He got involved in biathlon when in 1994, he went for a year to a Norwegian town in a student exchange program.

Within three years of returning home to Alaska, he was the Junior World Champion of biathlon.

[3] Hakkinen placed 10th in the 20-kilometer individual race at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

He had the 2nd fastest skiing time of anyone in the competition, but failed to medal because of penalties he earned while shooting.

[1][4] He vowed to medal in his next event, but instead missed all five targets and fell quickly out of contention.