It was a glitter, face paint, and team socks kind of day as the FIS Cross Country World Cup season continued with the team relays Sunday in Lahti, Finland. Although Norway once again swept the men and women’s races, the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team’s spirit won the day.

“Really proud of this team (the men and women’s) for giving it our all this morning,” said Jessie Diggins. “The highlight of my day was, of course, getting to hand out the socks and put the USA face paint on our guys and gals. I love the team spirit of relay day and it keeps racing fun!”

The women’s 4x5k event and the men’s 4x7.5k event featured the first two athletes of each team skiing classic technique and the second two skiing freestyle technique. For the U.S. teams, new faces and new techniques were the order of the day. The women’s team included Rosie Brennan skiing the opening 5k classic, Diggins the second classic leg, then Sophia Laukli skiing freestyle in the third leg, and Caitlin Patterson skiing the anchor freestyle leg. All four U.S. women were skiing a team relay together for the first time. For Laukli, it was only her second World Cup race following her debut in Saturday’s skiathlon.

The U.S. men enjoyed some unique familiarity as all four teammates are from Alaska, including three from the same club team - Alaska Pacific University (APU). David Norris kicked off the race, skiing the first 7.5k classic leg, Gus Schumacher skied the second classic leg with Scott Patterson skiing the third leg freestyle, and Hunter Wonders, who also made his World Cup debut in Saturday’s skiathlon, skiing the anchor freestyle leg. Norris, Wonder, and Patterson all ski for APU, while Schumacher skis for Alaska Winter Stars.

With the 2021 FIS Nordic World Championships coming up next month in Oberstdorf, Germany, Sunday’s event provided a unique opportunity for athletes to not only gain World Cup and international experience but continue to build fitness for World Champs and try something different along the way.

“After a decade (literally - and wow that makes me feel old) of anchoring the U.S. relay team, I was very excited to try something a little different,” Diggins said. “For the first time in my life I asked to ski a classic leg and it was really fun to try something new. I think skating will always be my first love, but I’m finding a better and better relationship with my classic skiing over the years and this was a great place to work on improving it!”

Sunday’s distance team relay is the only one on the World Cup schedule this season. There are, however, two freestyle team sprints - which feature two athletes per team - on this year’s schedule. The first one took place in Dresden, Germany, last month, and the second one is scheduled for Feb. 6 in Ulricehamn, Sweden. The only other distance team relay this season will take place on March 4, a 4x5k event for the women, and March 5, a 4x10k event for the men, at the World Championships.

Up next, the FIS Cross Country World Cup Tour moves to Falun, Sweden, Jan. 29-31 with both freestyle and classic distance events, and a classic sprint. Heading into next weekend’s events, Diggins and Brennan are currently 1-2 in the overall World Cup standings, and World Cup distance standings.

RESULTS
Women’s 4x5k relay
Men’s 4x7.5k relay

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup overall
Women’s World Cup distance
Men’s World Cup overall
Men’s World Cup distance

Chloe Kim is back! After a 22 month hiatus from competition, Kim has not skipped a beat. Reminiscent of Jamie Anderson’s performance in slopestyle one day prior, the defending Olympic and World Champion came in clutch on Saturday in her final run to take the win and earn her third Laax Open title. 

“I’m so excited,” said Kim. “The 30-minute wait in between runs was so nerve racking, but I just tried to visualize over and over and talk to my coaches. I was able to stay positive the whole time, which I think really helped me. I couldn’t ask for more.”

After an uncharacteristic fall in the first run, Kim decided to tone it down for her second run and not unleash a new trick, as well as the famed back-to-back 1080 combination displayed at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

“Tonight I wanted to try a new trick on my second run, but at the end of the day, winning is more important,” said a relieved Kim. “I wanted to put something down and told myself I didn’t need to go as big as I did on my first run. I just wanted to slow things down a bit.”

Not only has Kim topping the podium once again, but she’s showing wisdom beyond her years with her approach and competitive strategy. This win marks Kim’s eighth World Cup halfpipe win in 12 starts. Japan’s Mitsuka Ono and Sena Tomita rounded out the podium in second and third place respectively. 

