Women Vying for Final Downhill Spots

BEAVER CREEK, CO (Feb. 1, 2015) - Athletes from around the globe have arrived in Vail/Beaver Creek for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. For the American women, Monday's opening downhill training run down Raptor will be a vital piece towards getting a starting bib for Friday's women's downhill. Racing opens Tuesday with the women's super G.

U.S. Ski Team coaches said Sunday that all three scheduled training runs will be considered in determining who will start on Friday. Audi FIS Ski World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) and Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) have already clinched start spots by selection criteria. The remaining two spots are up for grabs between Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA), Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO) and Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR).

Women's Head Speed Coach Stef Abplanalp said Sunday that a single time trial won't be used. "From experience, if you do a time trial that often becomes the main race for the athlete and they don't usually contend for medals," said Abplanalp. "We'll look at all three of the training runs and make a decisionl"

In Tuesday's opening super G the U.S. Ski Team is expected to enter Vonn, Mancuso, Cook and Ross. 

Start time Tuesday is 11:00 a.m. MST with live coverage on NBCSN with live streaming on NBC Sports Live Extra.