Support athletes on their 2026 Milano Cortina Games journey

Hey all! Chris is back in town! He's coming to FBC on Monday evening at 7 pm with his Gold Medal! I am hoping you all can make it, he is just an incredible person! This is our day for backing a winner! You are all invited! Come try on the Gold Medal and grab some pictures! It will be worth your while! I am looking forward to meeting you all! T/hanks again for all your support! It meant the world! Cheers! Tim PS Check out our bartender Julia and Chris!

I wanted to share one last update and say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I just had surgery to repair my torn labrum and everything went well. I will be in a sling for the next 6 weeks, followed by about 5 months of rehab to get my shoulder fully back online. It is a long road, but I am grateful to finally be on the recovery side of things. At the end of the month I will be heading back to active duty where I will begin intel school in Virginia Beach. I am incredibly excited and proud to start this next chapter while also focusing on getting healthy again. To everyone who supported, donated, shared, or sent a kind message, thank you. Your generosity and encouragement meant more than I can properly express. You helped make a difficult moment in my life feel much lighter and I am deeply grateful for that. Truly, thank you all for being in my corner. I am looking forward to putting in the work, healing up, and moving forward stronger. God bless and enjoy the spring!

Dear Donors, I am pleased to report back following a successful Olympic Games for me, the Canadian team, and SMS T2. For our final preparations leading into the Olympics, we headed to Seefeld, Austria, a favourite training destination for many cross-country skiers. I had been to Seefeld once before, prior to the 2020 World Junior Championships, though on that occasion I came down with a cold so this was the first time I got to see what all the fuss is about. Turns out it is really quite nice. We were treated with some fresh snowfalls, opening up endless trails for long days and permitting some beautiful hard wax skiing (something that becomes increasingly difficult this time of year). With the Olympics just around the corner, everyone on the team was so focused on exactly what they had to do to prepare as best as possible, and I came out of the camp in good shape for the upcoming races. Following a short drive to Italy, we settled into the Predazzo Olympic village, a temporarily repurposed military school. What struck me very rapidly was how similar the Olympic experience was this year from four years ago. In Beijing, the organizers were very strict about Covid. We had to wear an N95 mask at all times, and were strictly locked down in our little bubble. This time around, I was expecting things to feel different, but in a lot of ways it felt like I was right back in China. The village and race site were very locked down for security reasons, and everything inside felt quite familiar. From the rooms, to the pin trading, to the massive dining hall tent, to the not completely finished infrastructure. There is something about the Games environment that just doesn’t change. The one stark difference with the 2022 Games, however, was how short of time we had on site before the first events. The first days in Italy felt like a hectic adjustment, then all of a sudden, we were on the eve of the 20k skiathlon. For me, the skiathlon did not go well. I made a mistake by not asking for enough kick wax on my classic skis, and changing conditions made it so that I really struggled with grip during the classic leg. The skate portion of the race went a little better, but the hills on this course are very punishing, and I wasn’t able to recover the deficit I created for myself early in the race. It was hard to see one of my few targeted race opportunities go down the drain like this after so much preparation. The feeling that I had failed despite feeling like I was in good shape made it even worse. It was a stark reminder of how crushingly difficult the Olympics can be at times, and I struggled to push myself through the sprint qualifier as well, which was difficult for the Canadians overall. From that point on, though, I received a timely boost of inspiration from my SMS T2 teammates. In the sprint, by teammate Ben Ogden, whom I have spent the past two years training with closely, won the silver medal. This performance came after many, many races where he made little mistakes or ended up being just outside of the podium. It felt like a triumph in perseverance and a testament to all the hard work that we have put in together over the past two years. I was so stoked for Ben, and even now, I think this very well might be the highlight of my Olympic Games. Then, two days later, another teammate, Jessie Diggins, won the bronze in the 10 km interval start. Even though, this was one I think many were expecting, I found it amazing and another huge boost to my motivation going into my own 10 km. The next day, before the start, I looked around the stadium, the Olympic rings everywhere, and filled my heart with the positive energy of what I had witnessed in the days prior. I skied to my best ever individual international result, 19th. While no medal performance, the 20th place barrier was one that I’ve frustratingly been unable to break. Last season, I came painfully close, with a 22nd place finish at the Falun World Cups, but it was beginning to feel like I would never get there. To see that result stand after all the racers had come in, and to achieve it in the most important competition of the year, was amazing for me. It was also an overall great day for Canada, and spirits were high leading into the next event: the relay. When I prepare myself for an upcoming season, there is often a specific race that I set my sights on as the one I most want to perform in. This year, from the very beginning, that was the relay. The Canadian team has for the past few years been achieving amazing relay performances at the World Championships, and everyone on the team knew that if we had any chance at a medal at these Games, this is where it was most likely to come. It is also the one race of the year in which it most feels like we are racing for each other and not just for ourselves. The Olympic relay has been a constant inspiration for me, and when I made the cut for the team after the 10 km, it became even more so. I think I may have been more focused on performing in this race than any other in my career. We all were. So, when the gun went off and my first teammate skied off the line, I was ready mentally for what was to come. After the two classic legs, our team was still in the main pack and in the hunt for that Olympic medal that no Canadian male cross-country skier has ever won. During my leg, the third overall and first skating, teams really started to differentiate themselves. I was tagged next to two-time silver medallist at these games, Mathis Desloges, and along with the Italians and Americans, held on for dear life as he put in everything he had to drop us. This, he did do to each of us at a time. It was one of the hardest efforts I have every put out, and I managed to distance our team from the Americans and stay somewhat close to the Italians. The Finns, the French, and of course, the Norwegians were still a bit ahead. In the end, it wasn’t quite enough. The bronze medal dangled a mere 10-20 seconds ahead for the duration of our last skier’s leg, and we finished in 5th overall. Though the possibility of a medal had been a fixation in all of our minds, this was the best Canadian men’s relay performance ever at the Olympic Games, and we realized that we had much to be happy about. I am thankful to have been a part of this moment, and I feel even greater inspiration now than I did before. As is often said, shoot for the stars and you will land on the moon! Even though I couldn’t quite hang on, I skied well and pushed to my absolute limits for my teammates, as we all did. I pushed my body so hard that, after the race, I came down with one of the viruses that has been floating around the Olympic Village. I was sick and isolated in my room, but I had the satisfied feeling that this season has been a success. What lies ahead for the rest of this year and beyond, I don’t yet know. At least, though, I know that the road here has been worth it, and the time since the Games has given me some time to think of all it took to get here. It took the help of so many. It took all of you. So, I would like to thank you all so very much for your kind support! It really is a privilege for me to be here, and I am so glad that I can look back and say that I, the Canadian team, and SMS T2 were successful in Milano-Cortina 2026.

Wow!!! How can I put this into words?... I’m incredibly proud to share that I had the honor of competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics — representing not only Team USA, but the entire community that helped shape me. Walking into the Olympic arena wearing USA across my chest is something I will never be able to fully put into words. Years of quiet work, setbacks, sacrifices, and belief all led to that moment. To stand on the world stage and compete against the very best — knowing I carried the support of Johnstown and communities across our country — meant everything to me. Thank you for being part of this journey. Your encouragement, donations, messages, and belief allowed me to chase something extraordinary. I truly felt the strength of the United States behind me every time I stepped onto the ice. This experience wasn’t just mine — it belonged to all of us. With deep gratitude, Dan