CU's Reid Named to 2018 U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team

COLORADO SPRINGS — Joanne Reid, the 2013 NCAA freestyle champion for the Colorado Buffalo ski team, was named to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team in the sport of biathlon, as announced Thursday by U.S. Biathlon.

Reid becomes the 35th CU ski team member to make it to the Olympics. She is one of five female biathletes named to Team USA for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, in February. Reid, Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt.) and Maddie Phaneuf (Old Forge, N.Y.), all first-time Olympians, will join Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) and Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) on the U.S. team for next month's Olympic Winter Games.

"I made my biathlon debut two years and two months ago, and I am so honored that this biathlon family welcomed me with open arms," Reid said on her Instagram account. "With a functioning, full heart, I am honored to receive a berth at the Olympic Games in 2018."

Reid, 25, is the daughter of 1980 Olympic speedskating bronze medalist Beth (Heiden) Reid, and the niece of Eric Heiden, a five-time Olympic gold medalist in speedskating. She had a top individual finish of 29th place in the 15-kilometer event at the IBU World Cup in Oestersund, Sweden, in 2016. Last weekend, Reid was the top U.S. finisher in the 7.5 km sprint at the IBU Cup in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia, placing 20th.

She took up biathlon in 2015 after earning her undergraduate degree in applied mathematics ('13) and an engineering master's from Colorado in information and communication technology for development ('17).

In her days as a Buff, Reid won 11 races from 2010-13, which ranks in a tie for the seventh-most wins by any Buff, regardless of discipline, in school history. Her nine victories in her magical 2013 senior campaign are the third-most ever in a single-season, and she capped off that winter by winning the 15K freestyle race at the NCAA Championships to help the Buffs win what was then the 19th national title in school history.

Reid earned five first-team and two second-team All-America honors in her career, was the 2013 RMISA Most Valuable Skier for Nordic and named to the 2013 National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team, which is essentially an Academic All-America honor that requires a minimum 3.5 GPA.

This winter, U.S. biathletes will be seeking the country's first Olympic medal in the sport. The PyeongChang Games kick off in South Korea on Feb. 9 and will conclude Feb. 25. Biathlon will be contested February 10-23, and competition will be held at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre in the PyeongChang Mountain Cluster.

Final selections to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team are subject to U.S. Olympic Committee approval; the full team will be announced at the end of January.

KEY DATES
Feb. 9: Opening Ceremony
Feb: 10-23: Biathlon Competition
Feb. 25: Closing Ceremony

OTHER CU OLYMPIC TIES: Brian Hansen, a two-time Olympian in long track speedskating, has qualified for a third Olympics after finishing second last weekend in the men's 1,500 meters at the U.S. speedskating trials. Hansen was never on the CU ski team, but was a student at the University of Colorado for two years. He won a silver medal in team pursuit in 2010 and had a pair of seventh-place finishes and a ninth-place finish at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi.

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