Athlete Representatives

  • USOPC AAC Primary: Kelly Kjorlien

    Kelly Kjorlien serves as an Athlete Representatives on USBA's Board of Directors, and as the primary Athlete Representative for the Athlete Advisory Committee to the USOPC. Kelly grew up in northern Minnesota, competing in nordic skiing and biathlon as a junior. She attended Montana State University in Bozeman, where she continued to race and enjoyed coaching the local biathlon club. Kelly now works in Tech in Bozeman, enjoying as much time in the mountains as possible.

  • USOPC AAC Alternate: Jake Brown

    Jake Brown serves as one of three Athlete Representatives on USBA's Board of Directors and the alternate Athlete Representative for the Athlete Advisory Committee to the USOPC. Jake began racing biathlon in the 2016-2017 season after graduating from St. Olaf College and a year of graduate study at Northern Michigan University. Jake ran cross-country and track at St. Olaf and competed in Nordic skiing at both schools, finishing his collegiate ski career as an NCAA All-American in 2016. Jake lives in Craftsbury Common, Vermont where he trains with the Craftsbury Outdoor Center's Green Racing Project biathlon team. In the winter, Jake represents the United States while competing on the IBU's Biathlon World Cup circuit.

  • U.S. Biathlon Board of Directors Athlete Representative: Kelsey Dickinson

    Kelsey Dickensen currently lives in Craftsbury, Vermont where she competes for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project Biathlon Team. Originally from Winthrop, WA, Kelsey learned to cross country ski and do biathlon with the Methow Valley Nordic Team. Kelsey attended college in Duluth, MN at The College of St. Scholastica, where she double majored in Philosophy and Natural Science and was awarded the CSS Department Chair Award in Philosophy. She was captain of the CSS Ski Team and won the CSS Athletics Career Achievement Award as a senior in 2018. She is a three-time NCAA Qualifier and the only female CSS skier to earn CCSA All-Region on five occasions. Kelsey also works as the Executive Director of the Women Ski Coaches Association, a non profit her former college coach Maria Stuber started in 2019. WSCA’s mission is to assist in the recruitment, retention, development, and advancement of women ski coaches in North America. She serves as a Gender Equity Athlete Ambassador for the International Biathlon Union, which has published aggressive gender equity goals over the coming years. Kelsey is passionate about gender equity and sport and hopes that she can help women achieve high goals in spaces that have been historically male-dominated. Kelsey has also been involved in a number of USOPC committees and working groups. She currently serves as an athlete ambassador on the USOPC Women's Health Task Force and TUSA NFT Athlete Advisory Group. She also served as an athlete ambassador on the USOPC DEI Core Team ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

  • IBU Athletes' Committee Chair: Clare Egan

    Clare started skiing in middle school for Cape Nordic and was a Maine high school state champion and two-time member of the New England Junior National team. As an undergraduate student at Wellesley College, she ran cross-country and track and started the Wellesley Ski Team. After graduating in 2010, Clare spent a year at the University of New Hampshire, where she competed in Division I cross-country, track, and Nordic skiing while pursuing a master's degree in linguistics. She joined the Craftsbury Green Racing Project cross-country ski team in June of 2011 and competed in her first biathlon race in 2013. In January of 2015 she made her biathlon World Cup debut and since then she has represented the US Biathlon Team at six World Championships as well as the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. In March of 2019, Clare reached the World Cup podium for the first time, taking bronze in the mass start at the Word Cup final in Oslo, Norway. Clare speaks five languages and was elected in 2018 to Chair the International Biathlon Union Athletes’ Committee until 2022. She lives in Lake Placid, New York.

  • Board of Directors Athlete Representative: Max Durtschi

    During his career as a member of the United States Biathlon National Team, Max Durtschi represented the United States at World Cup, World Championships, and IBU Cup competitions. Additionally, he maintained a residency at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York. Prior to his biathlon career, Max was a professional cyclist competing for Slipstream Sports, Leopard - Trek, and the United States National Team. Max has a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Dartmouth College and served as a research assistant at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He is currently pursuing his M.D. at Stanford University.

