Here for the biathlon of it all

Those who follow along on my Olympic journey online or listen to me on the radio when I get the chance to talk Olympics, may notice that I spend a lot of time at biathlon. This is by design, despite the fact that biathlon is one of the lesser-known and lesser-appreciated sports in the United States. 

The reason for my consistent appearance at biathlon is Sean Doherty. He may not be a household name in the United States like Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn, Chloe Kim or Hillary Knight, but to many of the people who read the papers I write for, particularly those papers where I started my journalism journey, they are well aware of Sean.

Sean went to Kennett High School where he was a standout cross-country skier during the heyday of Kennett Nordic. During that time he started working at biathlon and it wasn't long after he graduated from high school that he was named to the Olympic team for the Sochi 2014 Games.

As many know, Sochi was my first Olympics. I originally applied for credentials on a whim, hoping to cover Sean's fellow Kennett graduate, Leanne Smith, who was an alpine skier on the US Ski Team who had competed in the Vancouver Games in 2010 and was sure to be one of the skiers on the Sochi Olympic Team as well. Sean had an outside chance at making the biathlon team and both of them ended up representing Team USA at those Russian Games. I thrilled to get the chance to talk to them during those Games.

And while Sochi was Leanne's final Olympics, Sean has continued to make the US biathlon team for each of the subsequent Olympic Games. I saw him in PyeongChang, again in Beijing and now here in Milan-Cortina. So really, he's one of the main reasons I got into the Olympic coverage and one of the reasons I have continued to do the extra work required to pay for these trips. It's watching kids who I saw as youngsters competing on the highest level that really make the Olympics pay off for me.

Today, in the Anterselva Valley, Sean and his teammates did something that no US Biathlon relay team has ever done before. They cracked the top five in an Olympic competition. Sean was part of the 2018 relay team that had tied the previous best of sixth place and he got the chance to race today and write his name in the US Biathlon history books again. Teammate Campbell Wright, who blitzed through the field in his final leg to put the team in fifth, talked to me in the mixed zone and I asked him about Sean. Part of what he said, I can't really print in the paper, but I can print it here. He said, "Sean Doherty is a fucking legend."

I do spend a lot of time at biathlon, but I love the chance to see the locals compete at the highest level. It doesn't hurt this time around that biathlon is in quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever been. The Anterselva Valley is simply stunning. And today it was nice to watch a kid I watched ski as a high schooler make US Olympic history.

Sean Doherty of Conway stands in the start gate for his first race of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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