Gary Colliander was part of United States history earlier this year at the 2018 Paralympic Games in South Korea. After the record-setting performance of the U.S. Nordic team in PyeongChang, he has a chance to earn an award of his own.

The 41-year-old from Durangoan was nominated as one of three finalists for the Paralympic Coach of the Games award for the work he did with U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing, which won 16 medals, including six golds, at the Games in March. Colliander will join sled hockey coach Guy Gosselin and snowboarding coach Graham Watanabe at the Team USA Awards ceremony Thursday in Washington D.C. The event, which will be hosted by Mike Tirico, will be televised as a 90-minute feature to be broadcast from 4-5:30 p.m. May 12 on NBC Sports.

“This is pretty cool, and it was kind of surprising because I hadn’t known about the award,” Colliander said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Obviously, anything like this is always an honor to be recognized for as an individual, but it is cool because it is really a recognition of the whole team and what we accomplished.”

Colliander, who coached the Durango Nordic Ski Club from 2012-16, is the husband of Durango’s 2006 Olympian Tracy Barnes, who competed in the biathlon. A former U.S. Women’s National Biathlon Team coach, Colliander sparked the U.S. team to seven biathlon medals at this year’s Paralympics with two golds, four silvers and one bronze. It was an unprecedented showing for the Americans, who had only claimed one previous biathlon medal in Olympic or Paralympics history.

“My focus definitely was on biathlon,” Colliander said. “It was one area the team was trying to build up. What I saw in front of me, 14 months before the Games, I thought we could really make some strides. They were close already, they just needed a little push, a few extra things to make it happen.”

It happened.

History was made for the U.S. biathlon program on March 9. Dan Cnossen of Kansas and Kendall Gretsch of Illinois both won gold medals for the U.S. Paralympic biathlon team in the 7.5-kilometer sitting events, the first gold medals for the U.S. in biathlon at either the Olympics or Paralympics. The U.S. added a silver medal that day, as Oksana Masters of Kentucky finished second to Gretsch.

Cnossen added a silver in the 12.5K sitting biathlon event, and Andy Soule was third for bronze. Cnossen then won silver in the 15K sitting event to round out the men’s biathlon performances.

“The first day of biathlon was really good for us with Kendall, a medal hopeful but we weren’t sure how she would do at the Games,” Colliander said. “She had medaled at a World Cup prior, but seeing her win and her and Dan get gold on the same day was really cool. The biathlon team’s success was a testament to the work they put in the prior 12 months or so. They really stepped up their game as athletes in the biathlon area.”

Masters won a silver in the 12.5K women’s biathlon sitting, and she earned a gold in the 5K sitting cross-country ski race and a bronze in the 12K sitting race. Gretsch also added a 12K sitting cross-country skiing gold to her biathlon gold.

Soule claimed a cross-country skiing sprint sitting gold medal, and Cnossen was bronze in the event. Cnossen also took silver in 15K sitting. Jake Adicoff added a silver in the 10K classic style-visually impaired race.

“The sprint finish by Andy Soule was truly amazing,” Colliander said. “He barely qualified, which is not characteristic for him. Usually he is an easy qualifier, but this year he was our last qualifier. He came from the back of the pack and skied back the whole race. Coming into the last straightaway, a really long straight, he was sitting fourth or fifth and put on the turbo and went for it. It was awesome.”

Colliander said he felt the U.S. Paralympic Nordic team gained momentum from watching the U.S. Olympic Nordic team, especially the performance of Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall, who claimed the country’s first Nordic medal for the women’s cross-country ski team with their heroic team sprint win.

Diggins is coached by Jason Cork, who is one of three finalists for the Olympics Coach of the Games award. Cork also has ties to the Durango Nordic Ski Club, as he coached the team from 2004-09. Cork’s mentorship of Diggins and ability as a ski technician was key at the Olympics, as Diggins also had three top-five individual finishes, the best result at an Olympics ever for an American women’s Nordic skier.

“It was a record-setting Games for Nordic at the Olympics and Paralympics, and I think a lot of our athletes were really inspired by Jessie and Kikkan in their team sprint win,” Colliander said. “That just kind of gave us all energy all the way through our Games. One of our athletes (Oksana Masters) was the favorite to win quite a few medals but had an injury, a fall, before the Games. Jessie did a video tribute to her. The respect for those two women and that team went through the roof even more after that.”

Colliander and Cork weren’t the only coaches with ties to the Durango Nordic Ski Club to make the trip to PyeongChang, as Durango’s Paige Elliott also helped coach the U.S. Nordic Paralympic team. Colliander was named a U.S. coach in December 2016, while Elliott was a late addition. Colliander had an extra credential and asked Elliott to come on as an extra wax tester. Colliander called her a “jack of all trades coach,” whose professionalism, honesty and all-around good attitude was a benefit to the team.

Elliott cherished the opportunity to work with the team and watch Colliander lead the biathletes.

“I’ve seen the level of expertise he brings to junior coaching from working with him for (Durango Nordic Ski Club), so I was really excited to see him operate at a larger, international event,” Elliott said. “He has a very professional but accessible coaching style. He is so positive and upbeat with the athletes and really cares about their successes as people; he’s not only focused on results.

“I think his investment and approachability is what has allowed Team USA to experience so much success in PyeongChang, and his good intentions carry beyond just coaching athletes. ... He never seeks credit for himself, so I’m thrilled that he’s up for this award. It’s really fun to see all his hard work being recognized.”

It’s safe to say Colliander is invested in the U.S. Paralympic team going forward. He signed another one-year contract to lead the team in 2018 and wants to stay on as coach through the 2022 Paralympics in China.

“When I first met the team at our first camp, it was an eye opener,” he said. “I was able to sit in a sit-ski and ski around with them, and it was super humbling. They are a really good group of people and great athletes. They’re super talented, hard working and have all the great traits and characteristics you would ever want in an athlete you would coach.”

jlivingston@durangoherald.com