Nine U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Athletes Nominated for ESPY Awards

PARK CITY, UT (June 30) – The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association will be the most represented sports organization at the 2014 ESPY Awards with nine Olympic athletes nominated in five categories. Sochi gold medalists Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO), David Wise (Reno, NV), Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) and Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) are each nominated for two awards with Shiffrin up for Best Female Athlete, the top women’s honor. Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT), Kaitlyn Farrington (Bellevue, ID), Joss Christensen (Park City, UT), Sage Kotsenburg (Park City, UT) and Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) also received nominations. Fans can submit their vote for the awards at http://espn.go.com/espys/2014/.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Nine U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association athletes have been nominated for five categories at the 2014 ESPY Awards.
• The USSA as a team has more athletes and is nominated in more categories than any other professional sports organization.
• Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO), David Wise (Reno, NV), Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) and Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) are each nominated for two awards.
• Kelly Clark 9West Dover, VT), Kaitlyn Farrington (Bellevue, ID), Joss Christensen (Park City, UT), Sage Kotsenburg (Park City, UT) and Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) also received nominations.
• The ESPY Awards are based on fan voting. Fans can submit their vote for the awards at http://espn.go.com/espys/2014/.
• The ESPY Awards will take place on July 16th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. Coverage begins at 9 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

QUOTES

Tiger Shaw, President and CEO, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association
It is an honor to have so many of our sports acknowledged in this year’s ESPY Awards. Each of these athletes is outstanding in their own right, but it was their performance as a team that led to our success in Sochi. We are proud to have these athletes representing the USSA alongside some of the greatest professional sport athletes and teams in the United States.

2014 ESPY AWARDS

Best Female Athlete/Best Female U.S. Olympic Athlete – Mikaela Shiffrin
Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) went from a rising star to one of the best ski racers in American history in a matter of years. In 2013, she became the first U.S. slalom World Cup champion since Tamara McKinney in 1983-84. She backed it up in 2014 with title number two by notching five wins. Shiffrin became the youngest woman in U.S. history to win a World Championship and the youngest athlete in history (male or female) to win an Olympic slalom gold medal.

Best Male Action Sports Athlete/Best Male U.S. Olympic Athlete – David Wise
The 2014 season was another standout year for halfpipe skier David Wise (Reno, NV) with gold at the Winter X Games, gold at the FIS World Championships, silver at X Games Tignes and winning a sixth U.S. National Title. He then topped it off with an AFP halfpipe title. Wise continued his stellar performance at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, becoming the first-ever Olympic gold medalist in halfpipe skiing.

Best Female Action Sports Athlete/Best Female U.S. Olympic Athlete – Jamie Anderson
After earning a silver medal in slopestyle snowboarding at X Games Aspen, Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) came out on top at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, winning the gold medal in slopestyle snowboarding’s debut.

Best Female Action Sports Athlete/Best Female U.S. Olympic Athlete – Maddie Bowman
In 2014, halfpipe skier Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) earned four podium finishes at five of the Olympic qualification events (two of them were wins). Before heading off to Russia for the Games, Bowman bagged her second-straight X Games gold medal in Aspen. At the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, she put down two unbeatable runs to take home the first-even gold medal for Olympic halfpipe skiing.

Best Female Action Sports Athlete – Kelly Clark
A three-time Olympic medalist, Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT) is a dominant force in the world of halfpipe snowboarding. After winning gold in 2002 and bronze in 2010, Clark easily qualified for her fourth-straight Olympic team and brought home a bronze medal from Sochi.

Best Male U.S. Olympic Athlete – Joss Christensen
Going into the 2014 Olympic Winter Games as an underdog, Joss Christensen (Park City, UT) threw down two amazing runs to win the first-ever gold medal for men’s Olympic slopestyle skiing. He led fellow Americans Gus Kenworthy and Nick Goepper in a podium sweep, marking only the third time in Olympic Winter Games history that the U.S. swept a medal event.

Best Male U.S. Olympic Athlete – Sage Kotsenburg
After a strong showing during the 2014 Olympic qualification process, Sage Kotsenburg (Park City, UT) walked away from Sochi with the first U.S. Olympic gold medal of the games and the first-ever Olympic gold medal in snowboarding slopestyle.

Best Male U.S. Olympic Athlete – Ted Ligety
Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) backed up his historic 2013 season with an Olympic gold medal and World Cup title in 2014, once again solidifying his place among the all-time greats. His Olympic gold medal from Sochi made Ligety the first man to win a giant slalom gold medal, which also marked him as the only man in U.S. history to win two Olympic gold medals in alpine skiing.

Best Female U.S. Olympic Athlete – Kaitlyn Farrington
After winning the final event of the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix and securing her spot on the 2014 Olympic team, Kaitlyn Farrington (Bellevue, ID) earned the halfpipe snowboarding gold medal in Sochi.