HEBER — The first time Jeremy Teela dreamed of the Olympics, he envisioned himself swimming for the gold.

After years of hard work and sacrifice, his desire to represent the United States in the Olympics became a reality not once, but twice.

Only, instead of the humidity of the pool, he lived out his childhood fantasies skiing and shooting in the frigid temperatures that accompany the biathlon event. Teela moved to Heber City a few years ago in hopes of making the U.S. Olympic team one more time — and this time earn a medal. The 2010 team looks very capable of being the first to win the country's first medal in the biathlon.

"That is our hope," said U.S. biathlon coach Per Nilsson. "They are in a good place. They have the potential, and they showed that last year (in the pre-Olympic World Cup)."

Nilsson said while Teela is at his best when it matters most, Tim Burke is "more like a machine. He always has a high capacity to perform. And Jeremy, you can count on him when it's the toughest conditions."

Teela won America's first Biathlon World Cup medal since 1992 in March. He won that medal on the Olympic course. In addition to Teela, the team boasts several men who could contend for a medal, including New York's Burke, who grew up in the shadow of Lake Placid.

"As a kid, I got to try a lot of Olympic sports," Burke said. "Everywhere you go, you see the Olympic rings and hear people talking about how special they are."

Teela grew up far from any Olympic venue, but one of the benefits of living in Anchorage, Alaska, is that winter sports are extremely popular.

"We had ski trails right behind the high school, and a lot of people did it," said Teela of his time at Service High School. "Cross country was as big as wrestling is here in Heber."

Teela ended up racing at Junior Nationals his senior year and winning. The U.S. biathlon coach at the time suggested he give the sport a try.

As Teela had grown up around guns, combining the two sports wasn't a ridiculous suggestion.

"He said he recruited the fastest skiers and taught them how to shoot," Teela said.

After high school, Teela had decisions to make. Head to college and try to keep skiing, try to make the U.S. cross-country ski team or join the U.S. biathlon team's development program.

"I really had a drive to make the Olympic team," Teela said of 1996. "The road the U.S. biathlon team had laid out was very well-planned and clear. You could see how you could get from where I was to there. Cross-country skiing didn't have anything like it at the time."

Burke grew up in a family of skiers, so choosing cross country was logical.