At every level, the 2024-25 season was marked by positive steps forward for the U.S. Biathlon Team. As the season ended and a new one began with an on-snow camp in Bend, Ore., Head Coach Armin Auchentaller joined Heartbeat from his home in Antholz, characterizing the season as one of seeing what’s possible. But he was quickly pointed out that now i…

A veteran of over a decade on the U.S. Biathlon Team, Kelsey Dickinson is still packing her skis and biathlon rifle to the far reaches of the world. Along the way, her legacy is growing as a passionate advocate for her fellow athletes, and a pioneering leader for women in sport. Heartbeat co-hosts Tom Kellly and Sara Donatello spoke with Dickinson …

On this episode I welcome guests, Zak Ketterson and Quinn McCloughan for a little Q&A on all things related to cross country skiing. I did a full episode with Zak back in 2023 so if you’re interested in learning more about him I recommend giving it a listen! Zak and I welcome Quinn to the podcast as the owner of Bearskin Lodge, a supporter of Team …

Two weeks after he made history at the BMW IBU World Championships with a pair of silver medals, U.S. biathlete Campbell Wright reflected on his accomplishments. Heartbeat caught up with Campbell relaxing in his hotel room at Nové Město, mentally preparing for the resumption of the BMW IBU World Cup. “Yeah, that was a pretty cool two weeks,” he sai…

The opening of the BMW IBU World Championships Biathlon in Lenzerheide will mark another milestone in a campaign to recruit more women into coaching and officiating. U.S. Biathlon’s Sara Studebaker-Hall, an Olympic veteran, will serve at technical delegate for the prestigious event. Heartbeat spoke to Studebaker-Hall as she prepared for the Champio…

From Feb. 12-23, the biathlon world will gather amidst an idyllic alpine setting for the BMW IBU World Championships Biathlon Lenzerheide. It will be the first World Championships in Switzerland since 1985 – an initiative to grow the sport in the picturesque alpine nation. Heartbeat sat down with organizing committee CEO Jürg Capol to learn more ab…

The last six months for biathlete Luci Anderson have been exhilarating, to say the least. The Minnesota native entered her first biathlon race last August. Just over three months later, she was on the IBU Cup tour. A few weeks later, she was racing World Cup. Anderson joined U.S. Biathlon’s Heartbeat podcast from the U.S. Cross Country Championship…

From its origins with U.S. Biathlon in 1958 at Fort Richardson, Alaska, the partnership with the National Guard has been a vital tool in the success of the sport in America. Today, many core athletes on the U.S. Biathlon Team – men and women – are supported by the National Guard. In this episode, Heartbeat explores the longstanding National Guard p…

JAKE BROWN: CARRYING CONFIDENCE INTO THE SEASON November in Finland is a fascinating time, with limited daylight, big snowflakes falling from the heavens, and an electric atmosphere as the U.S. Biathlon Team makes final preparations for the season just days away. Heartbeat headed to the team camp in Vuokatti this week to catch up with veteran Jake …

There is a high level of anticipation at the U.S. Biathlon Team training camp in Vuokatti, Finland, with both the IBU World Cup and IBU Cup series about to begin. Coming off a season of promising results followed by eight months of an innovative preparation period, now it’s go-time! Heartbeat headed to the Vuokatti camp this week to catch up with U…

On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome friend and former college teammate, Lizzie Larkins. Lizzie recently wrapped up three years as the assistant coach at Montana State University. During her time there, she also continued her education and graduated from MSU with a Master’s of Science in Sport and Coaching Sciences. It was during her studies tha…

From a nationwide laser rifle program to club development tools and a new online-based education center, U.S. Biathlon sport development efforts are resulting in strong growth in the popular, fast-rising sport. To learn more, Heartbeat caught up with U.S. Biathlon’s Director of Sport Development John Farra. His enthusiasm is contagious! A longtime …

A standout cross country runner and skier from Wisconsin, Deedra Irwin picked up biathlon at age 25. Now, seven years later, her poise and confidence are readily apparent as she talks to Heartbeat about the World Cup season ahead. Now a seasoned veteran, she’s coming off a season that saw her score her first top-10 World Cup finish, moving up 20 pl…

Just three years ago, Susan Dunklee was a regular on the IBU World Cup Biathlon tour. Today, she’s evolving into a formative biathlon coach at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center with its Green Racing Project program. Heartbeat caught up with Dunkee at Craftsbury with the winter season quickly approaching, kicking off season five for the U.S. Biathlon Po…

Team Birkie is a Midwest-based professional ski team led by Team Director Yuriy Gusev and Head Coach, Julie Ensrud. Team Birkie was formed through a collaboration between the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation, The Loppet Foundation, and Central Cross Country Skiing (CXC). In this episode, we dive into the history of professional ski racing in the…

The 2023-24 season was filled with athletic advancement with personal bests across both men’s and women’s team. And with the IBU World Cup in the books, the team has headed to Bend, Ore. for on-snow training six months out from next season’s tour. Heartbeat caught up with head coach Armin Auchentaller live from Bend to analyze the team’s success, a…

