You might see it as a missed development opportunity that the U.S. is the only country not to send its very fastest college athletes to the World University Games (we'll explain why). But the Univerisity of Wyoming, races their hearts out, and also uses the opportunity for more than skiing: expanding athletes' horizons, learning, and instilling a lifelong love of sport.
STRAFFORD, Vt. – As Jeremiah Linehan turned his huge Ford truck up the driveway of the Strafford Nordic Center, I looked around, but there was no sign for skiing – just one pointing the way to Rockbottom Farm. Linehan reported that he’d taken the ski center’s sign down for the summer, “just so we don’t have to deal with it.” As his two sons and a 9 year old from down the road chatted in...
Our recent series on biathletes facing the question of when and whether to go to college (parts two, and
Note: This is the last piece in a three-part series following several groups of biathletes as they negotiate the college question. part two looked at USBA’s 2007-2010 Development Team. In November, 2011, Casey Smith was named Junior Biathlete of the Year for 2011 by the United States Biathlon Association (USBA). In a European country, that might mean a pat on the back from a coach at practice, perhaps an honorary celebration thrown by an athlete’s...
Once the country’s best juniors, a handful of biathletes – including Lowell Bailey, ranked 14th in the 2012 World Cup standings – detoured through college programs before representing the U.S. at World Championships and the Olympics.
INNSBRUCK, Ausria – Welcome to Innsbruck, Austria! After a 36 year hiatus, Olympic competition has now returned to the bustling university city of Innsbruck for a third time in the form of the Inaugural Youth Winter Olympic Games. The capital city of the alpine province of Tyrol in Austria’s western panhandle, Innsbruck twice hosted the world during the 1964 and 1976 Olympic Winter Games and now proudly bears the distinction of being the only city...
Note: This is part of an ongoing series on junior and collegiate racers in the U.S. and beyond. The nordic sports are certainly not the largest, but there are still thousands of great stories. We will be picking athletes out of this pack to feature – nominations for outstanding or interesting nordic skiers can be sent to