Freeman doesn't let illness define him

There are often many helping hands behind an athlete achieving international success. A parent's help is invaluable -- youth ski league coaches as well -- but American Olympian Kris Freeman can look to a former Nordic coach and his brother for helping him get where he is today.

Tim Norris, a former coach at Proctor Academy, was the man responsible for getting Freeman on cross-country skis and jumping boards as a kid in Andover, N.H.

"He was such a great role model and mentor," Freeman said of Norris.

As a 16-year-old, Kris Freeman -- who used to practice with future Nordic world champion Bill Demong -- even won the gold medal at the Junior Olympics in Nordic combined. That's when one might have thought his path was pre-ordained. Freeman, though, was his own man even as a teen and knew where he wanted his future to go.

"I knew cross-country was what I wanted to do; it was the most important," he said.

Freeman then put aside the ski jumping and focused on the sport, cross-country, he admired greatly. He would immediately become a part of USST's development programs until receiving full-fledged member status.

"I've been part of this program for a long time now," Freeman said. "I've had many coaches and many programs, but I always admired Bill Koch -- the only American to win a medal in cross-country skiing, going back to Innsbruck in 1976. He didn't copy anyone; he followed his own instincts about things."

Buoyed by his New Hampshire upbringings, Freeman would enjoy the many dynamics of roller skiing to train.

"I think we have great roller skiing in New England," he stated. "In Europe the roads are narrow. There's no shoulder, and most of the athletes go round and round on closed roller ski loops. I think that's not only boring but exposes you to only one kind of terrain."

Freeman's career was certainly on the rise as he earned top-10 finishes during the 2000 junior world championships in addition to successful results in Continental Cup and FIS races in the years leading into that.

Then, in the same year as his junior successes in Slovakia and at the young age of 19, Freeman was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a form of the disease where the body doesn't produce enough insulin needed to regulate blood sugar. Freeman was told he would never ski race again. He didn't take those prognostications lightly.

"I remember (thinking)," he recalled, "‘Oh my god, how am I going to keep ski racing,' -- that's the most important thing in my life."

Luckily for Kris, he had his older brother Justin -- a fellow cross-country skier who would make the 2006 Olympic Games alongside his sibling -- with him through the diagnosis and the more-difficult stages to come.

"Justin was always supportive and thoughtful about my diabetes," Kris said. "When I got frustrated with it he was always there for me"

Kris needed that kind of support last year as he endured painful compartment syndrome that required both legs to have surgery last March in Vail, Colo. With his feet, ankles and shins seething in pain, he still soldiered on, competing in mostly classic races where it hurt him less biomechanically because of the foot push back. With the injury, Freeman skied to an impressive fourth place at last year's Nordic Ski World Championships.

Now, after having caught the flu during the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Freeman appears ready to race free from pain -- and is thankful for that alone.

Freeman's tough-as-nails approach and endurance can be attributed to his strong training regimen. This year, he's actually reduced his workouts so he'll "only" workout 750-800 hours total. The previous three-year period saw him doing over 900 hours a year and one season that approached nearly 1,000 hours. Go ahead. Do the math. He goes through it all with his personal coach Zack Caldwell, and he knows what workout he'll be doing a dozen Fridays from now.

Reading between the lines of what the Andover skier says, he feels like he has a debt to pay for his early doubters.

"I am motivated to win for my country and myself but also prove to the detractors that it's possible to compete against the best in the world -- even with Type 1 diabetes," he said.

A key marker in Freeman's constant battle with his disease is how he is treated during races. To help him compete in the 2010 Games, Freeman will wear a small device -- called an OmniPod Inuslin Pump -- which provides an adjustable supply of Humalog insulin to help manage his diabetes even while racing.

Off the snow, Freeman is a tireless spokesman on diabetes education. He travels for sponsor Eli Lilly and Company, to children's diabetes camps across the country to speak to campers about their disease. Read: Class act.

"I have a blast meeting the campers, but more importantly, I want them to see that a person with diabetes can do almost anything they put their mind to -- including competing in the Olympics," Freeman said.

Freeman is a 13-time U.S. national champion and in November placed a strong fourth in Finland in his favorite World Cup race, a 15km classic.

The handsome, rugged looking Freeman, who often cuts right to the point -- any wasted time takes away from his training -- said his Olympic plans are clear and that once he gets into the start gate, the pressure and anxiety are over: "That's when the fun starts and it's time to do my job, it's a relief. For once I am free from pain and that's a good thing."

His expectations for himself -- and the team -- at Whistler are high. You can count on Freeman to endure whatever comes his way in February; that just the way he's built.