4-time Olympic skier skips season to have baby

Alik Keplicz / AP

Kikkan Randall of the United States competes during qualification of the Women’s World Cup Cross Country Ski 1.5-km Sprint on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, in Szklarska Poreba, Poland.

Associated Press

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 | 9:18 p.m.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A four-time Olympian and one of the most decorated American cross-county skiers is taking off this season to have a baby.

World champion skier Kikkan (KEEK'-an) Randall and her husband, Jeff Ellis, of Anchorage, Alaska, announced they are expecting their first child in April.

The 32-year-old Randall says in a release that she and Ellis thought this was a good time to start a family. She plans to skip this year but compete in 2016-17. She says she's also keeping focused on the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Randall is a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Cross Country team. She has three World Cup titles and two World Championship medals, including gold in team sprint in 2013 with Jessie Diggins of Afton, Minnesota.