NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Former St. Olaf College men's cross country, track and field, and Nordic skiing All-American Jake Brown '15 was one of four biathletes to qualify for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, as the United States Biathlon Team announced its early qualifiers on Saturday evening.

Brown and former College of St. Scholastica All-American Paul Schommer were the two early qualifiers for the men's team and qualified based on their performances at this season's International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup events. Both biathletes made their first Olympic team and joined Olympic veterans Susan Dunklee and Clare Egan, who qualified on the women's side.

Brown qualified for the team by virtue of his 23rd-place finish in the men's 20-kilometer individual event in Oestersund, Sweden on Nov. 27. The result was the fourth-best finish of his career and came in the opening race of the IBU World Cup's 2021-22 calendar.

Brown was a three-sport All-American at St. Olaf and was a member of the 2013 national championship men's cross country team, finishing eighth to earn All-America honors as the Oles claimed the first and only NCAA team title in school history. He was also a five-time United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) All-American in Nordic skiing in 2014, finishing first in the individual combined standings thanks to first-place finishes in the 15k classic and 8.5k freestyle, in addition to a second-place finish in the 1.5k classic sprint, and also was a member of the first-place team relay. Brown added a third-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2015 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Brown is set to become the third Ole to compete in the Olympic Games. Lloyd Ellingson – a three-year letterwinner and two-time all-conference selection at offensive guard on the football team – became St. Olaf's first Olympian as a member of the U.S. ski team at the 1932 Lake Placid Games. Andy Erickson – the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC)'s first individual 10k freestyle champion in Nordic skiing in 2000 – competed for Team USA in the biathlon at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games.

At the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the sport of biathlon will be contested Feb. 5-19 at the National Biathlon Center in Zhangjikou, China. and U.S. athletes will be seeking our nation's first Olympic biathlon medal this winter in Beijing. The full 2022 U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team is expected to be announced in mid-January and is subject to U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee approval. The full team will consist of up to eight athletes (four men and four women).