USOC/US Biathlon to Host Teleconference to Begin Winter Sport Teleconference Series

On Monday, October 12, exactly four months to the start of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) will host the first teleconference in its series of on-going calls designed to preview the major winter sport competitions and feature top U.S. Olympic Team hopefuls in their attempts to make the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team.

The series will be conducted in cooperation with the winter sport National Governing Bodies of US Biathlon, U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation, USA Hockey, USA Curling, USA Luge, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and U.S. Speedskating. 

U.S. Biathlon athletes Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.), Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, Alaska) and Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, N.Y.) will headline the first teleconference call on Monday, Oct. 12, beginning at 3 p.m. EASTERN (1 p.m. MOUNTAIN).  Click HERE to preview the athlete bios for Monday's call.  You can also catch the USOC's Going for the Gold Vodcast featuring Bailey by clicking HERE.

The US Biathlon Team arrived in Utah earlier this week to begin an altitude camp in Heber City, Utah to prepare for the upcoming Olympic season. The athletes will make extensive use of the 2002 Olympic Biathlon Venue at Soldier Hollow, as it offers challenging roller skiing adjacent to the shooting range, with great trail running and cycling areas nearby.  The U.S. athletes will be training in preparation for the December 2nd kickoff of the  2009-10 World Cup season in Östersund, Sweden.

Most of the World Cup Team as well as Junior and Development athletes plan to participate in the three-week camp. All of the athletes have been training at their home bases for the past several weeks since completing their late summer camps.

The dial-in information for all calls will be 1-800-311-9410 with the verbal passcode of TEAMUSA.

Additional details and information regarding the complete teleconference series will be provided late next week.  However, a look at dates and likely participants for each call has been provided below. 

Teleconference Series

Teleconference 1 - Monday, Oct. 12
Participants:      Biathletes - Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke, Jeremy Teela, Haley Johnson
Time:                3:00 p.m. Eastern/1:00 p.m. Mountain    

Teleconference 2 - Monday, Oct. 26
Participants:      Figure Skaters (Athletes TBD)
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 3 - Wednesday, Nov. 4 (100 days Out)
Participants:      TBD
Time:                TBD

 Teleconference 4 - Monday, Nov. 9
Participants:      TBD
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 5 - Monday, Nov. 23
Participants:      Women's Alpine (Athletes TBD)
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 6 - Monday, Nov. 30
Participants:      Men's Alpine (Athletes TBD)
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 7 - Monday, Dec. 7
Participants:      Short Track Speedskaters (Athletes TBD)
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 8 - Monday, Dec. 21
Participants:      TBD
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 9 - Monday, Jan. 4
Participants:      TBD
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 10 - Tuesday, Jan. 12 (1 month out)
Participants:      Long Track Speedskaters (Athletes TBD)
Time:                TBD

Teleconference 11 - Monday, Jan. 25
Participants:      TBD
Time:                TBD

Tags: Haley Johnson, Jeremy Teela, Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke, US Biathlon, US Ski and Snowboard, USA Bobsled, USA Curling, USA Hockey, USA Luge, USA Skeleton, USA Speed Skating, USOC, Vancouver 2010