In an unusual day of racing, reigning Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis stayed true to form and walked away with a bronze medal in women’s snowboardcross at the Bakuriani 2023 FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships. This marks her sixth career individual Worlds medal, in addition to two team event medals from 2017 and 2019. Jacobellis is the most dominant snowboardcross athlete of all time, and on a day marked by gnarly crashes and surprise early eliminations from some heavy hitters, she persevered.

“I was really excited after training because I was putting down some really great times. The only thing is everyone can then study your lines!” laughed Jacobellis. “I was having a lot of trouble with the start today, so my game plan was to hang back and just carry speed through turn two and try to pass along the way. It’s not always the best option but it was what was working for me and my goal was just to be top two and advance and take it one heat at a time. I was really excited to be able to get on the podium here. It’s always a big challenge just to make it into finals, so I’m very happy with myself.”

Due to incoming weather in the Bakuriani, Georgia region over the next few days, the decision was made to cancel time trial qualifying rounds, and move straight into finals with seeded heats. This meant the men started at a round of 16 heats, rather than their usual eight heats for finals, and the women started in eight heat finals instead of their usual quarterfinal start.

The U.S. men started out strong with all four athletes advancing past the 1/16 final round. However, Jake Vedder and Mick Dierdorff were unable to make it past the round of eight, with Nick Baumgartner and Senna Leith going out at the quarterfinal round. It was a bittersweet day for double 2019 World Champion Dierdorff, who announced that this would be the final race of his competitive career.

Reflecting on his career and upcoming retirement, Dierdorff said, “I’m excited for sure. It’s been so fun. I didn’t plan on being able to have a spot at World Champs, so it’s been super cool getting to be here racing with all the guys and gals one more time. Definitely didn’t go how I was hoping but that is boardercross sometimes. No bad feelings, I’m just excited. It’s been a good career, and I’m ready for the next thing.”

Next up for Dierdorff? Wedding planning with his fiancée Katie, starting his own contracting business and working with young snowboarders as a coach at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

Over on the women’s side, tough snow conditions and stiff competition made for a difficult day as well. Bri Schnorrbusch, competing in her first World Championships, was unable to make it out of the round of eight. Although they fought hard, Faye Gulini and Stacy Gaskill both went out during the quarterfinal round. 

Despite their early exits from the competition, all the athletes stuck around to watch Jacobellis power through to a bronze medal. Cheering alongside U.S. Snowboard Slopestyle Team coaches and other team staff, the finish area erupted in cheers for Jacobellis as she crossed the finish line in the Big Final. She was joined on the podium by Eva Adamczykova of the Czech Republic in first, and Josie Baff of Australia in second. The men’s podium saw Jakob Dusek of Austria take the win, followed by Martin Noerl of Germany in second, and Omar Visintin of Italy in third.

There’s still plenty of snowboard action to come from Bakuriani. Men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe finals are scheduled for Friday, March 5 at 1 a.m. ET and men’s and women’s snowboard big air finals on Sunday, March 5 at 5 a.m. ET. The U.S. Snowboardcross Team also has one more chance at a medal with the team competition coming up on Saturday, March 4 at 5:30 a.m. ET. 

Results
Women
Men
 

HOW TO WATCH
*all times ET and subject to change

Friday, March 3
1:00 a.m. ET - men’s and women’s halfpipe finals - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

Saturday, March 4
5:30 a.m. ET - team snowboardcross - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

Sunday, March 5
5:00 a.m. ET - men’s and women’s big air finals - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

At this year's World Championships, you may have heard familiar voices commentating on the multiple races in Planica, Slovenia - that's because five-time Olympian and Olympic champion Kikkan Randall and NBC's Chad Salmela were in the booth for InFront's streaming site skiandsnowboard.live.

Randall has a storied career in cross country skiing. She won the first ever gold medal for Team USA in the 2018 Games with Jessie Diggins and competed in nine World Championships in her career, standing on the podium in three, including the team relay gold, again with Diggins by her side. One of the most decorated skiers in the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team history books with over 14 World Cup wins, Randall's history and perspective within the sport of cross country skiing comes through in the commentating booth. 

Along with Randall is Salmela, a former U.S. Biathlon Team athlete from 1990-98 and commentator of over five Olympics. He has been calling cross country races for years, including the race that Randall and Diggins won at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games - the team sprint. Salmela's "HERE COMES DIGGINS, HERE COMES DIGGINS" screams were heard through the screens of millions of Americans on the day that Diggins and Randall brought home an Olympic gold medal in 2018, and now he is back in the booth aside Randall calling the next rounds of history. 