Every biathlete dreams of skiing into the range and having the crowd roar with each shot. Doing it on the snow where you grew up is all the sweeter! At the IBU World Cup in Soldier Hollow, Utah native Vincent Bonacci and his teammates had just that feeling as they skied to a best-ever fourth in the men’s relay. Heartbeat caught up with Bonacci at t…

This weekend American fans will be trackside at Utah’s Olympic and Paralympic venue of Soldier Hollow as the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon tour comes to the USA for the first time in five years. In anticipation, Heartbeat went behind the scenes at Soldier Hollow to learn more about the event – how it got back to America after five years, what it takes…

Imagine being 17 or 18 years old and traveling the world, living your life out of a duffel bag while pursuing the sport you love. That’s the life of Alaskan Elias Soule and Utah native Emily Caldwell. Elias and Emily are two of the top U.S. Biathlon junior athletes, rising up out of outstanding club programs and now taking their skills on the road.…

For over a decade, Susan Dunklee was a prominent face of the U.S. Biathlon Team, competing in three Olympics and winning silver at the 2017 IBU Biathlon World Championships. Now in her second season of retirement from international competition, she’s finding a joyous pathway as a biathlon coach at her longtime home at Vermont’s Craftsbury Outdoor C…

If the recent U.S. Biathlon Trials event at Mt. Itasca Winter Sports Center is any indicator, athlete development is on the upswing. Record numbers of athletes were on hand seeking to qualify for major youth and junior events. In this episode of Heartbeat, U.S. Biathlon’s Director of Athlete Development Tim Burke, talks about sustained competitive …

There are many routes into biathlon. Grace Castonguay is part of a new generation of athletes who are finding the sport and moving quickly up the ranks. A passionate runner, Castonguay only got into cross-country skiing when an injury curtailed her running. She loved it! Just a few years later, she made her World Cup debut in December 2023, racing …

On this episode of Extra Blue I welcome Jan Gunther and David Chamberlain. Jan is the owner of Gear West Ski and Bike shop located in Long Lake, MN, just west of the Twin Cities. Founded in 1992 by Jan and her husband, this little shop has grown to be the largest ski shop in North America! In this episode, we dive into how Jan built the shop, touch…

Kelsey Dickinson is a biathlete for Team USA and traveling the World Cup circuit all season. She grew up in Winthrop, WA, attending the College of St. Scholastica where she balanced both biathlon and cross country, and then joined the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. Kelsey just achieved her career best result in the 15k individual race in Ostersun…

Flora Dolci is a member of the French National Cross Country ski team. She has multiple top-20 results on the World Cup and is a fierce competitor, but I believe she is known more for how kind and sweet she is. Truly one of the nicest humans, always with a smile on her face and always looking to have fun. We talk about her path as a skier growing u…

In the long term plan for U.S. Biathlon, talent transfer is a big topic – cross country ski racers trying biathlon. How practical is it? Well, just look at the example of Margie Freed. Last season, the veteran Minnesota native and University of Vermont ski team alum, now part of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, borrowed a biathlon rifle, qualif…

Kristen Bourne has been the USST D-Team coach for over year now and has taken on some impressive roles. Not only is she coaching 8 athletes on the D team, plus two A and B team athletes, attending all of the team training camps, visiting and working with her athletes all over the country during the summer and fall... she is also a full-time World C…

Longtime U.S. Biathlon Team athlete Maddie Phaneuf grappled with her life’s direction after retiring. A full time move into coaching wasn’t really in her plan. But, today, she enters her third season as a coach – leading one of America’s most noted biathlon programs, studying with coaches from nearly 20 nations at International Biathlon Union works…

After several years of preparation, the IBU 2023-24 season will begin with a full ban on fluorocarbons, which have been used for decades. What will change for teams? How will IBU manage testing? U.S. Biathlon Team Manager Federico ‘Fede’ Fontana, one of the sport’s most renowned experts on ski preparation, talked to Heartbeat about the impacts and …

In 2017, Lowell Bailey’s World Championships gold helped ignite the sport across America. Today, as high performance director for U.S. Biathlon, Bailey remains at the forefront guiding the upstart organization in its march to sustained competitive excellence. Bailey talked to Heartbeat during the team’s vital pre-season camp at Soldier Hollow in Oc…

Walk into a room with Campbell Wright and you’re struck first by his Kiwi accent, his lighthearted approach to life and his confidence. The junior world champion was born in New Zealand to American parents, one of four boys who grew up in Rotorua where mom put them in sports to burn off energy. A later move to the South Island put Wright onto snow.…

Jack Gierhart, a highly respected Olympic sport leader, heads into his second season as president and CEO of U.S. Biathlon eager to take his first year experience and forge a pathway to the future for the fast-growing sport. In the debut episode of season four of Heartbeat, Gierhart talks about his past roles in Olympic sport and the open welcome h…

Katie Feldman is an American skier who just wrapped up a successful racing career with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. After 5 years of Supertour racing, this past year was the cherry on top as she raced the Visma Ski Classic marathon circuit around Europe all winter. This collection of marathon races range anywhere between 40-90 kilometer…

