20-for-20 with Nina Armstrong

In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.

Here’s 19-year-old Nina Armstrong, of Harvard University, who will be representing the U.S. at her first Junior Worlds.

***

“My full name is Nina Joy Armstrong. I was born in Albany, N.Y., raised in Lake Placid, N.Y., and one thing you should know about my hometown is that it hosted the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980.

I started cross-country skiing when I was 4 and started biathlon when I was 14, thanks to Lake Placid Biathlon. I currently train in Cambridge, Mass., with the Harvard Nordic Ski Team.

If I’m not skiing, you might find me doing a p-set in the library.

If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be the Harry Potter series.

One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is meeting new people.

This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a junior. One race I’m especially targeting there is the sprint.

The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was don’t look back.

One of the best race memories I have is winning states with my sister.

If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Jessie Diggins.

If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a surgeon.

I’m missing seven days of school to be here, and my professors are probably thinking, ‘What is biathlon?‘

You can follow me on Instagram @ninaajoy.”