Russell Currier is one of eight athletes vying for final nomination to the 2018 Olympic Team

NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine (December 21, 2017) – The U.S. Biathlon International Competition Committee has named the following athletes to compete at IBU Cups 4 and 5 in January:

Women
Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt.)
Maddie Phaneuf (Old Forge, N.Y.)
Joanne Reid (Boulder, Colo.)
Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt.)

Men
Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minn.)
Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis.)
Russell Currier (Stockholm, Maine)
Jake Ellingson (Minnetonka, Minn.)

IBU Cup 4 will be held Jan. 6-7 in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia, and will consist of two sprint races each for the men and women. The following weekend, IBU Cup 5 will take place in Arber, Germany, Jan. 11-13. That event features a 20k individual and 10k sprint for men, and a 15k individual and 7.5k sprint for women.

Olympic team qualification will be based on the athletes’ best two results from the four races. A full outline of the Olympic selection procedures can be found here.

Three women and two men from the IBU cup rosters will join the five athletes who have already been nominated to the U.S. Olympic Team for biathlon; Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) and Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.) on the men’s side, and Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) and Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) on the women’s team.

The final Olympic team roster will be announced on Jan. 15. All selections to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee.