Susan Dunklee (born February 13, 1986, in Newport, Vermont) is an American

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

Life and career

Dunklee was raised in the town of

Barton, Vermont Barton is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,872 at the 2020 census. The town includes two incorporated villages, Barton and Orleans. Approximately a quarter of the town's population lives in each of th ...

and started skiing at the age of two, first entering cross-country competitions at the age of seven. She attended

St. Johnsbury Academy St. Johnsbury Academy (SJA) is an independent, private, coeducational, non-profit boarding and day school located in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in the United States. The academy enrolls students in grades 9-12. It was founded by Thaddeus Fairbanks, ...

, in

St. Johnsbury, Vermont St. Johnsbury (known locally as "St. J") is the shire town (county seat) of Caledonia County, Vermont, Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 7,364. St. Johnsbury is situated ...

for high school. She took up biathlon while she was a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

, where she studied ecology. While at Dartmouth, Dunklee was also a member of Dartmouth's 2007 National Championship Ski team and was active in the Dartmouth Outing Club. Prior to this she had been a double All-American in cross-country skiing. Her best World Cup finish was 2nd in a Sprint event in Presque Isle, ME in 2016. At the 2012 Biathlon World Championships in

Ruhpolding Ruhpolding is the municipality with the biggest area of the Traunstein district in southeastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the south of the Chiemgau region in the Alps and next to the Austrian border. Ruhpolding has a biathlon track. I ...

, Dunklee set a new World Championship best with a fifth place in the individual event. On November 22, 2013, Dunklee was named to the American team for the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

. Susan's father, Stan Dunklee, was a former

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

cross-country skiing champion and competed at the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

and

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

, while her uncle Everett Dunklee competed in cross-country skiing at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

. On February 19, 2017, Dunklee finished 2nd in the

Mass Start {{refimprove, date=February 2018 Mass start is a format of starting in some racing sports such as long-distance running in sport of athletics, speed skating, long-distance cross-country skiing and biathlon. There are usually many competitors in ...

Hochfilzen Hochfilzen is a town and municipality in the Kitzbühel district of the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is located in the Pillersee valley 5 km east of Fieberbrunn. Population was 1,147 in 2016. It is a popular winter sports resort, especially ...

in the 2017 Biathlon World Championships, winning her first World Championship medal. This made her the first American woman to win an individual medal at an Olympics or World Championships in biathlon. It also made her the first woman and second person overall, after

Lowell Bailey Lowell Bailey (born July 15, 1981 in Siler City, North Carolina) is an American biathlon coach and retired biathlete who competed from 2001 until 2018. Career His first World Cup podium was a 2nd place (following a disqualification) in the se ...

, to qualify for the next US Olympic team. She has qualified to represent the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the

International Biathlon Union The International Biathlon Union (IBU; german: Internationale Biathlon-Union) is the international governing body of biathlon. Its headquarters were in Salzburg, Austria, until May 2020, when the Federation moved to Anif, on the outskirts of the ...

Olympic Games

World Championships

:''*During Olympic seasons, competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.''

References

External links

* 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Vermont American female biathletes Biathletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2018 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic biathletes for the United States Biathlon World Championships medalists 21st-century American women People from Orleans County, Vermont {{US-biathlon-bio-stub