BIOGRAPHY:
Kikkan Randall is one of the few athletes who can say she made her Olympic debut in her birthplace—born in Salt Lake City and a member of the 2002 Olympic Team in Salt Lake. A promising runner growing up in Alaska, she added "serious” cross country skiing as a counter-seasonal training vehicle, and then became a champion skier, too. She's owner of the best ever U.S. women's results in World Cup—a win in Rybinsk, Russia, a tally she added to in 2011 with two more World Cup wins—and is also the first U.S. woman to ever win a World Championship medal, snagging silver. And, after finishing eighth in the 2010 Olympic classic sprint, Randall stormed through 2011 completing the first ever podium season for an American woman in the overall World Cup sprint standings, taking third. Randall kept her grip on the domestic cross country scene as well, winning the 30k classic to earn her 16th U.S. title.

KIKKAN SAYS:
Last year I watched Andy Newell stand up on stage when the World Cup sprint standings were awarded and he received a crystal medal for his fourth overall, and thought, 'Wow, I would like to be up there someday.' I didn’t think that “someday” would happen so soon, so it was really cool to be up there on stage this year. While I missed the big carrot (World Champs sprint gold) that I was going for this year, I was really pleased with my multiple podiums and two victories in World Cup races, and my new personal best performances in distance. My goal has been to become an all-arounder and I’m getting closer to that goal. It was pretty exciting to see the breakthrough in results for the entire women’s team this year and I think we can be competitive for relay medals in the near future. Next year there will be no major championship so I am looking forward to focusing on racing through the entire World Cup season and seeing if I can improve upon my overall and sprint standings.

FIRST TRACKS:
Her family lived in Salt Lake while her mother attended law school at the University of Utah, but returned to Alaska after Randall's birth. The niece of two Olympians (Uncle Chris Haines, Mom's brother, was a '76 cross country skier and Aunt Betsy Haines was the first racer on-course in the 1980 5K), she was a first-rate high school runner and turned to skiing as a way to continue training in winter. She became one of the top U.S. junior racers; "It's in my blood,” she said with her trademark high-voltage smile. She blends classes at Alaska Pacific University with her cross country training and serves as a key liaison between the U.S. Ski Team and one of the nation's premier club programs, the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center.

OFF THE SNOW:
I am the lead U.S. Ambassador for Fast and Female. We had three successful U.S. events this year that reached over 350 girls. I am really passionate about sharing the message of empowerment through sport alongside my good friend and FF Founder Chandra Crawford. I am also enjoying my role as the FIS Athlete Representative for Cross-Country skiing, it’s great to be involved in the process of decision making to make the sport even better.