Greenland biathlete pursues Olympic dream while anxious about ‘terrifying’ threats to her homeland

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This article was published 14/01/2026 (264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ukaleq Slettemark is used to the stress of competing on the world stage as she tries to qualify for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. But the 25-year-old biathlete from Greenland is facing an extra level of anxiety as U.S. President Donald Trump keeps saying he wants to take over her country.

“It’s terrifying,” Slettemark told The Associated Press on Wednesday from Ruhpolding, Germany, where she and her brother, Sondre, are competing in the biathlon World Cup. “We are imagining the worst-case scenario and my aunt is having trouble sleeping at night. My mom, yesterday, she broke down at the stadium crying because she’s so afraid.”

The Slettemark siblings compete for Greenland in the World Cup, but if they qualify for the Olympics — they will find out next week — they will represent Denmark, because Greenland is not a sovereign nation with its own national Olympic committee.

While stressing that she is an athlete, not politician, Slettemark said the threats from the U.S. are impossible to ignore. It’s taking an extra effort to focus on training and competitions as she worries about what’s happening back at home.

“People are talking about maybe they have to leave Greenland because they feel it’s so unsafe,” she said. “So we are terrified and we are really angry because this is not how you talk to another country, this is not how you talk to your allies. And we feel so disrespected and very scared.”

Trump reiterated his intention to take over Greenland on Wednesday, saying on social media that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” His post came ahead of a meeting between Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt.

Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally.

Slettemark, who competed for Denmark in the 2022 Winter Olympics, was born in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. Both her parents are biathletes: her father, Øystein Slettemark, competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in biathlon and her mother, Uiloq, founded the Greenland Biathlon Federation. The sport combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting.

The U.S. threats follow her every day as other athletes ask how she is holding up. Slettemark said she has no hard feelings against the members of the U.S. team.

“I’m very good friends with the U.S. athletes,” she said. “I think they’re all really nice people.”

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Slettemark said she hopes Americans will pressure Congress to put a stop to the Greenland takeover plan, which she likened to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

Russia was banned from competing in the Olympics after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine — and Slettemark said she’s overheard people on the biathlon circuit say the same should happen to the U.S. if it forcefully took over Greenland.

“I’ve definitely thought so myself, but we’re not at that stage right now, because nothing has happened yet,” she said. “But if it were to happen, then I would also agree that that would be the right way to do it.”

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics