Aroostook County Biathlete Earns Spot on U.S. Olympic Team

Aroostook County native Russell Currier is looking forward to joining Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games next month in Sochi, Russia.

Currier, of Stockholm, Maine was the top American at U.S. Biathlon Olympic Trials in Italy Sunday, and was named to the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team.

The 26-year-old Currier is the first athlete to go completely through the Maine Winter Sports Center programming to earn a spot on the Olympic Team.

Currier learned how to ski as a part of the first "Healthy Hometowns" program at Stockholm Elementary School in 1999.  Since graduating from Caribou High School in 2006, he has distinguished himself as one of the fastest skiers on the World Cup circuit.

"Russell has modeled for a generation of Maine's youth what can be accomplished if you dream and commit yourself to those dreams," said Andy Shepard, President and CEO of the Maine Winter Sports Center.

Will Sweetser, who has been Currier's coach for much of his time at the MWSC said, "It is fantastic to see Russell earn the title of Olympian. His dedication to training and focus on achieving his goals are exactly the kind of traits we strive to impart at Maine Winter Sports Center, and I'm proud to call him one of ours."

Currier will join four other Maine Winter Sports Center alumni already named to the Olympic Team. Fellow biathletes Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, Annelies Cook and Lanny Barnes are preparing to compete in the XXII Olympic Winter Games in February.