To paraphrase hip-hop pioneer LL Cool J, "Call it a comeback, but Duncan Douglas has been here for years."

Douglas, the Potsdam high school graduate who competed for the United States in the biathlon in the Winter Olympics in 1992 and 1994 has his sights set on Vancouver in 2010, calling a third Olympic games "a definite possibility."

"I'm trying to come back in biathlon," said Douglas in an interview late last month. "I was in Europe a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying to move into the top two or three (in the U.S.)."

Douglas didn't try out for the Olympics in 1998 or 2002, and missed qualifying for the 2006 games in Turin, Italy, by three places. Throughout it all, he's kept up the same relentless training schedule that has awed coaches and fellow athletes since the late 1980s.

Douglas was born in New York City and moved to Southampton on Long Island at age 9. When he was 11, he moved to Potsdam as a talented cyclist and runner and attended school there. After a short time at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, he graduated from Potsdam.

Douglas attended St. Lawrence University for a couple of semesters, picking up cross-country skiing under former Saints coach Bob Axtell. At SLU, he learned biathlon, a taxing sport that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting, and eventually made the U.S. team.

His ability to push himself to the limit became almost legendary in winter sports circles. Athletes and coaches would talk about Douglas getting up at 3 a.m. to bike five hours to his coach's house in Vermont. They would discuss Douglas going on midnight runs at a nearby golf course, and running up Whiteface Mountain, then jumping on one leg on the way down.

Douglas has dismissed the stories as irrelevant. But his training was good enough for Olympic trips to France and Norway. In 1992, he finished 55th in the 10-kilometer race, 59th in the 20K and 13th in the 4x71/2K relay. In 1994, He was 65th in the 10K and 14th in the relay.

Since, Douglas, 42, has competed in races as diverse as World Cup races in Europe and the Tug Hill Tourathon.

Douglas, now a doctor of anesthesiology in Rochester and a U.S. National Guard reservist, lives in Honeoye Falls. He remains as busy as he was during his Olympic years. He's married to former SLU skier Kim Baumer and is the father of three sons and a daughter.