When Wanaka's Campbell Wright won gold at the Biathlon Junior World Championships earlier this month not only was it a win for New Zealand but also the United States.
Wright is a Kiwi athlete but also holds American citizenship and for a year he's been training with the US team, benefitting from their high performance set up.
"One of my closer teammates, he got third in the race that I won," said Wright.
"We talked about it every single training in the summer - if we can share the podium at the Junior Worlds that would be the sickest thing!
"Everyone on that US team was just stoked that we were able to get on the podium!"
It's left some asking whether Wright will join the US not just as a training partner moving forward, but fulltime as an athlete.
"That's a good question. That's the million dollar question," said the 20-year-old.
"I could! There is the option, but I don't know at the moment - I'm happy being a plus-one.
"It's a bit more of a bigger conversation than just where my heart lies."
That may be because love doesn't pay the bills but the USA could with America's interest in Wright clear from the beginning, Biathlon NZ chairman Tim David said.
"The reason they invited him is they hoped he would join their team as an athlete in the future," David said.
"I think it's probably a certainty that it's going to happen - but the question is when.
"America's influence on Campbell has so far been beneficial, not just proving in his results but also in his overall wellbeing."
Wright said those benefits have stemmed from a strong training group with "a bunch of guys who are also not terrible" around him giving him motivation.
"Also outside of training at dinner time and breakfast you're not just alone - I've seen a noticeable increase in my morale being in a team so that's nice," he said.
This year's biathlon season has finished which means a transfer window is now open for discussion to happen which David said is a "high possibility".
"Campbell wants to stay as a Kiwi and still train with the Americans," said David. "But I think the Americans at the end of the day want their part of the deal as well."
Wright is just 20-years-old but shows huge potential already, having bagged top 20 finishes on the world circuit against biathletes almost twice his age and in their prime.
High Performance Sport New Zealand has committed $40,000 - which is $10,000 a year - to support Wright in this Olympic cycle - but David warned money isn't everything.
"You can't buy the culture, you can't buy the scale of the sport in a nation," he said.
"In America they have hundreds of biathlon clubs and thousands of athletes - We have one club."
That club is Snow Farm based in Cardrona where Wright grew up skiing the slopes but going forward, NZ Biathlon doesn't want its limitations to impact the future star.
"We just want what's best for Campbell," said David.
"We are not losing a Kiwi here - we are giving a Kiwi the best chance to be world class and have a great life doing it."
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