Olympic notebook: Former Seawolf already earned Olympic metal. Now he wants a medal.

Dave Duncan, a three-time Olympian whose career included four years on the UAA alpine ski team, likes to joke about his first Winter Olympics.

He went to the 2010 Vancouver Games as a medal contender in the new sport of skicross, but a training accident ended his Olympics prematurely and he left without gold, silver or bronze.

But he didn't leave empty-handed.

"The medal I won was titanium," Duncan joked this week from Pyeongchang, South Korea.

A titanium plate and nine screws to be precise, hardware that was needed after Duncan broke his collarbone.

Duncan, 35, will compete in men's skicross on Tuesday (Wednesday in South Korea). He placed 26th in Sochi and is coming off a sixth-place finish in a December World Cup race in Switzerland. In a career that dates back to 2007, Duncan has earned seven World Cup podium finishes and two X Games medals.

How much longer he'll remain in the sport is uncertain right now, because his sole focus is performing well in Pyeongchang.

"The goal is still the same as every other time – to be my best and hopefully walk away with a podium," Duncan said.

"What's next gets looked at after the 21st (the day after his competition). Everything has been leading up to this moment."

Duncan, who grew up in London, Ontario, and lives in Whistler, British Columbia, skied slalom and giant slalom for UAA from 2002-06. He was the team MVP twice and a Chancellor's List scholar twice and graduated with a degree in aviation.

He stayed in Alaska for about a year after he graduated to work for a heli-ski business. He considered joining Canada's armed forces and becoming a helicopter pilot, but then he discovered the burgeoning sport of skicross. By 2007, Duncan had earned a spot on Canada's national team.

He's been a full-time skicross racer ever since.

"I have an appreciation for it more at my age," he said. "I've got friends I've grown up with my entire life and they've gone the more normal way, and I feel incredibly grateful that I found a sport and made it to a level that's allowed me to do this for this long and maybe even longer."

Duncan still has friends in Alaska and makes it back every other summer to reunite with a rugby team he played with while he was in Anchorage.

"Alaska still holds a special place in my heart," he said.

Duncan often says coming to UAA to ski was one of the best decisions he's ever made. It made him a better skier, it introduced him to aviation, and it's where he met his wife.

"Skiing's treated me very well," Duncan said.

Seawolves on ice

One former UAA hockey player is headed to the quarterfinals and another faces a knockout game in the men's hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics.

Mat Robinson, who played at UAA from 2005-09, will play in the quarterfinals with Canada. The Canadians on Wednesday will face the winner of a knockout game between Finland and South Korea.

Luka Vidmar, who played at UAA from 2007-11, is a member of the Slovenia team that shocked the United States early in the tournament. Slovenia faces Norway in an elimination game that will decide who advances to a quarterfinal game against Olympic Athletes from Russia.

In three preliminary games, Robinson, a defenseman, was scoreless but has seen a lot of action, playing more than 20 minutes in each game. Besides the win over South Korea, Canada beat Switzerland 5-1 and lost to the Czech Republic 3-2 in a shootout.

Vidmar scored one assist in Slovenia's three preliminary games, getting the helper in the upset of the United States. In its other games, Slovenia lost 8-2 to OAR and beat Slovakia 3-2 in a shootout.

Mirai Nagasu’s Alaska link

When Mirai Nagasu made history by becoming the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics, a coach with deep Alaska roots was among those cheering and guiding her.

Juneau-born Drew Meekins, a coach and choreographer for the Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado, is part of Nagasu's crew in Pyeongchang.

Meekins, 32, is the grandson of Russ Meekins Sr., a member of the first Alaska Legislature who homesteaded with his wife Adele in what is now Mountain View. They arrived in Alaska in 1946 and spent the rest of their lives here.

He's the son of Russ Meekins Jr., who served in the legislature from 1973-82, and Nancy Harvey, who moved from Alaska to Massachusetts when Drew was still a youngster.

Meekins won a World Junior Championship in pairs with Julia Vlassov in 2006 and later became a competitive and professional dancer. He's coaching two Olympic athletes in Pyeongchang — Nagasu and Vincent Zhou, who finished sixth in men's singles.