An outdoors enthusiast, Aidan Oldenburg speaks fondly of time in the woods as he hunted, fished, and explored along the Little Cobb River by his home near Pemberton, Minnesota. Pemberton is a small town of 229 people (2020 census) about 90 miles southwest of Minneapolis but a mere 17 miles from the regional city of Mankato where Aidan was born in 2001.
The third child of Steve, who has worked professionally in IT, and Christine Oldenburg, a technical writer, Aidan and his siblings, Alex, Connor, and Ethan, were homeschooled until 11th grade by his mom. Nevertheless, Aidan was able to take advantage of participating in activities offered at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Public Schools. He competed briefly in cross country and football and multiple years in trap shooting, bowling, and track and field. Aidan was captain, all-conference, and qualified for the 2018 state bowling tournament in his senior year. In track and field, the 5 ft 10 inch athlete was a pole vaulter and tied for 8th place at the 2019 Class A state championships, clearing a height of 13 ft 6 inches. “I made a big jump my senior year. My pole vault coach, Tim Johnson, spent a lot of nights practicing with me, and I attended a pole vault camp at Gustavus Adolphus College,” says Aidan of his improvement in the event. His vault tied the school record set by Coach Johnson when he was runner-up at the 1990 state meet.
Aidan’s varied interests ran the gamut. “I also did National History Day performances, yoyoing and juggling talent contests and shows, and I was heavily involved in my local 4-H club throughout my childhood and into high school,” he states. And that is all in addition to his Olympic sport which he started casually at age 10 at the Mankato Curling Club.
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To see more on this story pick up the January 29, 2026 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.