U.S. Biathlon moving to Midway
Tanzi Propst/Park Record
The U.S. Biathlon Association announced on Sept. 14 that they’ll be moving their headquarters to Midway from their current home in New Gloucester, Maine. In doing so, they’ll be looking to introduce the unique sport to a variety of athletes within the prominent ski area.
Midway is already home to the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, which hosted the biathlon and Nordic skiing events at the 2002 Olympic Games. These venues have been well-maintained over the years, allowing for organizations like U.S. Biathlon to utilize them, and for Salt Lake City to push for another Olympic bid behind them.
Unfortunately for local Olympics nuts, the U.S. Biathlon National Team, Junior National Team and others will remain out east. In a prepared statement, U.S. Biathlon explained this, saying, “New England and Maine have been instrumental in the development of biathlon, and remain important areas of the biathlon community.”
Their CEO and President Jack Gierhart hopes the move west will allow his organization to recruit new Olympic talent however. “We are excited to expand our footprint westward and join the Utah Olympic community,” said Gierhart in a prepared statement. “Our presence in Midway directly supports our 2030 strategic plan to grow the sport of biathlon in the United States, recruit and develop top talent and support our athletes on their journey to the Olympic podium.”
There are currently 500 kids already participating in Nordic skiing in that area with Team Soldier Hollow and the Soldier Hollow Charter School, who would make perfect expansion candidates for the sport. The International Biathlon Union is hoping to double their overall participation in the sport.
Also helping increase eyes on the sport will be the hosting of major events like the 2024 IBU World Cup, and possibly the 2030 or 2034 Olympics. For further information regarding such competitions, and U.S. Biathlon as a whole, see their website, usbiathlon.org.
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