Back in January, we spoke with Army National Guard Staff Sargeant and Pulaski, Wis., native Deedra Irwin ahead of this year's Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
Irwin was excited to compete in her second Winter Olympics as a biathlete — and her first since Beijing in 2022. During this year's Games, relaxed COVID restrictions meant that Irwin's family could cheer her on as she skied and shot in five events.
"It was such a surreal experience to be able to hear my fiancé and my brothers in their little section cheering for me. ... It was really incredible to see how many people came out," Irwin says.
Although Team USA didn't perform as well as she had hoped, Irwin is proud of the effort and growth she and her fellow biathletes showed at Milano Cortina.
"I hope a lot of people back home saw how passionate we are and — even though we didn't get any medals this Olympics — how close we are and how we're fighting to compete against those bigger [biathlon] nations over in Europe," she says.
Biathlon behind-the-scenes
Rather than staying in the Olympic Village like she did in 2022, Irwin and the team lodged at an Airbnb near Antholz — a "biathlon Mecca" a few hours northeast of the official Olympic Villages in Millan and Cortina.
"That was super nice, although a really different Olympic experience than in the past, being in the village and everything like that," Irwin says. "So I definitely feel like I missed out a little bit on that."
This year, Irwin says many Olympic teams opted for a more decentralized approach to housing, with athletes staying in smaller, scattered villages.
"It was a different experience for sure, doing the remote villages, but it's something I think is going to be pretty common for Olympics going forward because there's so much usefulness and environmental [positives] about using venues that already exist, using infrastructure that already exists and not having to build everything," she says.
For Irwin's team, a bit of distance from the hustle and bustle helped them mitigate sickness and manage their nutrition — with the help of a house chef.
"We even taught him how to make tacos one night, so that was really cool," she says. "Watching an Italian chef cook tacos was really entertaining."
Irwin says biathlon races were among the most well-attended Olympic events, and she was amazed by the dedication of biathlon fans who packed the stands.
"Biathlon is so popular in Europe, so it was really cool to be able to experience that with people who came over to watch the Olympics and for them to see how big and how important our sport really is — because it's not very popular in the United States," she notes.
Summary of Irwin's 2026 Winter Olympics performances
Feb 8. — Mixed Relay 4 x 6 km
- Irwin ranked 14th during her and her team's first ever mixed 4x6-kilometer relay.
- She says: "It wasn't our best result of the season. But I think that, being our first Olympic mixed relay for all of us, it was a really cool experience. Our team was really strong and sometimes it doesn't always come together."
Feb 11. — Women's 15 km Individual
- Irwin ranked 34th in the women's 15-kilometer individual race.
- She says: "It's really hard to shoot 19-for-20 or 20-for-20 every single time in that race. So, being able to shoot 17-for-20 and still getting in the top 40 — and I think that day I had a top 15 ski time — there were a lot of really good elements during that race for me and it's still something I'm really proud of. I can only control my performance out there, and everybody else just had really great days."
Feb. 14 — Women's 7.5 km Sprint
- Irwin ranked 47th in the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint, with a 10-out-of-10 shooting performance.
- She says: "I think that's something that shows my growth and why I really can't be upset with my Olympic performance — especially with the added pressure of the Olympics and being able to shoot 10-out-of-10 in that race."
Feb. 15 — Women's 10 km Pursuit
- Irwin's sprint performance allowed her to qualify for the women's 10-kilometer pursuit, during which she ranked 35th.
Feb. 18 — Women's 4 x 6 km Relay
- Irwin ranked 18th in the women's 4x6-kilometer relay. She and one teammate were the only members of the team who had competed in the women's relay before.
- "To see those girls really step it up in their first Olympics and really just give it their all and just race with so much pride and tenacity, it was really cool," she says. "You're never going to be able to have the perfect races all the time. But I'm really proud of how everybody showed up and really fought for that result. We're definitely better than 18th place, but it's one of those things. The Olympic pressure can just really get to you sometimes."
To the Biathlon World Cup and beyond
Since February's Games, Irwin competed in World Cup races in Finland, Estonia and Norway, landing among the top 30 biathletes in the world. And she even got a chance to redeem her mixed relay performance with a third place finish in Otepää, Estonia — Team USA's first time on the podium for that event.
"To be able to finish our season off in that mixed relay on the podium, which our team has never done before, it was a really incredible experience to just show how much our team has really grown over the years," she says.
Now, Irwin is decompressing after a long season and taking stock of all the lessons she's learned.
"I think that's the cool part about being an Olympic athlete: we're always hungry for a little bit more. We're always reaching to get a little bit better."
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