Caitlin Compton

EVENT - CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

HEIGHT 5'5"     WEIGHT 125 lbs

Visit Caitlin Compton's Website

Olympic Experience

• 2010 Olympic Winter Games
  -26:49.1, 30th Place in 10km Free;
  -44:23.3, 43rd Place in 15km Pursuit
  -18:51.6, 6th Place in Team Sprint Free

Career Highlights

• 2 time World Championship Team Member (2007, 2009)
• 3 time U.S. Champion
• First World Cup: biathlon World Cup in Pyong Chang, South Korea (30th - 26:49.1)
• 3 World Championships: two for cross-country skiing and one for biathlon

Personal

Years on Team: 3
School: Northern Michigan University/ Harwood Union High School
Club: Central Cross-Country Ski Association

Caitlin Compton was born in Manhattan and grew up riding the subway to school and playing on concrete playgrounds until she was 10 years old. After that, she moved with her mother and brother to Warren, Vt., and realized how awesome living in the mountains and having a backyard full of outdoor adventures was. She fell in love with snow and winter sports. Her mother was an alpine ski instructor and she downhill skied as much as she could every season. She started cross-country skiing because her best friend told her how great it was on the high school team. Compton skied and ran for Northern Michigan University while earning a degree in environmental design (architecture). She has been racing on the USSA SuperTour circuit and at a few World Cups for the past five years trying to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games.

After a difficult summer and fall of training, she is now finding her top end fitness and feeling fresh for more racing. Her results have been improving throughout the past couple of months and she is planning for her peak to occur during the Canmore World Cups and Olympic Winter Games.

FIRST TRACKS

Comptom started skiing as soon as she could walk, with the help of her parents.

I AM

A very hard worker...My journey is to try and make the Olympic team has not been very smooth, but I think that the challenges I have faced have reinforced why I love the sport and where my motivation for success comes from.

Image by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images