U.S. Athletes Wrap Up 2017 With Olympic Trials, World Cup Events

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team has a few more competitions to wrap up before heading into the New Year. 2017 was a fantastic year for all of the athletes, and they’ll be calling on all the medals, podiums and globes they’ve won to propel them to Best in the World finishes in 2018 at the Olympic Winter Games.

Read on to see where U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes will be in action this week and how to watch via NBC, NBCSN and the Olympic Channel - Home of Team USA.

U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined
Members of the 2018 U.S. Olympic team are going to be determined this week at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in ski jumping and nordic combined. Athletes will compete at the 2002 Olympic venues at the Utah Olympic Park with nordic combined on Dec. 30 and ski jumping on Dec. 31. Winners in each event will go on to represent Team USA at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang.

Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) is the only 2014 veteran seeking a repeat berth on Team USA. National champions Nita Englund (Iron Mountain, Mich.) and Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, N.Y.) will also be looking to make their first Olympic team, as will Tara Geraghty-Moats (W. Fairlee, Vt.). The men’s ski jumping Olympic team spot will be hotly contested between a group of rising stars in the sport, including Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) and Will Rhoads (Park City, Utah). 2014 Olympians Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) will be the favorites in nordic combined.

FIS Women’s Ski World Cup - Lienz, AUT
The women’s tech team will race a slalom and giant slalom Dec. 28-29. This week’s TV schedule includes live coverage on Olympicchannel.com and a rebroadcast of both races on NBCSN. Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) will once again be leading the charge as she looks to add to her current overall lead and 35 World Cup wins.

FIS Men’s Ski World Cup - Bormio, ITA
The men’s tour has landed in Italy for a downhill and alpine combined Dec. 28-29. The U.S. will have nine athletes in Thursday’s downhill, including Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.), and Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.) - who was seventh in Tuesday’s training run. Wednesday’s downhill training run was canceled due to snow. Friday’s alpine combined will feature downhill followed by a slalom. Combined starters include Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.), Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.), Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah), Drew Duffy (Warren, Vt.) and Sam Morse (Sugarloaf, Maine).

FIS Cross Country World Cup - Tour de Ski, Lenzerheide, SUI
The grueling, seven-stage Tour de Ski kicks off this weekend, Dec. 30 - Jan. 1. The tour will cover three stops in three nations over a nine-day period before the Sunday, January 7 finale. The opening in Lenzerheide includes a freestyle sprint, followed by classic distance racing and a freestyle pursuit. U.S. athletes selected to compete include Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash), Paddy Caldwell (Lyme, N.H.), Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.), Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.), Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.), Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah), Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.), Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.), Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska), Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) and Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, Vt.).

U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD BROADCAST AND STREAMING SCHEDULE
All times EST
*schedules subject to change

ALPINE
Dec. 28
4:30 a.m. – Women’s slalom, run 1; Lienz – olympicchannel.com
5:30 a.m. – Men’s downhill; Bormio – Olympic Channel TV
7:00 a.m. – Women’s slalom, run 2; Lienz – Olympic Channel TV
12:00 p.m. – Women’s slalom, run 2; Lienz – NBCSN (same day delay)

Dec. 29
4:30 a.m. – Women’s giant slalom, run 1; Lienz – olympicchannel.com
5:30 a.m. – Men’s combined - downhill; Bormio – olympicchannel.com
7:00 a.m. – Women’s giant slalom, run 2; Lienz – Olympic Channel TV

8:30 a.m. – Men’s combined - slalom; Bormio – Olympic Channel TV
12:00 p.m. – Women’s giant slalom; Lienz – NBCSN (same day delay)

CROSS COUNTRY
Dec. 30
7:00 a.m. – Men’s and women’s sprints – Olympic Channel TV

Dec. 31
4:30 a.m. – Men’s 15k mass start – Olympic Channel TV
9:00 a.m. – Women’s 10k – Olympic Channel TV

Jan. 1
4:30 a.m. – Women’s 10K pursuit – Olympic Channel TV
7:00 a.m. – Men’s 15k – Olympic Channel TV

SKI JUMPING
Dec. 31
1:00 p.m. – Men’s and women’s ski jumping – NBC (streaming at nbcsports.com)