For the men, Olympian Taylor Gold rode very well, but couldn’t put it all together with a complete top to bottom run and finished ninth. Although 18-year-old and new U.S. Snowboard Pro Team member Joey Okesson struggled on his opening tricks in the pipe, there is arguably no better place to gain valuable elite-level competition experience than at a legendary event like the Laax Open. 

Japan’s Yuto Totsuka and Ruka Hirano took first and third place respectively, while Australia's Scotty James finished second. 

The U.S. Snowboard Team will head to Buttermilk, Colo., for X Games Aspen Jan. 29-31, where Kim will look to repossess another title dropping in as the defending champion from 2019. U.S. Snowboard Halfpipe Pro Team Head Coach Rick Bower is confident heading into next week. 

“Looking forward to X Games, we have a strong crew ready to compete,” said Bower. “Chloe and Maddie [Mastro] are at the tip of the spear in women’s halfpipe snowboarding progression and I know that Laax will only be fuel for the fire next week.”

WATCH THE REPLAY ON PEACOCK

RESULTS:
Women’s snowboard halfpipe finals
Men’s snowboard halfpipe finals

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Delayed Broadcast*

Saturday, Jan. 23
FIS Snowboard World Cup Halfpipe Finals - REPLAY - Laax, Switzerland, Streaming Peacock, Olympic Channel-TV
7:00 p.m. - FIS Snowboard World Cup Slopestyle Finals - Laax, Switzerland, NBCSN*
11:00 p.m. - FIS Snowboard World Cup Halfpipe Finals - Laax, Switzerland, NBCSN*

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Under the lights in downtown Moscow, Russia, Winter Vinecki topped the podium at the FIS Aerials World Cup for her first career podium. Vinecki stomped her new double-full full to score 94.11 points, beating current World Cup leader Australia’s Laura Peel, who came in second, and Canada’s Marion Thenault, who came in third. 

Vinecki’s podium has been hard-fought and a long time coming. During summer training in 2017 Vinecki fractured the right side of her face and had to have two titanium plates inserted to recover. Three weeks later she was back to ramping and focused on making Team USA for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. However, injury prevented her from pursuing that qualification process. Vinecki, no stranger to hard work and perseverance, continues to be dedicated to the aerial skiing Olympic Dream. She won Saturday’s event with a trick she only brought to snow during the World Cup Opener in Ruka on Dec. 4. Executing it at a winning level is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication to her sport. 

"I just can't believe it," said Vinecki. "I am so excited! It’s been a long road coming back from injuries and being so close to podiums so many times. I don’t know how many top sixes I have had and so to finally have that podium moment, let alone that first place is incredible."

"The biggest thing was just getting my double-in and doing a nice one to my feet," Vinecki reflected on how the night came together. "It has always been a bit of a struggle for me getting that last jump in the last run. I did my usual full full for qualies. I did another really nice full full to get me into the top six. I sealed the deal with that double-in. At the end of the night, it was just waiting to see if I was first or second, I'm beyond stoked."

Vinecki has been a professional athlete from a young age, starting out in marathon running and triathlons before finding aerial skiing. She competes in memory of her late father, who passed away from cancer, and seeks to bring awareness to her causes through her athletic endeavors. "A lot of what I've done in my athletic career, whether it be running or skiing, has always been in honor of my dad in some way. To get out on the podium, let alone a win, just increases my platform with more awareness to my causes. It was a super memorable moment out here tonight."

"Winter finally nailed her first podium, she crushed it," said head Aerials Coach Vladimir (Vlad) Lebedev. "Her jump was beautiful, she did amazing, I'm very proud of her."

It was a perfectly clear night with impressive views from the iconic scaffold jump at the 11th edition of the classic Moscow city World Cup. 10 Americans represented the U.S. and six qualified for finals.

The women had a strong showing with Vinecki, Ashley Caldwell, Dani Loeb and Megan Smallhouse all jumping in the round of 12. Loeb finished 11th in her first finals appearance in a two-final World Cup format. Smallhouse placed ninth. Caldwell landed both of her finals jumps under her feet and ended the night in fifth.

