Carl Swenson highlighted the list of 17 Americans named Tuesday to the U.S. Olympic cross country team for next month’s Turin Games.
Swenson, a seven-year veteran of the U.S. team, is headed to his third and final Olympics before he retires from competitive skiing to begin law school this year. Swenson, 35, didn’t compete in mountain biking last year in order to focus on the Olympics.
He is a medal contender in the 50-kilometer race.
“This is the last go round for all these different things,” Swenson said. “It’s not hard to get out the door (to train), that’s for sure.”
Sarah Konrad of Laramie became the first U.S. athlete to earn a spot on the team in two sports in the same Winter Games. Konrad will compete in the biathlon and cross country skiing. At 38, Konrad also is the oldest female Olympian on the U.S. team.
Kris Freeman, diagnosed with Type I diabetes in 2000, makes his second Olympic team after earning the top American finish in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City with a 15th-place showing in the 20-kilometer pursuit.
Andrew Johnson and Torin Koos also are competing in their second Olympics, while Andrew Newell, 22, will make his debut. Koos and Newell, the two U.S. sprinters, have been competing in Europe since late last month under the direction of head cross country coach Trond Nystad and sprint coach Vidar Loefshus.
Koos, a 25-year-old son of a former U.S. biathlete, is coming off a victory in a sprint race in Oberstdorf, Germany. Newell placed second.
Freeman won the men’s pursuit at nationals and Johnson, the defending U.S. pursuit champion, won the 30K freestyle.
Also named to the men’s side were James Southam, Lars Flora, Chris Cook, Justin Freeman and Leif Zimmermann.
Rebecca Dussault of Gunnison is headed to her first Olympics. Dussault, 25, was one of the top female prospects in cross country skiing in the late 1990s but retired and started a family with her high school sweetheart. They have a toddler son, Tabor. Dussault returned to competitive racing for the 2004 season and proceeded to win the SuperTour championship, earn her first points on the World Cup circuit and capture three U.S. titles.
Wendy Wagner, Abigail Larson, Kikkan Randall, Lindsey Weier and Lindsay Williams round out the women’s team.
