March 28, 2008 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – Little known fact: if not for the timing of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Kikkan Randall might have come to Fairbanks to ski for the Alaska Nanooks. “I actually did seriously consider it,” Randall said Thursday night at the Wedgewood Resort. “If the Olympics hadn’t been so close, there’s a good chance I would have jumped on the opportunity.”

Not long after Randall graduated East Anchorage High School in 2001, she was recruited by then-University of Alaska Fairbanks coach Bill McDonnell. Randall twice visited Fairbanks, and among those who showed her around was Norwegian skier Sigrid Aas, who went on a few years later to win a pair of NCAA championships.

That trio was reunited Thursday at a dinner hosted by Wells Fargo Bank (McDonnell’s current employer), and Randall and Aas gave inspirational talks as the featured speakers. The pair is in town for the Tour of the Golden Heart Spring Series, which includes U.S. National Championships races tonight (Friday) in the skiathlon (pursuit) and Sunday in the marathon.

Randall’s decision to reject UAF and pursue the Olympics has panned out just fine. At age 19, she participated in the 2002 Games in her birth town of Salt Lake City, and then in Italy in 2006 achieved ninth place in the sprint, the best-ever U.S. female Olympic Nordic skiing result. She’s since topped even that, landing on the sprint World Cup podium in Russia in January 2007, then returning to Rybinsk last December and achieving another American female first — a World Cup victory.

Randall, 25, who first stood on skis at age one and expressed the goal of making the Olympics at age 5, talked about that World Cup success as she detailed her career. “I got to the finish line and was just amazed, like oh my gosh, what just happened?” she said. “It was just an incredible realization of a dream.” It has also boosted competitive skiing in the U.S.

“I had no idea what impact it was going to have on the American ski community,” said Randall, a member of the U.S. Ski Team who trains primarily with Alaska Pacific University. “I think all of a sudden, people are realizing that Americans can win these races.”

Randall’s profile has certainly been raised, and she’s more in demand to speak at functions which she attended with Canadian fiance Jeff Ellis. But Randall enjoys giving back to the sport, especially by visiting elementary schools as part of the Healthy Futures program. “I’ve learned to ride my unicycle in, get their attention, tell them what I was doing at their age and show them a slide show,” Randall said. “It’s been really fun and I’ve gotten to meet a lot of kids. I hope I can have the impact on them that my role models had on me.”

Unfortunately, fans hoping to see “Kikkanimal” in action will have to wait until perhaps Sunday. After winning three golds last week at the Canadian National Championships on the 2010 Olympics trails in Whistler, British Columbia, Randall injured her back Sunday in a freak fall. “I was really looking forward to the pursuit. It’s a fun event,” Randall said. “I’m bummed to be sitting out but I’ll be out there cheering everybody on and hope (the back) comes around for Sunday.”

Aas, however, is entered in the stacked women’s 15-kilometer field. And Russian-turned-Canadian Ivan Babikov and Kris Freeman of the U.S. Ski Team are signed up for the men’s 30-kilometer race, which starts at 6:15 p.m. at Birch Hill Recreation Area. The women’s mass-start begins at 5 p.m.

Aas was not heavily recruited when she came to UAF in 2000. “None of the other universities wanted her. No one thought she was good enough,” McDonnell said. “And I’ll tell you the truth, after the first time I saw her rollerski, I didn’t think she was good enough, either.”

Aas proved him wrong, though, with a stellar four-year career. Then after graduating UAF in 2004, she returned to Norway, where she has had ups and downs ski racing as she pursues a master’s degree in journalism. Aas expounded on those challenges during her speech on Wednesday. “It’s easy to get distracted and lose faith in yourself,” she said. “In the end, you have to really believe in yourself if you want to improve. There are no shortcuts to success in any field.”