U.S. Snowboardcross Athletes Focus on Cervinia World Cup

Twelve U.S. Snowboardcross Team athletes are set to compete at the first FIS Snowboardcross World Cup of the season in Cervinia, Italy Dec. 20-22. U.S. athletes include defending snowboardcross FIS World Champion Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) along with defending team snowboardcross FIS World Champions Hagen Kearney (Norwood, Colo.) and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, Mich.).

Other U.S. Snowboarcross A Team members competing include Sochi Olympic bronze medalist Alex Deibold (Manchester, Vt.), Jonathan Cheever (Saugus, Mass.), Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and seven-time world cup winner Nate Holland (Sandpoint, Idaho).

After the cancelation of the season-opener World Cup in Montafon, Austria due to insufficient snow to build a course suitable for snowboardcross competition, Italian organizers picked up the slack and added a second competition to the program on Dec. 22 along with the originally scheduled Dec. 21 competition.

“Excited to finally get the season started,” said Deibold. “It’s going to be an important week as Cervinia is the only chance we have to earn a spot to World Champs at Solitude.”

2018 Junior World Champion Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.) will also compete with U.S. Development group athletes Cole Johnson (Reno, Nev.), Senna Leith (Vail, Colo.), Stacy Gaskill (Golden, Colo.) and Meghan Tierney (Edwards, Colo.)

With the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships in Park City, Utah just around the corner, this double-up competition will offer a chance for athletes to get in prime form as well as earn valuable points and establish their position on the World Championships Team. All early season competitions are very important to the decision-making process making the Cervinia, Italy World Cup crucial for competitors from all nations.

FIS Snowboard Race Director Uwe Beier commented on the significance of the competition. "We are very pleased that the organizer in Cervinia, together with the Italian Federation was able to add another race. It's just a few weeks to go before the World Championships in Park City/Solitude, and the teams need these competitions to get prepared. The organizers in Cervinia worked hard to successfully host their premiere World Cup race last season with challenging snow conditions, and with much more snow there this season we expect to see an excellent course and an excellent competition."

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Thursday, Dec. 20
5:00 a.m. - Men’s snowboardcross qualification, Cervinia, ITA - OlympicChannel.com
8:30 a.m. - Women’s snowboardcross qualification, Cervinia, ITA - OlympicChannel.com

Friday, Dec. 21
5:30 a.m. - Men and women's Snowboardcross, Cervinia, Italy - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Dec. 22
5:40 a.m. - Men and women’s snowboardcross, Cervinia, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold