Judd Bankert (born September 9, 1949) is a former biathlete who represented Guam at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

Early life

Bankert is a Michigan native, born in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, raised in

Lake Orion Lake Orion ( ) is a village in the northern outskirts of Metro Detroit in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The population was 2,973 at the 2010 census. "Lake Orion" can refer to either the village or the much larger Orion Township, of w ...

and a graduate of

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. Bankert moved to Guam in December 1981 with his wife and daughter. Bankert broke his hip in a serious fall on Guam in 1984.

Olympic biathlon

In 1986, the

Guam National Olympic Committee Guam National Olympic Committee (IOC code: GUM) is the National Olympic Committee representing Guam. References Guam Guam at the Olympics Oly Oly may refer to: * Oly, informal name for Olympia, Washington, United States * OLY (: ), po ...

was accepted into the International Olympic Committee. In August 1987 Bankert moved with his family from Guam to Bellingham, Washington, and trained with members of the Western Washington University

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

team. His personal coach was Richard Domey, and in the fall of 1987 Bankert trained in West Yellowstone with the U.S. Olympic biathlon team. To be eligible to compete at the Winter Olympic Games, Bankert needed to successfully complete two sanctioned biathlons competitions. He finished his second such competition on February 7, 1988, just three days before the

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, at which he carried the flag of Guam as its only athlete at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.Official report, p.632 At 38, Bankert was one of the oldest Olympic athletes at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. This, combined with the fact that he represented a tropical island, made his a human interest story reported extensively in the media. In the men's 10 km sprint event, Bankert missed eight out of the ten rifle targets and as a result had to ski eight penalty laps. totalling 1200 m. Bankert finished 71st of 72 starters in 45m37.1s, between Gustavo Giro of Argentina (36m38.1s) and Elliot Archilla of Puerto Rico (47m47.4s).

Kindergarten Teacher

In 1993, Bankert was hired by Urbana School District #116, Urbana, IL, and taught Kindergarten at Yankee Ridge Elementary School. He was active in local school issues and advocated for changes in the manner in which school board members were elected.

Klondike Bound

After the Olympics, Bankert returned to Guam as a consultant but soon returned to the United States. In 1996, as part of the Klondike Gold Rush Centennial Celebration, he organized and led "Klondike Bound", a month-long expedition by three fathers and their teenage daughters who retraced the route taken by the original "Stampeders".

Now

He now lives in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

. and is an actor who portrays President Woodrow Wilson as part of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library's living history program. as well as on stage and appeared as President Wilson in the 2014 History Channel mini-series ''The World Wars''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bankert, Judd Olympic biathletes for Guam Biathletes at the 1988 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan People from Lake Orion, Michigan Sportspeople from Oakland County, Michigan Sportspeople from Bellingham, Washington Sportspeople from Staunton, Virginia Michigan State University alumni 1949 births Living people American male biathletes Guamanian biathletes