Aerialists Ready to Fly in China

SECRET GARDEN, China (Dec. 14, 2017) – The U.S. Ski Team aerials athletes will compete at a new site this week when the FIS Freestyle aerials World Cup tour opens at Secret Garden Resort. Athletes will compete in an individual event on Dec. 16 followed by a team event on Dec. 17. Results from Saturday’s World Cup and the individual qualification results from Sunday’s team event will be taken into consideration when nominating the team for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

After two productive on snow camps this fall, the U.S. team is ready to kick off the Olympic season with some top results. Nine athletes are expected to compete, including reigning World Champions Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.) and Jon Lillis (Rochester, N.Y.) as well as 2015 World Cup champions Mac Bohonnon (Madison, Conn.) and Kiley McKinnon (Madison, Conn.). McKinnon achieved one of two top-3 finishes required to meet minimum objective criteria with a second place finish in last season’s selection event at Deer Valley Resort, Utah. Secret Garden, which is also the site for the 2022 Games, will include two of six selection events taking place in 2017-18.

Read on to see who to watch and where to watch all the action from Secret Garden.

MEN’S STARTERS
Mac Bohonnon
Alex Bowen
Chris Lillis
Jon Lillis
Eric Loughran

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Ashley Caldwell
Kiley McKinnon
Morgan Northrop
Madison Olsen

HOW TO WATCH (times EST)
Dec. 16
12:30 a.m. – Men’s and women’s aerials – Olympic Channel TV

Dec. 17
12:30 a.m. – Men’s and women’s team aerials – Olympic Channel TV