an Olympic athlete. It wasn’t until his early years at the University of Utah, however, that Koos’s ski career took off. “Heading into Utah I was not the young rube of Americ...
Garrott Kuzzy first began ski racing in eighth grade in his hometown of Hayward, Wisconsin. Kuzzy competed in his first World Cup in 2008 in Canmore, clinching ninth in the freestyle sprint. He will be part of the 2010 Olympic team in Vancouver.
Holly started this season out with a bang, winning three SuperTour races and taking second in three more. With these races Holly put herself in position to be named to the 2010 Olympic Team. Most recently, in the Canmore World Cups she took 21st in the sprint qualification and 24th in the 10km skate.
Simeon "Simi" Hamilton is a 9-time Junior Champion and 3-time All-American whose sprint speed this season led him to win 4 sprint qualifiers in North America and one at the 2010 U23 Championships in Germany.
In her first full season back after having a daughter in February of 2007, Renner is looking to come back in full form, with “consistent top 10 results in distance racing” and “a return of my sprinting form”. As Dave Wood points out, Renner has always been an all-around skier, excelling in distance and sprint events alike.
At his first Olympic games in 2006, Kershaw showed the nordic community his potential by winning the opening leg of the men’s relay. Following that he took bronze in a WC sprint and silver in the ‘07 Tour de Ski sprint.
In his 10th year with the team, Grey has never skied in an Olympic year with such a strong men’s team. He is excited for the depth of the team and the prospects for team events. His focus being on the relays in the Olympics, he states “I want nothing more than to race a super 10km at the Olympics in the 4×10km relay.”
An Olympic gold medal at the skate sprint in Torino was not enough to satisfy Chandra Crawford into complacency. The season following Crawford captured two WC golds and proved to the world that her Olympic medal was no fluke. But in the following summer Crawford experienced multiple injuries and ended up having to undergo surgery for compartment syndrome which ultimately ended last year’s seaso...
Harvey, age 21, has only 2 years on the Senior National Team, but an already impressive resume of results. A three time Canadian Junior champion, he won a silver and two bronze at World Junior events.
A native of Russia, Babikov only recently received his Canadian citizenship, though he has been racing in the U.S. and Canada for a number of years. Excelling in distance races, Babikov won every North American distance race that he entered in the 2007-08 season, with the exception of one 2nd place finish.
A five year member of the Senior National Team, Jones has progressively improved on the WC circuit leading up to this season, placing in the top-30 several times last year. Jones qualified for this year’s Olympic Team with a 6th place finish in the team sprint (along with Sara Renner) at the Liberec WChs
Dasha Gaiazova, an alternate for the 2006 Games in Torino, looks poised for promising results at her first Olympic Winter Games. She arrives in Vancouver on the heels of two impressive 12th place results in the recent World Cups in Estonia and Canmore.
At 22, Brittany Webster is the youngest member of the Canadian team, but brings a wealth of recent international junior racing experience that bodes well for first Olympics in Vancouver. The Toronoto-native netted three top-30 results at the 2009 U23 World Championships in Praz de Lys, including a 14th place finish in the 15K pursuit, and returned to U23s in 2010 to improve upon her results with ...
Four years ago in Torino, Drew Goldsack impressed with a 31st place finish in the freestyle sprint at the Games. 2007 brought a sixth place finish in the team sprint at the World Championships in Sapporo with Olympic teammate Devon Kershaw. In front of the home crowd in Canmore in 2008, Goldsack skied to a 12th place finish in the freestyle sprint, his best result in a World Cup.
Veteran racer Gordon Jewett races in his first Olympics in Vancouver. Back injuries plagued Jewett for much of his early years of senior level racing, but perseverance paid off and Jewett found himself poised to qualify for his first Olympic Games after racing to his first national title in 2009 in the 50K freestyle race in March.
In his first Olympics, Stefan Kuhn looks to build upon his already successful career, highlighted by his outstanding sprint results. At the Olympic Trials in December, Kuhn impressed with a first place finish in the classic sprint in Canmore, which should come as no surprise given his strong World Cup sprint results.
Brent McMurtry, 23, notched his best World Cup result just one week before the Olympic Games with a 19th place finish in the classic sprint in Canmore. After placing a distant 66th the previous day in the 15K freestyle race, McMurtry qualified 25th in the classic sprint and skied through the heats well enough to move up to 19th place.
A year ago at the 2009 World Cup in Whistler, Madeleine Williams had her best World Cup finish on the Olympic race course in the 15K pursuit. In a race that saw seven of her Canadian teammates place in the top 30, Williams took 22nd place. Now the 26-year-old athlete from Edmonton will try to replicate a similar result this season on those same trails at the Olympic Games.
Brian McKeever will make history at the 2010 Olympic Games by becoming the first winter sport athlete to compete at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. McKeever suffers from Stargardt’s disease, a degenerative vision condition that leaves the 30-year-old Canadian with only the use of his peripheral vision.