Art Stegen
Hall of Fame Class of 2009
Art Stegen has been at the epicenter of Biathlon for forty years. As an athlete, coach, team leader, board secretary and editor of the US Biathlon newsletter, Art has dedicated himself to the sport of biathlon and always looked to make a difference.
He demonstrated athletic prowess early in his career as a runner, then as a cross-country skier and, later, as a rifle marksman, spending his service time with the Modern Winter Biathlon Training Center at Fort Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska.
Art had solid results throughout his career, medaling at US National Championships in 1974. He followed his competitive career into coaching the US National Team from 1978- 1981, a period which included the successful 1980 US Olympic team at Lake Placid and the introduction of Women into the sport of biathlon. His success led to being named US Biathlon’s first Program Director from 1981 to 1983. Following a very successful high school coaching career in New York state, Art came back to Biathlon in 1993, taking over the National Guard program until 2003 and put many athletes onto national and Olympic Teams during that period.
Art’s career is a remarkable set of accomplishments, including being the first American to be certified in cross-country skiing and biathlon at the Norwegian Sports Institute, writing the first English language Biathlon training manual, and drafting US Biathlon’s modern by-laws. For these reasons we welcome Art to the Biathlon Hall of Fame.
