Bangor Daily News
(Abridged)
While most of the Maine Winter Sports Center athletes chose "MWSC" as their official team designation, Brian Olsen chose another moniker to indicate his club team.
Olsen, who qualified for the Olympics with the fourth-highest point total at last week's trials, competed under the banner of the 10th Mountain Ski Club.
Olsen, a native of Bloomington, Minn., has been living on the second floor of the 10th Mountain lodge for the past four years. He said Fort Kent has come to be his home instead of a place he trains.
"I felt that here more than anywhere else, so that's why I chose 10th Mountain," Olsen said. "10th Mountain is where I felt that I should put my dues, because I feel connected with my community."
The connection hit him when he arrived in Fort Kent on Dec. 19.
That day, Olsen went to the lodge to file his trials paperwork. He saw volunteers he knew, including event organizer Nancy Thibodeau. He was staying with Jeff and Sherry Dubis of Fort Kent - Jeff Dubis served as chief of course. He ran into Kirk Paradis, who was the venue manager, at the grocery store.
Seeing the familiar faces made Olsen want to pay tribute to the 10th Mountain Ski Club, although he is still supported by MWSC.
"[MWSC] helped me get to this point. Otherwise I wouldn't be in biathlon anymore," he said. "But I think that there's a difference between financial support and moral and general support."
Olsen also wanted to pay tribute to how far the club has come - far enough to pull off an event like the trials.
"They put this event together with very little help," he said. "It was as much of a journey for them as it was for me, and we've both reached our goals."
Olsen is no longer a member of the U.S. national developmental team, he said, because he wants to do things on his own.
He's become his own coach, with some guidance from MWSC cross country coach Will Sweetser. Sweetser and another MWSC coach, Gary Colliander, waxed Olsen's skis last week.
"I chose that because that's the manner I work best in," Olsen said. "I'm sort of internally motivated. It's worked out pretty well."
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