After a slow start to the 2020-21 competition season, Chris Lillis proved his skill with his first podium of the season in second place. This is Lillis’ fourth career World Cup podium. Lillis had a strong showing all night, qualifying in third for finals and consistently jumped tall and straight. His last double-full full full earned him a score of 116.74 points, blowing everyone out of the water, except for the night’s winner and current World Cup leader, Russia’s Maxim Burov. Switzerland’s Noe Roth rounded out the men’s podium in third. 

Lillis' path to the podium was hard-fought as well. He crashed during training in Yaroslavl, preventing him from competing those events. He credits Peter Toohey for rehabbing him well enough to be competitive this weekend.  "It felt great to be on the podium," Lillis said. "This week was a tough week for me because of that crash last week. It was questionable whether I would be able to compete this week. I was already jumping from behind and with fewer numbers, it was probably the least amount of training I've done going into a World Cup. I kind of can't believe it based on the week and a half I've had."

"Chris finally back!" said Vlad. "He had a hard couple of weeks since his crash. I'm excited to see him back on the podium."

Justin Schoenefeld also represented the U.S. in finals. His full double-full full in the first round started him off strong. However, he tripped up in the landing, breaking one of his ski bindings and losing the ski in the process. Luckily, Schoenefeld is an adept skier and was able to ski away to end the night in 10th place. "Justin landed and I don’t know what happened," commented Vlad. "His jump was beautiful. All this week he performed so well. It was a bummer to have that equipment malfunction, but happy that he skied away and is okay."

Kaila Kuhn finished 13th, Megan Nick 22nd, Eric Loughran 13th and Quinn Dehlinger 26th. 

"I'm looking forward to getting healthy and juping with a normal amount of training," said Lillis. "I'm happy to have a result I'm proud of. We have a great vibe going on with the team right now. This trip has been challenging but seems like everyone keeps on fighting. We're dealing with a lot of extra challenges with travel but happy to have this crew I'm with."

Aerials heads next to Raubichi, Minsk, for their final international World Cup stop of this leg of the tour, scheduled for Jan. 30.

RESULTS
Women’s Aerials
Men’s Aerials

Three-time Olympian Faye Gulini earned her third World Cup podium on Saturday with a second-place finish at the Chiesea in Valmalenco snowboardcross season opener in Italy. In her 14th season competing on the World Cup, Gulini credits her performance to experience. 

“I knew it would be difficult to jump back into competition after such a long break, but I have been doing this for a long time,” said Gulini at 28-years-old. “As you get older, you get smarter, and every season you are a few steps ahead of where you were before. I feel I know more about myself as an athlete and was able to find a really strong headspace for today’s race. I knew it would be more challenging this season with fewer training opportunities available due to COVID, but I did my best to put that behind me and focus on what I know I can do.”

The women’s big final was stacked with 2018 Olympic Champion Michela Moioli winning the event and 2019 FIS World Champion Eva Samkova finishing third. U.S. Development Group athlete Stacy Gaskill earned her career-best World Cup result finishing 10th.

Gulini was not the only U.S. rider to make a run at the podium. U.S. Snowboardcross Pro Team members Hagen Kearney and Jake Vedder both broke the top-10 finishing fourth and eighth respectively. Glenn De Blois of the Netherlands topped the podium followed by Eliot Grondin of Canada in second and Lorenzo Sommariva of Italy in third.

Gulini spoke to the team motivation that has been the catalyst to their early success. 

“We know the future of the sport depends on all of us earning results and promoting snowboardcross,” she said. “Even though it’s an individual sport, we are all quite supportive of each other. Today the U.S. was definitely the most vocal team out there cheering relentlessly. Knowing we have the support of our team and staff gives us the extra confidence and boost that we all need. We want it as bad for each other as we do for ourselves.”

While a difficult off-season could tear many teams apart, the U.S. Snowboardcross Team seems to be finding their groove among athletes, coaches, and staff. 

“All around we have been able to maintain a super high level of training despite everything that’s going on,” said U.S. Snowboardcross Team Head Coach Peter Foley. “All the athletes maintained their physical fitness, everyone has been very diligent regarding health and safety precautions, and our wax program has been truly amazing. All these elements combined with positive attitudes across the board contributed to our success today.”

U.S. riders will take to the course at Chiesea in Valmalenco again on Sunday, Jan. 24, for the second and final race of the program. Tune in on NBC’s broadcast and streaming platforms to catch all the action. 

