PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 18) – Freeskiing took another historic step towards its Olympic debut as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association announced the nomination of 11 halfpipe and slopestyle skiing athletes Saturday night at the conclusion of the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face. The events will be contested for the first time in Sochi. The five event qualifying series took selection down to the wire, with nine of the 11 spots determined in the two-event finale at Park City Mountain Resort. The formal naming of the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team by the United States Olympic Committee is set for Jan. 27.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association announced the nomination of 11 halfpipe and slopestyle athletes to compete in the debut of the new events in the Olympic Winter Games.
• The athletes qualified by objective criteria over the five-event Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face, culminating in a pair of competitions at Park City Mountain Resort.
• The USSA is expected to announce additional nominations in both halfpipe and slopestyle pending final quota allocations in the coming week.
• The U.S. Olympic Committee will formally name the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team on January 27.

2014 OLYMPIC HALFPIPE AND SLOPESTYLE NOMINATIONS
NOTE: Only athletes who achieved objective selection criteria are presently nominated. Additional athletes may be added.

Men’s Halfpipe
David Wise, Reno, NV (6/30/1990)
Aaron Blunck, Crested Butte, CO (4/12/1996)
Lyman Currier, Boulder, CO (8/28/1994)

Women’s Halfpipe
Maddie Bowman, S. Lake Tahoe, CA (1/10/1994)
Brita Sigourney, Carmel, CA (1/17/1990)
Angeli VanLaanen, Bellingham, WA (10/24/1985)

Men’s Slopestyle
Nick Goepper, Lawrenceburg, IN (3/14/1994)
Bobby Brown, Breckenridge, CO (6/5/1991)
Gus Kenworthy, Telluride, CO (10/01/1991)

Women’s Slopestyle
Devin Logan, W. Dover, VT (2/17/1993)
Keri Herman, Bloomington, MN (8/16/1983)

Competition uniforms provided by The North Face.

QUOTES
Jeremy Forster, Director of Freeskiing and Snowboarding, USSA
This is an historic moment for the sport of freeskiing. It was clear throughout the five-event Grand Prix qualifying series that we had a growing depth of top athletes who were pushing the sport to new levels. That fact that the majority of the team spots went down to the last events is a testament to the athletic ability of the U.S. skiers.

Mike Jankowski, Head Halfpipe and Slopestyle Coach, U.S. Freeskiing
The level of competition for the Olympic spots was amazingly intense – we definitely saw a new level of competition. To have so many spots come down to the final event is indicative of the depth we have across these sports in America. We will be taking a team to Sochi that is well prepared to compete for medals.

All nominations are subject to approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard's USANA Center of Excellence powered by iFIT is a historical achievement for Olympic sports in America, providing world-class training facilities and educational resources for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes, coaches, officials, clubs, parents, volunteers and other stakeholders nationwide. It is designed to bring all 10 U.S. Ski & Snowboard sports together as One Team, and is an international showcase for American skiing and snowboarding. Designed to replicate the style and feel of a college campus, it is one of the most significant projects for athletes in U.S. Ski & Snowboard's more than century-old history, inspiring athletes to a higher level of athletic excellence

The Center of Excellence was funded by private donations from the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Legacy Campaign endowment fund started in 1999, so no money was diverted from athletic programs. In fact, the Legacy Campaign contributes millions of dollars to funding to U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletic programs annually. The Center of Excellence opened May 1, 2009.

The 85,000-square-foot building sits on five acres in Park City, Utah. It blends the best of high-performance athletic facilities including strength-training areas, a gymnasium, ski and snowboarding ramps, trampolines, a nutrition center and recovery/rehabilitation facilities. Plus, it features educational areas for athletes, coaches and clubs, such as multimedia rooms for performance analysis and equipment workshops, as well as a full sports science lab. A full-time high performance team operates out of the Center of Excellence, while the business side of U.S. Ski & Snowboard also has office space in the building, including marketing, communications, partnerships, membership, sport education, IT and more. 

All of the educational resources are shared with U.S. Ski & Snowboard's 400 clubs around the country, offering aspiring young athletes opportunities to achieve success in the sport they love.

In 2020, longtime partner USANA gained naming rights to the Center of Excellence and in 2024 iFit came on as the presented sponsor. The USANA Center of Excellence powered by iFit will continue to offer the best of high-performance athletic facilities, with both companies working closely with U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s sport science staff and the organization’s top skiers and snowboarders on new product research and areas for development. 

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Main Phone: 435.649.9090