The local ties

The first time I applied for Olympic credentials was for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. I did so under the impression that I probably wouldn't get them, but I thought it was be good to at least try. The whole idea, in my mind anyway, was to be able to cover local athletes that made it to the top of their sport and were competing in the Olympics.

Much to my surprise I was granted the credentials for what I thought was a once in a lifetime experience. The first athlete to be named to an Olympic team that I had covered was Kennett graduate Leanne Smith, who was on the Olympic alpine team in 2010 for Vancouver and again in 2014 for Sochi. I covered Leanne when she raced for Kennett as well as on the softball diamond and the soccer field, where she was a dominant athlete in addition to her skills on a ski slope.

The other local athlete that I ended up covering in Sochi was also a Kennett graduate. In fact, at the time, he had only been a graduate for less than a year. Sean Doherty made his Olympic debut on the US biathlon team at just 18, the youngest US Olympic biathlete to this point, competing on the relay teams in the mountains outside Sochi. Sean was a dominant Nordic skier for the Kennett program, which was a force to be reckoned with in those days.

Four years later, the chance to cover the Olympics came up again and I was in South Korea. This time, Leanne had retired from her ski racing career, but Sean was still there, competing in his second Olympics in the mountains outside of PyeongChang. I distinctly remember my first night in PyeongChang and the biting cold whipping through that biathlon stadium. I had forgotten my hat and had to go to the souvenir store at the venue and buy some earmuffs.

Now, four years later, here I am in Beijing, China, and Sean is back at it for his third Winter Olympics as well. Now he is one of the veteran members of the US biathlon squad, which features a couple of younger athletes making their Olympic debuts. I have now seen Sean race on four different occasions the last week-plus, starting with the relay, then in the individual and most recently on back-to-back days in the sprint and the pursuit. And through it all he has stopped and answered questions with thoughtful and insightful points, despite the blowing wind, cold and in the case of tonight, snow.

It has been a lot of fun getting to follow Sean's career from his days racing for Kennett to his Olympic races and getting to see local athletes make good on their athletic careers is always a real treat. 

Sean Doherty answers questions in the mixed zone following his first race of the Beijing Olympics.