Park City’s teenage Campbell siblings bloom in biathlon

Brother and sister Wes and Emily Campbell represented Park City in the US Biathlon National Championships in Wyoming over the weekend. Photo: Jenny Campbell (Facebook)

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Wyoming. — Park City teenage siblings Emily and Wes Campbell were both supremely successful this weekend at the U.S. Biathlon National Championships in the younger age classes. 

Emily ended up with a gold in the Sprint race, a silver in the Pursuit and a silver in the Super Sprint, all for U15. Wes got two golds in the Sprint and Pursuit races, respectively, in the Youth category. 

“It’s been a fun weekend to race against all these great athletes,“ said Wes. Emily said, “It was a super great experience. It was inspiring to see people from all over the country compete.”

Both members of the Park City Ski and Snowboard  (PCSS) – Nordic Team, they tried their hand for a few seasons at the sport of nordic combined (ski jumping/cross country skiing), then cross country skiing, and have always been summer stand-ins for cross country running before their wildly wonderful foray into biathlon (shooting/cross country skiing). Locally, biathlon training and competition is held at the 2002 Olympic Venue at Soldier Hollow (SOHO).

Wes returned last month from Austria, where he represented the United States at the Biathlon Jr. World Championships, placing fifth in the Team event.

The Campbells’ parents, Jenny and Chris, are a study-in-sports-support as they get in a little exercise by walking together around the venue du jour while never being too far from the action on the playing field.

Wes is a junior at Park City High School and Emily a 9th grader at Treasure Mountain Jr. High School. When they’re not in school or participating in sports, the Campbells are at home helping take care of their two goats, two sheep, four cats, a bunny, 12 chickens and two peacocks.