REPLAY

RESULTS
Women’s Snowboardcross Finals
Men’s Snowboardcross Finals
 

HOW TO WATCH
All times in EST
Delayed Broadcast*

Sunday, Jan. 24
8:00 a.m. - FIS Snowboardcross World Cup Finals - LIVE - Chiesea in Valmalenco, Italy, Streaming Peacock
12:00 p.m. -  FIS Snowboardcross World Cup Finals - Chiesea in Valmalenco, Italy, Olympic Channel-TV*
10:00 p.m. - FIS Snowboardcross World Cup Finals - Chiesea in Valmalenco, Italy, NBCSN*

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Jessie Diggins finished fifth to lead the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team in Saturday’s skiathlon as the FIS Cross Country World Cup circuit resumed in Lahti, Finland.

Norway swept the top three in the women’s 15k race which featured 7.5k of classic, and 7.5k of freestyle with Therese Johaug earning her fourth World Cup victory of the season by 28 seconds over Helene Marie Fossesholm, who took a four-up sprint to the line for second, with Heidi Weng crossing in third. Sweden’s Ebba Andersson was fourth, just ahead of Diggins in fifth. Rosie Brennan was 11th and moved up to second in the overall World Cup standings behind Diggins.

“Today I dared greatly and tried to stay with Johaug for as long as I could in the classic half, and that was definitely my best classic effort on the World Cup so far!” Diggins said. “In the skate half I had to keep adjusting my strategy, but I was proud of myself for giving it my all and doing the best I had. In the end, you can only control your own race effort and I was proud of that.”

In the men’s 30k, Gus Schumacher led the way for the U.S. Team, finishing 18th in his first World Cup skiathlon. Scott Patterson posted an impressive result in 21st - his best World Cup result so far this season. David Norris was 32nd in his first World Cup race of the season, while Adam Martin was 45th and Hunter Wonders was 46th in his first career World Cup race. Norway also swept the men’s podium, with Emil Iverson taking the victory, followed by Sjur Roethe in second and Paal Goldberg in third. 

"It was nice to have a good one today after wanting a little more throughout the Tour de Ski," Scott Patterson said. "I was looking forward to today as one of the relatively few opportunities where we got to race more than 15k. The classic portion felt fairly chaotic and fast, but I was feeling quite good for the skate. I’m a little regretful that our pack couldn’t work together slightly better and pull up a few more places, but overall I am quite happy with today and looking forward to more fast racing in the weeks to come."

Sophia Laukli made her World Cup debut and finished an impressive 33rd. Her father Bjorn, grew up in Norway and she has dual citizenship and has been spending the past few weeks living, training, and racing in Norway while taking classes online for her sophomore year at Vermont’s Middlebury College.

“It was a lot of fun, pretty chaotic first race to have for sure,” said Laukli, who finished 13th in the skiathlon at the Norweigan National Championships last week. “I felt pretty good though!”

Chaotic indeed! Just two minutes into the race, Laukli avoided a pile-up on a fast downhill left-hand corner that scattered almost half the field. Unfortunately, her teammates were not as fortunate as Caitlin Patterson, Julia Kern, and Alayna Sonnesyn were all caught up in the melee. Patterson finished 37th, Kern was 40th and Sonnesyn was 43rd.

For Diggins, Brennan, Kern, Schumacher, and Scott Patterson, Saturday’s race was the first since the Tour de Ski ended on Jan. 10. Following the Tour de Ski, members of the Davis U.S. Cross Country Team retreated to Seiser Alm, Italy, for 10 days of rest and recovery. Jumping back into racing, the athletes are always left to wonder how their body will respond to race pace efforts. 

“It's always hard to know how the body is going to bounce back from an event like the Tour de Ski,” Brennan said. “As a result, I decided to start controlled and then see what I had when I switched to skating. I felt much stronger in classic than I have all season and as a result, maybe should have been more aggressive in the classic leg, but hindsight is always 20/20. After the transition to skate, my muscles struggled a bit, but I found better movements and strength as the skate portion went on. There wasn't much space to move in the skate portion and I feel I missed some moves that I shouldn't have but had a strong final climb to move up a bit.”

