Minutes after making history, Deedra Irwin erupted in a mixture of laughter and tears.
At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the former Michigan Tech three-sport athlete placed seventh in the biathlon, a sport that combines cross country skiing and rifle. Her finish marked the best ever by an American.
As she tried to catch her breath and warm her hands, the moment left her speechless but grateful for everyone who had played a part in her journey.
Four years later, Irwin is attempting to take it a step further at the Milan Cortina Olympics. To do so, she is relying on the lessons she has learned and the people who have poured into her, dating back to her time as a collegiate athlete.
Competing in cross country, Nordic skiing, and track and field from 2010-15 at Michigan Tech, a Division II school in Houghton, she maintained an active schedule that prepared her for her life as a professional athlete.
Deedra Irwin was recruited as a distance runner by Michigan Tech and eventually joined the ski team as a walk-on. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech)
With all the traveling that her sports demanded, the exercise science major often had to listen to lectures and take exams on the road. Irwin credits her teachers and tutors for their commitment to making sure she had the necessary resources to stay on schedule.
"I was still able to graduate with like a 3.9 (GPA)," Irwin said before the 2022 Olympics. "That wasn't just because of me. That was because of the people who are teaching me and helping me get everything I needed. The school was absolutely incredible to the student-athletes. I'm always so appreciative of that."
After graduation, Irwin decided to pursue a professional skiing career and chase a spot in the Olympics. This brought her to Idaho, where she joined the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation's Cross Country Gold Team.
Irwin's professional skiing career ultimately did not go how she hoped, and she missed the cut for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. Irwin's challenges in Idaho didn't stop with skiing, however, as she had to rely on friends and welcoming locals to find places to stay.
"I was kind of homeless, living in my car, moving from house to house as a dog sitter," Irwin said. "Then I got taken in by an incredible family there that let me store stuff at their place and live in their house when I wasn't traveling … so that community really embraced me fully."
Even with the support she got from the community, Irwin knew this wasn't sustainable. So when her friend Joanne Reid, a former NCAA skiing champion at Colorado and Team USA biathlete, suggested she come to a biathlon talent identification camp, Irwin knew she had nothing to lose.
"I fell in love with it," Irwin said. "They were like, 'Well, we'll let you live in the Olympic training (site) for two months.' And I was like, 'Done.' I packed up my car and everything I owned in Idaho and moved it back to my parents' house in Wisconsin, and I started commuting back and forth from Wisconsin to New York for camps and to live there. I don't know how many times I drove 18 hours just to show up and just try."
Irwin's dedication paid off, as she made the development team at the end of the year. She soon found another opportunity to grow with the Vermont Army National Guard and its World Class Athlete Program.
Since 2019, Irwin has served as a human resources specialist for the National Guard while training and competing for its biathlon program. As in her transition from student-athlete to professional, she found parallels between the military and biathlon, as well.
"You learn how to become part of a team, how to really put service over self," Irwin said.
Her role with the National Guard and its biathlon program has given her a community that supports her and arms her with tools to succeed, much like her community in Idaho and where it all began with her community at Michigan Tech.
When Irwin returned to her alma mater last spring to give a commencement speech, she advised the room of new graduates to heed the advice she has learned to live by.
"Dream big and give yourself a shot," Irwin said. "You might be surprised what you can accomplish when you let yourself try."
