The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are coming up on Feb. 6 in Milano Cortina, Italy. Athletes from across the globe will perform together on the highest platform their sports can reach.
This year, we have a fellow Wisconsinite to cheer on: Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Deedra Irwin. She'll be shooting, skiing and representing Team USA in the biathlon. Coming off her 7th place finish in her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2022, she currently holds the best placement for an American athlete in the event.
Irwin is from Pulaski, Wisconsin, and she's also part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). She joined Lake Effect's Audrey Nowakowski to share more about how she got into the biathlon ahead of the upcoming games.
Deedra Irwin's biathlon journey
Irwin recalls her Pulaski upbringing fondly — from polka festivals and Polish baked goods. Growing up, she dreamed of becoming an Olympic runner. But, as high school track and cross country took a toll on her body, she took up Nordic skiing.
"When I was 16 years old, I got introduced to the Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Club, based out of Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin," she says. "And I've been Nordic skiing ever since."
Irwin continued skiing for five years at Michigan Tech and after college, as part of of a professional team in Sun Valley, Idaho. After a few years, she considered hanging up her skis — until a friend suggested she try biathlon.
"Now, eight-and-a-half years later, [I'm] going to my second Olympics and to me it's just the most interesting, perfect sport that I could have ever gotten into," she says. "It's all endurance — plus the huge puzzle piece of precision rifle marksmanship."
As she turned 26, Irwin signed a six-year contract with the National Guard, where she joined the Guard's biathlon training program. To this day, she continues to train with her fellow solider-athletes in Jericho, Vermont and Fort Carson, Colorado.
"All of our stories are so inspirational and so unique," she says. "And it's such a great collaboration and team environment to be a part of, as a U.S. soldier and as a soldier athlete in the [World Class Athlete] Program."
To me [the biathlon is] just the most interesting, perfect sport that I could have ever gotten into. It's all endurance, plus the huge puzzle piece of precision rifle marksmanship.Staff Sgt. Deedra Irwin
From Pulaski to Beijing, Beijing to Milano Cortina
Years of training brought Irwin to Beijing in 2022, at the height of the pandemic. During those games, she achieved her personal best — and the best finish of any American biathlete in the games — with a 7th place finish. To top it all off, she met her fiancé during the opening ceremonies. The whole experience was a huge relief, Irwin says.
"[When] I actually got to China and I was healthy and I knew I was racing, it was kind of like a weight just lifted," she says. "And I was like, 'OK, I'm here.'"
Team USA has medaled in every category for the Winter Olympics, except for one: the biathlon. So, the pressure is on this year, Irwin says. Although she's certainly hoping to change that in Milano Cortina, Irwin's also looking forward to just taking it all in.
"One big thing I learned from the 2022 Olympics was that you don't need an Olympic medal to have an Olympic moment," she says. "And for me, it was just amazing to be able to experience everything I was able to experience there."
Whether she medals or not, Irwin says she'll be grateful just be there — with her family cheering from the sidelines.
"Going into these next Olympics, I want to make sure to savor those emotions and those moments, whether I have good races or not," she says.
_
