Winter Olympic Wildcats: Current Student, Recent Graduate Compete in Italy
Two Wildcats – one current student and one recent graduate – fulfilled Olympic dreams this week, competing in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy. Luci Anderson '24 took part in biathlon as a member of Team USA, and freshman Celine Sommerová of Milton, New Hampshire – who as recently as 10 days prior to the games didn’t have an Olympic trip on her radar – represented Czechia in the slalom.
Celine Sommerová competing in the giant slalom at the Colby Carnival.
It was Feb. 9 when Sommerová learned from her father on a phone call that she’d be representing Czechia in the Olympics, after initially having missed the team by one spot. Just days after that phone call she was on the slopes in Italy competing alongside the world’s best.
This was Anderson’s first Olympic Winter Games, as well, as the Golden Valley, Minnesota, native took part in several biathlon events. Anderson skied for the UNH Nordic ski team during her time as an undergraduate in Durham but had never shot a rifle before she first dipped her toe into the biathlon world in 2024, training as part of the U.S. Biathlon's Project X.
“After I graduated from UNH, having something to focus my mind on was good for me," Anderson told UNH Athletics in a recent interview. "I was able to pick up shooting fast since I didn't have anything else to learn at the time. That was a challenge, and I'm still learning every day how to get faster and be more accurate.”
Sommerová competed in the women's slalom event at the Olympics on Wednesday, where Mikaela Shiffrin – whose mother, Eileen Shiffrin ’81, graduated from UNH – captured her third gold and fourth career Olympic medal overall. Sommerová did not finish the run.
Anderson, meanwhile, wrapped up her third biathlon event at the games Wednesday in the women's 4x6km relay, joining Deedra Irwin, Margie Freed, and Joanne Reid on a team that finished in 18th place. She had previously earned the No. 84 spot in the women's 15km individual event and the No. 79 spot in the women's 7.5km sprint.
UNH representation in Italy included several non-athletes, as well. Tim Baucom '09 made the trek as a service technician for the cross-country ski team, marking his third appearance in the Olympics, while Dr. Christopher Couture, head team physician at UNH, served as head team physician for the USA Nordic combined ski team, following up a trip in the same role during the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. Ellen Weinberg-Hughes '91, '94G, was also involved in the games, serving as a player development consultant for the U.S. women's national ice hockey team.
Baucom, a former UNH Nordic ski team member, had previously served on the coaching staff for the USA cross-country team in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics – where Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall earned the first Olympic gold for the U.S. Nordic team.
Weinberg-Hughes, the mother of current U.S. men's hockey players Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes, won a 1992 World Championship silver medal and also covered the first Olympic women's hockey tournament as a broadcaster.