Wildcats at the 2026 Winter Olympics

Wildcats on the World Stage:
UNH Representing Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics

DURHAM, N.H. - Friday, Feb. 6 marked the start of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, where thousands of the world's top athletes have traveled to Italy, to compete to bring gold back to their home countries. Among these athletes – and in their corners – will be several UNH alumni and faculty who will represent the USA, as well as Czechia, and the University of New Hampshire on the international stage.

From Wildcat to Olympian
Entering her first Olympic Winter Games is UNH alumna Luci Anderson '24, who will be competing in biathlon as part of Team USA. The former Wildcat hailing from Golden Valley, Minn., spent her college career skiing with the UNH Nordic ski team, where she served as the captain for two years. Anderson was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Women's At-Large Team twice in recognition of being among the nation's top-student athletes.

Now, Anderson finds herself in Milan, preparing to step onto the Olympic stage.
After graduating from UNH, the 2024 Nordic team MVP began training that summer as part of the US Biathlon's Project X, where she quickly translated her Nordic ski skills to success in her new venture.

Originating in Scandinavia in the 18^th century, biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. Athletes ski a lap on the track, where they then undergo a shooting test.

"I had never shot a rifle – especially a biathlon rifle – or knew anything that went into it. After I graduated from UNH, having something to focus my mind on was good for me," Anderson shared. "I was able to pick up shooting fast since I didn't have anything else to learn at the time. That was a challenge, and I'm still learning every day how to get faster and be more accurate.

"I had been curious about biathlon my whole ski career, but where I'm from in Minneapolis there aren't any biathlon ranges or opportunities that I knew of."

She explained how the opportunities she received through UNH got her to where she is today.
While keeping at NCAA Championships her senior season at Lake Placid, N.Y., Anderson was intrigued when Tim Burke, one of the U.S. biathlon coaches and a former biathlete himself, set up a biathlon rifle for skiers to try it out. After trying her hand at it, Anderson fell in love with the sport.

"I went up to Shane [MacDowell], the UNH head coach, and was like 'That's so fun, I've always wanted to do biathlon!'"

MacDowell encouraged her to talk to Burke, which led to Anderson attending a camp that summer for skiers interested in biathlon.

When it came time to return to UNH for her grad year, Anderson had to put biathlon on the backburner temporarily. "After I graduated, I thought, 'I can just go all in on this if I want, I can throw myself into biathlon,' and that's what I did," Anderson said. "And here I am now."

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Luci Anderson pictured prior to a race for U.S. biathlon.

Anderson made her debut at the 2024 Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, after only two years of training. She shared how she had never expected to compete on the Olympic stage.

"Anything is possible," Anderson highlighted. "I never thought that I would even professionally ski. That's why when there's an opportunity, you take it. Go all in on it, because you never know what's going to happen."

Recounting her days spent at UNH, Anderson reflected on how the university fueled her passion for skiing.

"Skiing at UNH and being able to race on the EISA carnival circuit just made me fall in love with it so much. Everyone is so fun and welcoming, which made me want to continue to ski after college and go into the professional world of it all."

The U.S. Biathlon International Competition Committee named Anderson to the U.S. 2026 Olympic team on Jan. 6.

Anderson advises student-athletes shooting for the Olympic stage someday to dream big.

"Keep at it if you love it, and make sure you're having fun."

Anderson's first Olympic biathlon event is the women's individual on Feb. 11. She will also race for Team USA in the women's sprint (Feb. 14) and the women's 4x6 relay (Feb. 18) with a possibility of competing in the women's pursuit (Feb. 15).

From Wildcat to Czechia Olympian
Celine Sommerová, a freshman from Milton, N.H., expected to continue racing for the UNH ski team in EISA carnivals the remainder of February. Those plans changed Feb. 9, however, when she learned that she would be competing for Czechia in the slalom at the Olympic Games on Feb. 18.

"I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to represent my country and UNH at the Olympics in Cortina," Sommerová said. "I found out over a phone call with my dad (Monday), and it was an emotional moment, especially after having already accepted that I had missed the team by one spot. The response from my teammates here and everyone else has been so overwhelming in the best way, and I'm beyond excited to go out there and do my best."

