John Morton

John Morton (born April 3, 1946) is an Olympic skier and writer from the United States. He was born in Keene, New Hampshire. Morton has participated as an athlete, coach, and team leader in seven Olympic Games for the United States in the biathlon event. Early life John Morton grew up in Walpole, New Hampshire. Morton graduated from Tilton School in 1964. At Tilton, he competed in four ski events: downhill, slalom, cross-country, and jumping. Morton was also a recipient of The John F. Thompson Memorial Award while at Tilton. He then attended Middlebury College where he competed on their cross-country skiing team. During his athletic college career he won the Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship in 1966 and 1968, and placed second at the 1968 NCAA Skiing Championships. Morton completed the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at Middlebury and graduated in 1968. Morton was then to complete four years in the United States Army. In his first two years with the Army, Morton was assigned to Anchorage, Alaska, where he trained for the biathlon, combining his skiing talents and his military shooting training. In 1970, Morton was given orders to work as an advisor for the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, and was sent to South Vietnam for two years, deterring his biathlon training. He was released from active duty in 1972 with the rank of Captain. Olympics Only having three months to train after being released from the Army, Morton made the U.S. Olympic team in 1972. Morton traveled with the team to Sapporo, Japan, but was benched for the entirety of the games because of personal conflict with his coach. Morton competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, for the United States. Falling ill the night before the 20-km race, Morton was unable to compete, which put him at a disadvantage in placement for his second event of the games: the 7.5-km relay.