THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON ...

WHERE ARE THEY TODAY? WAS IST AUS IHNEN GEWORDEN?Lyle Nelson Having fun is keySpass ist essentiellEdITOR AuTORJerry KOKESH – USAMember IBu Information CommitteeMitglied IBu InformationskomiteeOriginal language EnglishOriginalfassung EnglischMost people remember Lyle Nelson as the BiathlonSport Manager at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games andcoordinator for the 2001 World Cup at Soldier Hollow,Utah. The always enthusiastic Nelson thought that funwas a big part of sport for not just the spectators butalso the competitors and officials. Everyone present atthe 2001 World Cup remembers the Wild West theme;Uschi Disl and Liv Grete Poiree wearing cowboy hats, andthe only World Cup Rodeo staged exclusively for the ath-lete’s entertainment.Lyle Nelson quietly stepped away from the biathlon sceneafter 2002, when he left his position as President of the USBiathlon Association. Although he never won an Olympicmedal, or a World Championship, Nelson left an indeliblemark on biathlon, both internationally and in the USA.After 2002, Nelson who has an MBA Degree and a Doctoratein Human Development ran several small businessesbefore returning to his native town of McCall, Idaho. rently, he is the Program Director for Integrative MedicineCur-at McCall Memorial Hospital, Nelson described his work.“My passion is assisting people to live happier, healthierlives. The hospital where I work has a secondary mission ofprevention, as well as treating those who are ill or sick. It isvery neat to work in a small hospital committed to this.”The 61-year-old former biathlete became a father for thefirst time recently. He reflected on how fatherhood fit in tohis current life and career. “This is a perfect age to have achild, because you are so much more relaxed. I do not haveto prove anything to anyone, just to prove to myself that Ican be a good dad and husband, with solid values. It is alsovery important to be healthy, because you cannot be a goodparent if you are not healthy. I am also trying to make acontribution to society. At the end of the day, if I do a goodjob in those three areas, I am satisfied.”Nelson skied “a lot until this year” until the new baby and“lack of sleep” caught up with him. Still, he loves “to chal-lenge people in athleteendeavors to see just how fast theycan go.” He admitted that his 14-year-old niece beat him ina cross-country race this year for the first time.His recent trip to Whistler Olympic Park to watch thebiathlon competitions brought him back to biathlon. Beingaway from the sport for an extended period gave hima different perspective. “The opportunity to connect withpeople at the Vancouver OWG that I have not seen in 5 or6 years has been vastly more rewarding than the actualcompetitions or competing ever was for me.”He was introduced to a member of the US Biathlon Boardof Directors in Whistler as, “the guy who, with an infectiousdegree of energy, said we needed to make some changes ifUS biathlon was ever going to be successful.”Hearing that, Nelson commented, with a laugh, “Sometimesin my life, neat things happened after I left. I thinkthat in many cases, what I left behind was an indelible optimismfor what could be possible; it was a good thing that Igot out of the way, so they could get the job done.” •100 biathlonworld The official Magazine of The iBU 20 i 2010