Sommerová has excelled in slalom early in the EISA season. She raced to fourth place in her UNH debut at the Colby Carnival on Jan. 16 and placed seventh at the UVM Carnival.

In the giant slalom, she raced to 14^th place in the giant slalom Colby, followed by 16^th at the St. Lawrence Carnival and 17^th at the UVM Carnival.

Celine Sommerová_20260117_EISA1_SUGARLOAF_GS_0142

Celine Sommerová_20260117_EISA1_SUGARLOAF_GS_0142

Celine Sommerová competing in the giant slalom at the Colby Carnival.

Behind the Skis
Behind every great athlete is a service and healthcare team that helps propel them to the podium. UNH's Tim Baucom '09 is making his third Olympic trip, this time as a service technician for the Cross-Country Ski team this February. The former UNH Nordic ski team member found his love for ski coaching and servicing after graduating from UNH.

Wax technicians play an important role in preparing the skis for the athletes, working in tandem with the service team. They study the weather and snow conditions prior to a race, ensuring that the correct wax is being applied to the skis and that the athletes feel confident in their equipment.

"Being an athlete on the ski team [at UNH] was instrumental in my development as a skier, of course," Baucom said. "Then I transitioned into coaching for a while, which led to me becoming a ski tech. At that kind of domestic level, you end up doing both [coaching and servicing]. I really loved coaching, but I was drawn to the ski service side."

While studying at UNH, Baucom double-majored in History and Anthropology, which he was able to translate into skills in his ski service technician career.

"I really enjoy researching and writing, which has taught me how to think critically and be analytical about certain things, like the way we approach waxing and testing skis, as well as recording and tracking all of the data."

Although service technicians do their work behind the scenes, they play a critical role in the success of their skiers.

"It's kind of its own competition within the competition," Baucom noted. "When you are able to deliver skis that are competitive or above competitive, the feeling you get is the same feeling you get with an excellent result as an athlete, or in business too – it's the same sort of satisfaction you get in closing a big deal."

For Baucom and the rest of the USA Cross-Country Ski service team, communication is key between technicians and athletes to help them perform their best.

"There can be some nuance back and forth, and it's like trying to manage stress for both parties while also trying to communicate clearly on what you need or what you think you need as an athlete," Baucom said of the often high-pressure, fast-paced environment he works in. "Having that clear communication is super important to try to mitigate at least the avoidable misses."

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Tim Baucom (right) pictured with Andrew Morehouse (left) and Jessie Diggins (middle).

Baucom served on the coaching staff for the USA Cross-Country Ski team in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, where Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall brought home the first Olympic gold medal for the US Nordic team. It was a long time coming for Team USA.

"I think we all felt that something big was going to happen that day, but big for us at that time would have been a bronze medal."

Baucom spent much of that race in the wax room preparing skis for the following race, but he made his way out of the tunnel as Diggins and Randall were on their last laps, watching them make their way to the finish line to secure the gold medal. "That sequence of events is definitely quite vivid in my mind. It was a burst of celebrating with coaches and technicians, and then it was onto the next race pretty quickly."

Prior to the beginning of the Winter Olympics, the staff spends months living together in preparation for the games. Baucom touched on the environment, and how being a team player extends far beyond the slopes.

"Since COVID, we've all been more conscious about how what we do outside of the team bubble impacts the entire team".

While much of the COVID restrictions have been lifted since the 2022 Beijing Winter games, the staff remains vigilant in maintaining their health for themselves and their colleagues.

"It's pretty funny to walk around the big house [where] we're staying in Italy; there's like five different knitting projects going on and a bunch of games scattered around. I play music with a few of the athletes and formerly a few of the staff too," Baucom said, bookshelves filled with texts lining the walls behind him. "It's an easy group to get along with and everyone has that curiosity to try new things."

For anyone looking to make their way to the professional sports stage in any capacity, Baucom emphasized that "above everything else, you have to be a great colleague and friend to your teammates and your peers. Whether you're on the medical team, a chef, a wax tech, or a coach, your abilities are one thing, but your personability is the most important thing overall."

Baucom echoed Anderson's advice.

