February 11, 2013 (New Gloucester, Maine) – Bill Ryan, Chairman and founder of US Biathlon Foundation, announced today that he is stepping down and Mark Burton, a Senior Advisor at Evercore Partners, will take over as Chairman, effective immediately. Ryan will continue to serve as a trustee.

“As a lifelong sports fan, I came to biathlon late in my life, but I’ve become hooked,” said Ryan, retired Chairman and CEO of TD Bank. “It was my goal with the Foundation to ensure America’s biathletes have the resources they need to compete against the best in the world, and to put together a group of America’s top business leaders to meet the challenge. I believe the board of the US Biathlon Foundation reflects that. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in our first two years and know that it will be in very good hands under Mark’s leadership.”

Mark Burton is an original member of the Foundation, which was incorporated in the spring of 2010. Prior to his time at Evercore, Burton was a Vice Chairman at Lehman Brothers and a member of their Strategic Committee, Senior Client Council and Business Development Committee.

“Biathlon is the last US Winter Olympic sport yet to win a medal, but the team is very talented and deep,” said Burton. “All of the trustees and I are excited about creating the funding to help our athletes make Olympic history in Sochi next winter.”

Biathlon, an Olympic sport that combines the aerobic aspects of cross-country skiing with the precision of rifle marksmanship, is Europe’s most popular winter sport with a TV viewership of over 900 million and total impressions of over 1 billion. NBC Sports Network will broadcast the 2013 Biathlon World Championships, Feb. 9-12  in the United States. One of the athletes to watch is Tim Burke (Paul Smiths,NY), who has worn the yellow bib as the top-ranked biathlete in the world.