  • Board of Directors Athlete Representative: Rachel Steer

    Rachel Steer was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska and her early sporting success was due to the strong nordic and biathlon programs in Anchorage at the time. She was lucky to join the U.S. Junior National Biathlon Team in the mid-1990's, when the U.S. Biathlon Association had a focus on developing an athlete pipeline. She was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1999-2006 where she won more than ten national championship titles and competed at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics. After she retired from biathlon, Rachel helped raise $11 million to build a new world-class biathlon range, snowmaking system, and soccer fields at Kincaid Park in Anchorage. She also worked to establish the Alaska Winter Olympians Fund, a scholarship program for current and aspiring Alaska winter athletes.Rachel is Chief Administrative Officer for DOWL, an engineering and consulting firm serving the Western US. She manages business and strategic planning, facilities and leases, licensing and compliance, and internal communications and works closely with the CEO and Board of Directors on mergers and acquisitions. Rachel lives in Anchorage with her husband, Alex Wilson, and two children.

Jake Brown

Kelsey Dickinson

Kelly Kjorlien

Vaclav "Vasek" Cervenka

Scott Lacy

Maddie Phaneuf

Purpose

The purpose of U.S. Biathlon Athlete Representatives is to represent currently active athletes on the U.S. Biathlon Board of Directors by facilitating communication between the Board, organization and athletes. As voting members on the Board and committees, they are able to incorporate athlete perspective into Board decisions and oversight of the organization. Representatives are elected by eligible current and past teammates, thus becoming mentors to junior, senior and retired athletes. For those dual-hatted as reps to the USOPC AAC, their purpose is to ensure communication between the USOPC, currently active athletes, and the Board. Additionally, these reps serve as a source of opinion and advice to the USOPC Board of Directors with regard to both current and contemplated policies of the USOPC in coordination with athlete reps from other all other Olympic and Paralympic sports.

To learn more about the USOPC Athletes’ Advisory council, check out Team USA and relevant guiding documents and bylaws.

 

Athlete Representatives are critical to ensuring that the interests and rights of athletes are considered when sports organizations make decisions. The Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act requires that 20% of seats and votes are held by athletes on national governing body boards of directors, committees, and task forces within the Olympic & Paralympic movement, including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) itself.


Please reach out at any time with questions, comments and concerns. We are here to support you!


The Office of the Athlete Ombuds offers independent, confidential advice to elite athletes regarding their rights and responsibilities in the Olympic and Paralympic Movement, and assists athletes with a broad range of questions, disputes, complaints and concerns.

(A) In general.— The Office of the Athlete Ombuds shall maintain as confidential any information communicated or provided to the Office of the Athlete Ombuds in confidence in any matter involving the exercise of the official duties of the Office of the Athlete Ombuds. (B) Exception.— The Office of the Athlete Ombuds may disclose information described in subparagraph (A) as necessary to resolve or mediate a dispute, with the permission of the parties involved. (C) Judicial and administrative proceedings.— (i) In general.—The ombudsman and the staff of the Office of the Athlete Ombuds shall not be compelled to testify or produce evidence in any judicial or administrative proceeding with respect to any matter involving the exercise of the duties of the Office of the Athlete Ombuds. (ii) Work product.—Any memorandum, work product, notes, or case file of the Office of the Athlete Ombuds—(I) shall be confidential; and(II) shall not be—(aa) subject to discovery, subpoena, or any other means of legal compulsion; or (bb) admissible as evidence in a judicial or administrative proceeding. (D) Applicability.—The confidentiality requirements under this paragraph shall not apply to information relating to—(i) applicable federally mandated reporting requirements; (ii) a felony personally witnessed by a member of the Office of the Athlete Ombuds;(iii) a situation, communicated to the Office of the Athlete Ombuds, in which an individual is at imminent risk of serious harm; or (iv) a congressional subpoena.

-Revised 9/18/2023