Maxime Germain: A Breakthrough Season If you’re a skier or passionate outdoor enthusiast, two of the coolest places in the world are Chamonix and Alaska. U.S. Biathlon Team athlete Maxime Germain has roots in both. Germain is coming off a breakthrough season that saw him ski nearly an entire IBU World Cup season plus come home with a medal from the…

David Norris raced in 58 World Cups as a professional skier. He competed in 3 World Championships and had many top-30 results on the World Cup, yet he was never named to the national team and never received funding from the national team for his racing. Instead, he had to find and build his own network to financially support his ski goals, despite …

Injuries are a part of sport. It’s something every athlete faces at some point. This past winter, Olympic biathlete Paul Schommer cut his season short with an early March knee surgery. In this episode of Heartbeat, he shares insights into his injury, his rehab plan to get back in top physical shape, the ways he’s managing the mental aspects and how…

The family-owned Wisconsin company Ariens is known worldwide as the King of Snow for its reliable, hard-working snow blowers. After an introduction to biathlon at Ruhpolding, President Dan Ariens was hooked! The U.S. Biathlon sponsor has gone all in on the sport, not only supporting the team but in building the new Ariens Nordic Center in its home …

Katherine Steward-Jones is a World Cup Skier for the Canadian National Ski Team. She has had a stand-out season this year with 3 top-13 finishes on the World Cup and is currently ranked 18th in the World Cup Distance points. Originally from Chelsea, Quebec, Katherine now skis for the Alberta World Cup team based in Canmore. On this episode, we disc…

Zak Ketterson is a member of the US Ski team and a fellow native to Minnesota. He was recently named to the World Championship team, but was not given starts to his goal races and decided to forgo attending the championship event and head home instead. In this episode we discuss this difficult decision and relate to each other on so many levels as …

One of the most successful winter Paralympic athletes with nine cross country and five biathlon Olympic medals, Team USA's Oksana Masters has documented her remarkable story in a gripping new book from Simon & Schuster: The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph. In her Heartbeat interview she dives deep into her emotional story An injury has …

Most foreigners come to the US for college as their last stop as a ‘pro skier.’ There have been a few exceptions over the year, including Jasmi Jonsuu, a Finnish skier who attended the University of Denver before she raced her way onto the Finland National Ski Team. In this episode we chat about her journey, traveling across the pond and emerging h…

The IBU Biathlon World Championships are underway in Oberhof, Germany. For the U.S. Biathlon Team, six world championship veterans will combine with four first-timers on the U.S. Biathlon team competing Feb. 8-19. Heartbeat caught up with Head Coach Armin Auchentaller in Oberhof for a preview of the sport's annual world championships. The U.S. men’…

The IBU Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof are underway, with a U.S. Biathlon Team mixed with veterans and rookies. One of those newcomers, Vincent Bonacci, earned his spot with a strong season including an 11th in the sprint at the Open European Championships. The Utah native spoke with Heartbeat about his pathway in the sport and what he hop…

Two years ago Tara Geraghty-Moats was the number one women's nordic combined skier in the world when she made the call to return to her biathlon roots. Today, she's making her way through the IBU Cup, World Cup and now World Championships in Oberhof. The Vermont native who trains with Craftsbury Green tells her story of biathlon to ski jumping to n…

At any BMW IBU World Cup, the wax cabin is the heart and soul of the competition. U.S. Biathlon's legendary service technician Fede Fontana takes Heartbeat listeners behind the scenes inside the wax cabin in Antholz just hours before the competition to give us insights into his background and the role of his service team.…

This episode of Extra Blue takes a look at the behind-the-scenes of World Cup ski racing with the support staff. Anna Giguere is a physical therapist and Cada Fabian is a high performance chef. Both are veterans with the USST as they were with the team in the weeks leading up to the 2022 Winter Olympics last year. This season, they joined the team …

This week 1,500 athletes from 50 nations are competing in Lake Placid at the biggest multisport winter event in America since the 2002 Olympics as the Adirondack village takes on tones of its own 1980 Games. On the eve of the World University Games, International University Sports Federation Deputy Secretary General Sarah Lewis talked to Heartbeat …

A small college just outside the Olympic village of Lake Placid is starting to shake up the biathlon and nordic ski world. U.S. Biathlon has named Paul Smith's College its Official Higher Education Partner. PSC coach Matt Dougherty talks with Heartbeat about the vision for the new program, as well as the upcoming FISU World University Games.…

Ben Ogden is a member of the US Ski Team, University of Vermont Ski team, and the SMS T2 club team. Ben is coming off a 6th place finish in the 10k Classic World Cup during the 3rd stage of the Tour de Ski. He is also a regular in the World Cup sprint semi-finals and I am sure we will be seeing this man on a podium in the near future. When Ben isn’…

Jessie is a 3x Olympic medalist for team USA. She is an advocate for mental health, eating disorder awareness, equal rights, getting the community outside in the winter and so much more! She uses her platform for GOOD to promote the Emily Program, Protect Our Winters, ShareWinter, and many other impactful organizations in the outdoor community. Man…