Up next, the women race a 4x5k relay for the women with Brennan, Diggins, Laukli, and Caitlin Patterson, and a 4x7.5k relay for the men with Norris, Schumacher, Scott Patterson, and Wonders representing the USA.

RESULTS
Women’s 15k skiathlon
Men’s 30k skiathlon

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup overall
Women’s World Cup distance
Men’s World Cup overall
Men’s World Cup distance

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Sunday, Jan. 24
3:30 a.m. FIS Cross-Country World Cup Women's 4x5km Relay - LIVE, Lahti, FIN, Streaming Peacock
4:30 a.m. FIS Cross-Country World Cup Men's 4x5km Relay - LIVE, Lahti, FIN, Streaming Peacock

Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Breezy Johnson grabbed yet another top-five result in Saturday’s FIS Ski World Cup downhill at Crans-Montana, Switzerland—her fifth-straight top five in downhill this season. Bella Wright continued the points-scoring momentum, landing in 25th. 

Snow fell overnight once again, but the Swiss Army came to the rescue at Crans-Montana, clearing the track and enabling a fair and safe race to take place, despite the fact that it was a bit soft. Italy’s Sofia Goggia won her fourth-straight downhill race and was joined on the podium by Switzerland’s Lara Gut (+.27), followed by Italy’s Elena Curtoni (+.60). 

Coming into Saturday, Johnson had scored four consecutive third-place finishes in downhill races during the 2020-21 season, and for a moment it looked like she’d break that trend, as she skied into second place behind Goggia. Then, Gut skied a clean and solid run into second, bumping Johnson to third place. For another moment, it appeared she’d once again grab a third. However, Curtoni snuck in there, as well as teammate Laura Pirovano, pushing Johnson back to fifth and breaking her third-place streak. 

“I came down and I thought, ‘there’s no way this is going to be a podium run, and then I was in second and I was like wooooo...maybe I broke the streak in a good direction,’ and then I broke the streak in the not-as-good direction,” Johnson said after the race. “But, I’m still happy with fifth place, it’s a great step forward for me and I’ll keep building and keeping moving up.”

After five downhill races and heading into Garmisch, Johnson sits in second in the downhill standings, behind Goggia. Johnson had a previous career-best fourth at Garmisch in the downhill in 2018—a race that former teammate Lindsey Vonn won. “I’m really excited for Garmisch—it’s one of my favorite tracks—it’s where I scored my first points, and moving on to that race is very exciting,” Johnson added. “And, obviously, super-G tomorrow—I really love the super-G slope here.”

Bella Wright continued her momentum, finishing in 25th, her fourth-straight points-scoring race. Rounding out the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Laurenne Ross—in just her fourth race back from injury—was 37th. Jackie Wiles, who returned to competition this weekend after being sidelined for a broken clavicle, was 41st. 

Speaking of Vonn, she joined Dan Hicks to make her debut in announcing on Saturday, and will also call Sunday’s super-G alongside Hicks. 

The women will wrap up the speed weekend with a super-G Sunday before the women’s tech crew heads to Kronplatz, Italy for a giant slalom on Tuesday. 

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 23
4:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Downhill - same-day broadcast, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN
6:00 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill - next day broadcast, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Jan. 24
4:20 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock
6:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - LIVE, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - LIVE, Crans Montana, SUI, Streaming Peacock
6:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - same-day broadcast, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN

Monday, Jan. 25
4:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Super-G - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock

Tuesday, Jan. 26
4:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Streaming Peacock
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Chanel
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Streaming Peacock
11:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Schladming, AUT, Streaming Peacock
2:45 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Schladming, AUT, Streaming Peacock
11:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill (Sunday), Kitzbuehel, AUT, Broadcast NBCSN
12:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Kronplatz, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

After snowfall at Kitzbuehel, Austria on Friday night through Saturday morning, the second of two men's downhill races have been rescheduled for Sunday, Jan. 24th. The super-G, originally scheduled for Sunday, will now be held on Monday, Jan. 25th. 

