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Havre-company-sponsored twins switch spots for winter Olympics

Twin sisters Tracy and Lanny Barnes have been highlighted in the media a lot in recent days.

They've been on CNN and the "Today" show. They have been featured by The Associated Press.

The biathletes from Durango, Colo., were recently trying out for next month's Olympics in Russia.

This would have been Tracy's second and Lanny's third Olympics.

Lanny was sick with a cold and the flu and didn't perform as well as she's been doing lately. She got cut from the team, and Tracy made the team.

But Tracy was sure that Lanny was peaking and was at the top of her career. She suspected this was Lanny's last shot at the Olympics.

To the shock of Lanny, some of her friends and most of the sports world, Tracy gave her spot on the team to her sister.

"Lanny is my best friend and my teammate," Tracy said.

Tracy's decision didn't shock Renelle Braaten of Havre. She has long known the twins.

"I was surprised but not surprised," she said. "They are very devoted to each other.

"I just wish there was a way both of them could have gone," Braaten added.

Braaten, president and founder of Enell Inc., which makes sports bras for well-endowed women, has known the twins since they came to her asking for sponsorship several years ago.

They told Braaten that they used her bras and appreciate them.

Braaten looked into the women's history and liked what she saw.

"Their parents did something right," she said. "They are exceptional people."

Braaten has had the twins in Havre twice. She has had them speak to high school groups, sports groups and students at Montana State University-Northern.

They have become a fine representatives of the company, Braaten said. They have helped advertise the sports bras.

Tracy Barnes told the Havre Daily News she withdrew from the Olympics "because I thought it was something I could do for Lanny."

She said her sister was taken aback by the offer, but bowed to Tracy's pressure and agreed to the deal.

She said she had no idea how much media attention this would create.

"It's been kind of unbelievable," she said.

Tracy said she is meeting with U.S. officials in hopes of getting the needed passport and paperwork completed so she can go to Russia to cheer on Lanny and her teammates.

It's not certain when Lanny will be competing, she said.

In any event, she said, she is excited for her sister and not fearful about their safety in Russia, despite media reports of suspected terrorist activity at the games.

"I feel safe," she said. "I have every confidence that the Russian government can handle things."

 

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