"If you find something that you love to do, keep going at it. I like to think I was politely persistent. Sending emails, making calls, and making sure that the right people knew that I wanted to be there was key."

Caring for Team USA
Joining Anderson and Baucom in Milano is Dr. Christopher Couture, who became Head Team Physician at the University of New Hampshire in 2020 following the completion of his fellowship in Sports Medicine at the University of Oklahoma. Simultaneously, Couture accepted the role of Head Team Physician for the USA Nordic Combined Ski team, where he has since attended the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

Nordic Combined is an event that merges ski jumping with cross-country skiing, where competitors are tested on their explosive power and endurance.

To prepare for the Winter Games, Couture follows the team along during the regular year, aiming to meet up with the athletes once or twice annually.

"For the big events, like the Olympics, I'm actually there with them," Couture said, "in case anybody gets hurt, sick, or just needs a medical opinion."

Couture's work at UNH is more of day-to-day operation, where he tends to 500 student-athletes across 18 different sports.

"I'm working with very high-level and high-performance athletes between UNH and Team USA," he emphasized, "but the settings are very, very different."

Whether he is tending to Division I collegiate or Olympic-level athletes, Couture's goal doesn't differ.

"The mission at any level is to help the athlete be the best version of themselves that they can be. Whether it's at UNH or at the Olympic level, they want to win games, win championships, and win medals. That's the commonality between the two for sure; the drive and the motivation."

He also highlighted the appreciation the athletes show for him and other medical staff.

"Another similarity among athletes across the levels I take care of is the amount of gratitude they have for the medical providers, me as a doctor, and the athletic trainers. Especially at UNH, they have incredible athletic trainers that work with the athletes. They're very, very grateful to have these people to lean on".

Couture made it a point to emphasize that "the best part is that whether it's at UNH or at the Olympics, the athletes are glad to have you around; it makes me feel like a part of the team to be able to do that for them."

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Dr,. Christopher Couture pictured by the slopes at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

While all eyes are on the athletes and competitors during the Olympic Games, their health rides upon the shoulders of the medical staff there to support them. Team USA is sending a record-breaking 232 athletes to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, accompanied by at least 50 medical personnel to support them, ranging from doctors, athletic trainers, dieticians, and mental health providers.

"From an outsider perspective," Couture said, "you may not recognize the level of medical support and the complexity of what we have set up to help care of the athletes."

When discussing the tight-knit community of Nordic Combined, Couture shared some difficulties the sport has faced recently.

"What I love about the sport is how much support there is between the nations and the athletes, which in part is because the sport itself is really at a major crossroads."

Nordic Combined Ski is the only event where women don't compete at the Olympics. Leading into the Winter 2026 games, the major question was if women would be allowed to participate. The International Olympic Committee announced that women would not be taking part this year, and that the men's sport would be cut significantly. The future of Nordic Combined Ski as an Olympic event is unclear, and may face larger cuts in the future, jeopardizing its existence in the Winter games.

"Even the men's event is not as big as it was four years ago," Couture said about the Men's Nordic Combined event in comparison to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, "It is extremely unfortunate [that women do not compete], because we have an incredible women's team who would be serious medal contenders. The women have an incredible World Cup circuit; they are more than qualified, and the sport is ready for that to be an Olympic event".

Couture connected these hardships to the community of Nordic Combined, highlighting how they are "very tight to begin with, but also working extremely hard to save the sport as an Olympic event, and also to ensure that with the next Winter Games, the women will be able to compete, as well."

Couture went on to express his gratitude for his position as both the Head Team Physician at UNH as well as for Team USA.

"Kind of the pinnacle for a lot of people [working in sports medicine] is being a USA Team Doctor. As far as for UNH, it's also a big deal to be able to take care of a Division I school. To know that when I walk on the UNH campus, those athletes are not just my patients and my responsibility, but my privilege to be able to tend to. It's amazing; I'm extremely lucky and I've had a very fulfilled career by being able to do both of these things at the same time – I couldn't ask for anything more."

Ultimately, Couture emphasized the shared goal for Team USA – to win.

"We're there for the athletes because we're all one team," he emphasized. "That's the great thing about Team USA; we're all one team and it's everybody's mission to help the athletes do the best they can and take home the gold."

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