The new program for the famous Hahnenkamm races at Kitzbuehel will be the following:

Sunday 24th January: Hahnenkamm Downhill at 10.20 CET
Monday 25th January: Hahnenkamm Super-G at 10.45 CET

Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes Bryce Bennett, Travis Ganong, and Jared Goldberg, will start on Sunday for the men. Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who crashed during Friday's downhill and sustained a minor cervical spine (neck) fracture, is staying positive and doing well. He will watch his teammates take on the Streif from the finish area on Sunday. At the team meeting on Friday night, Ryan told his teammates, "Skiing is skiing...just go out there and have fun with it. Push yourselves. I definitely want to see you guys sending it tomorrow."

Two thumbs up and a lot of positivity from Ryan Cochran-Siegle after his crash yesterday. He's back at the team hotel and will watch his teammates tomorrow. 🙏👍👍@fisalpine #hahnenkamm pic.twitter.com/YzK7Zzt6a4

— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) January 23, 2021

Both races will be available via live streaming on Peacock Premium. Updated NBC broadcast information will be forthcoming.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 23
4:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Downhill - same-day broadcast, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN
6:00 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill - next day broadcast, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Jan. 24
4:20 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock
6:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - LIVE, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - LIVE, Crans Montana, SUI, Streaming Peacock
6:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - same-day broadcast, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN

Monday, Jan. 25
4:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Super-G - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock

Tuesday, Jan. 26
4:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Streaming Peacock
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Chanel
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Streaming Peacock
11:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Schladming, AUT, Streaming Peacock
2:45 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Schladming, AUT, Streaming Peacock
11:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill (Sunday), Kitzbuehel, AUT, Broadcast NBCSN
12:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Kronplatz, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

The Western Region was able to hold its first set of FIS races in December at Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole WY.  Men and Women’s Slalom were contested successfully.  Based on the  US Ski & Snowboard COVID-19 Alpine Domestic Competitions Guidance, races were conducted with Daily Health Checks before they are allowed to start and Team Captains Meeting online. On hill communications were enhanced using WhatsApp to distribute official meeting documents and improve race organization.  Congratulation to Branko Zagar and the entire Jackson Hole Ski Club team on a race well run.  Official Results can be found HERE. 

Since we welcomed in the New Year just three weeks ago, Western Region is in the middle of FIS races at Snow King WY, Mt Hood OR, and Mt Bachelor OR. Unfortunately, the FIS races at Alyeska AK had to be postponed.

The Western Region staff along with Divisional leaders have been working on the race calendars and making adjustments as required.  While we are restricted in the number of athletes we are allowed to have at events.  Impacted further by state-mandated travel restrictions, the calendar is the first priory for the Western Region.  Ever-changing and evolving, we are excited that racing is happening in the West.

Hopefully, the next newsletter will be full of races and results from mid-January through February.

We wish everyone the very best racing this season!

Bill Gunesch
Western Region Director

Jeff Pickering
Western Region Junior Coach

Fletcher McDonald
Western Region FIS Coach

Angie Brown
Western Region Manager

Hello Eastern Region!

After a lot of planning, tons of revision, a little magic, and the right planet alignment, the 2021 Eastern Region FIS race season officially kicked off this month! Proctor Academy in New Hampshire and Stratton Mountain School in Vermont hosted the first FIS races of the season on January, 11th. Since then, we’ve been off and running (or should I say, off and skiing?!) with our Divisional FIS calendar, and even completed a successful FIS-U event hosted by UNH at Mittersill/Cannon Mountain this past week. Many other venues have launched with youth racing as well - some bumps in the road along the way but so far we are making good progress.

It has not been an easy task getting these races off the ground and a huge round of applause is owed to the members, clubs, and programs in our region who have stepped up to the plate these past few months and helped make this sport a reality. There have been many, many moving parts and lots of changes, but ski racers everywhere have banded together and faced this challenge head-on. You all should be very proud!

Perhaps even more exciting than the FIS-Calendar-in-motion is the “Language Locker Practice” presentation our Eastern Youth Development Coach, Kathy Okoniewski, has been sharing with groups of coaches throughout the region. She has shared this presentation with coaches in NYSSRA, VARA, TSASRA, MARA, and earlier this month, she delivered the presentation to over 55 coaches in PARA! 

