Aerialists to Close Out Season in Belarus

MINSK, Belarus (Feb. 18, 2016) – The U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes will wrap up the 2015-16 World Cup season this weekend at World Cup finals in Minsk, Belarus. Minsk was dubbed the final competition of the season after the pre-World Championships test event in Sierra Nevada, Spain was cancelled.

The U.S. team is coming off of a strong performance in Moscow, with three athletes, Mac Bohonnon (Madison, CT), Jon Lillis (Rochester, NY) and Madison Olsen (Park City, UT), landing on the podium. Bohonnon was on the podium last year in Minsk alongside teammates Kiley McKinnon (Madison, CT) and Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, VA).

Although she was not on the podium in Moscow, Caldwell still leads the women’s World Cup standings, sitting 64 points ahead of Australia’s Danielle Scott and 77 points ahead of China’s Zhang Xin. Caldwell is the defending winner from last year’s competition in Minsk and will look to capture the crystal globe this year.

Lillis and Bohonnon lead the U.S. men in the overall standings, sitting seventh and eighth respectively. While they won’t be in contention for the globe, both will look to improve their ranks before the season’s end.

Finals for the aerials event will be streamed live at 6 a.m. EST on Feb. 20 on NBC Sports Live Extra.