“What exactly is ‘Language Locker Practice’?” you may ask. Kathy explains a bit below:

“Language Locker Practice” is a coach’s education presentation that shows coaches how to use Cues and Questions to enhance their coaching and their athlete’s learning. I’ll explain the “What, How, and Why” of using cues and then we’ll practice building a Language Locker together. I have been working virtually with clubs and divisions around the East and our common goal should be to collaborate together, transform how we coach, improve our delivery, and ultimately enhance learning and performance. 

The Language Locker is a coach’s communication tool, created by the Sport Education Dept. at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. As you know, this fall we had an opportunity to share the APOLLO Project with our ski racing coaches through our own U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sport Education Dept. I have participated in that training a few times now, and felt incredibly inspired to create a small presentation on cueing to share with our coaches/clubs around the East. So here we are!"

Are you interested in having Kathy deliver the “Language Locker Practice” presentation to the coaches of your division or program? Send her an email at kathy.okoniewski@usskiandsnowboard.org to set a date! 

Hopefully you’ve all been able to watch some World Cup racing as well, as many of our Eastern athletes are having breakout seasons! Ryan Cochran-Siegle won a dang World Cup SG with a run that nearly moved me to tears, Paula Moltzan has been in the top-10 and on the podium, Nina O’Brien as popped into the top-10 and top-15 a few times, Sam Morse had a top-30 DH result, and oh yeah - Mikaela slays! RCS is the story of the season for me so far. He started at Cochran's, came through Stowe, and now has World Cup speed podiums to his name, and GS results to boot!

Before I sign off, I just want to say that I hope you all are enjoying the winter, doing your very best to take this less-than-normal race season with stride, drinking lots of water, keeping your athlete journal up-to-date, staying safe and healthy, and most of all, having fun. 

See you on the hill,

Paige

Another day, another podium for Breezy Johnson. The speed skier took third place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland—her fourth downhill podium in a row on the FIS World Cup this season. Bella Wright finished in a career-best 20th place.

In a race that was plagued by heavy overnight snow and wind holds throughout the day, Sofia Goggia won her third consecutive downhill race—a feat that has not been achieved since Lindsey Vonn was on the circuit—over the Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka.

Johnson's third-place finish makes it four-for-four third places in downhill races so far this season and made her the fourth American woman to nail four World Cup downhill podiums, joining an elite crew of Vonn, Julia Mancuso, and Picabo Street. But Johnson is continuing to keep an eye on the higher podium spots and knows she’s not done yet.

“It’s definitely getting funny—funny is the proper adjective for it,” said Johnson. “I’m still really excited about the results and the third places, but I’m definitely eyeing the other positions!”

While she's hungry for better results, Johnson is also thrilled to finally be scoring the results she knew she had within her, especially after battling back from multiple injuries. “It’ll come,” she said. “I just need to be patient. I’ve been patient about not having a podium for four years on the World Cup, so now I just need to be patient about second place and first place.”

In just her second season—and first full season—on the World Cup, 23-year-old speed skier Bella Wright finished 20th, her best World Cup result so far. In St. Anton, Austria in early January, Wright scored her first World Cup points (downhill) and backed it up the following day with a personal best and her first World Cup points in super-G. To be a successful downhill skier, miles on the track, feel for the mountain, and a healthy balance of risk and reward are important. Wright is finding that flow, and feeling comfortable in the points, grabbing career-bests with each weekend, despite her lack of miles on these tracks—in fact, this is Wright's first year in Crans Montana. 

Rounding out the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Laurenne Ross—in just her third race back from injury—was 39th. Jackie Wiles was 44th.

The women race downhill again on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend with a super-G Sunday.

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 23
4 a.m. – Women's Downhill – LIVE – Streaming Peacock + Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:30 a.m. – Men's Downhill – LIVE – Streaming Peacock
4:30 p.m. – Women's Downhill – Same Day Delayed Broadcast NBCSN
6 p.m. – Men's Downhill – Same Day Delayed Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Jan. 24
4:30 a.m. – Men's Super-G – LIVE – Streaming Peacock
6:00 a.m. – Women's Super-G – LIVE – Streaming Peacock
6:30 p.m. – Women's Super-G – Same Day Delayed Broadcast NBCSN