Catch the two legends together commentating on the remaining races of the FIS Cross Country World Cup circuit, LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live. With over three weeks left of the season, with the World Cup crystal globe in reach, Randall and Salmela will be taking us through this journey with them. 

Jessie Diggins made history at World Championships with a gold medal in the women's 10km skate - the first individual World Championships gold medal in history for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. "This was one of the best races of my life," Diggins said. "I didn't want to believe it until the race was finished, but I when i finally got up off the snow I realized this was the best race of my life - it was really special."

Diggins is now the first U.S. woman with an individual World Championships gold medal. "I hope that this inspires the next generation to know that you can do it and work hard with a great team," she said. "I hope it inspires some little kids with glitter back home!"

It was the sixth day of racing in Planica, the stakes were high in the 10km skate race. With the Swedish team standing atop the podium in every race of the championships so far for the women, there was pressure to shake it up. Coming fresh off a bronze medal in the team sprint with teammate Julia Kern, Diggins was well prepared for the 10km along with teammates Rosie Brennan, Sophia Laukli and Kern. All started within a few minutes of each other in the strong 81-woman field and right out of the starting pen, racers were giving it their all. 

Through the first split zone at .9km, Diggins was 1.1 seconds back from the leader, Jonna Sundling of Sweden. Right in the mix was Brennan, who clocked in at fourth place - only two seconds back. With the pace progressing faster and faster, Diggins held it together, taking over the lead position starting at the 2.2km marker and never letting it up until she crossed the finish line. Laukli, Kern and Brennan kept a consistent pace through the twists and turns of the two lap course and as the splits showed, continually picked racers off. At the last time check marker at 7.7km, Diggins was first, Brennan was 11th, Laukli 25th and Kern 36th. 

"I was really excited for the race today. I’m a big fan of these courses so I was psyched to see what I could do," said Laukli. "The race itself went well and I felt great which I was happy about. I also had a lot of fun throughout the race and moving up bit by bit. Results-wise, I was maybe a little bummed and wanted a bit more, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. So overall I was happy to feel good and have some fun out there, which is all I could really ask for."

For Kern, after her race she focused on how big this day was for the entire team - merely hours after she brought home a World Championship medal with Diggins in the team sprint. 

"Although today was personally not the day I dreamed of, it was a huge day for our team," said Kern. "I am so incredibly proud of how our team reached a big milestone today, and how Jessie skied her heart out! I’m proud that I went out hard with the intention of being in the fight from the beginning. It is hard to post a top result by racing conservatively, so I went for it and unfortunately today was one of those days that things didn’t come together, and I am not sure why."

Diggins win today was also the first time a non-European won a gold medal at the World Championships since 2017. 

Behind Diggins in the silver medal position was Sweden's Frida Karlsson and bronze was Ebba Andersson. As for her teammates, Brennan finished 15th, Laukli 25th and Kern 34th. 

Now, the team focuses on the men's 15km tomorrow, March 1. 

RESULTS
Women's 10k

Hunter Henderson stomped his second run of two in the freeski slopestyle finals to earn sixth place in his first-ever FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships.

The FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships take place every two years and the event brings together the best ski and snowboard athletes in the world to compete for the title of World Champion in moguls, dual moguls, aerials, halfpipe, slopestyle, big air, snowboardcross and skicross. This year, the event is taking place in Bakuriani, Georgia and is the largest sporting event Georgia has ever hosted.

High winds and heavy snowfall on the days leading up to qualifications and finals made training difficult. However, the athletes persevered and were able to make the most of their time on the course during practice. Slopestyle qualifications were postponed due to heavy wind, but they were able to go off a day later in sunny conditions, albeit with a bit of wind. Cody LaPlante and Hunter Henderson both landed clean first runs to qualify third and fourth, respectively, from heat two. Unfortunately, Mac Forehand and Troy Podmilsak weren't able to put down the runs they were hoping to and just missed out on making finals. 

Finals day dawned with perfect conditions—sunny, warm, and no wind. After Henderson bobbled on his first run, the pressure was on for his second run, but he didn’t let that phase him. Henderson proceeded to nail his final run. “I was honestly in disbelief when I landed my second run," he explains. "It was definitely the hardest run I’ve ever landed in competition.” Henderson’s run even featured a new trick he recently added to his collection. “I learned the carving double 1620 Japan in Laax after the competition there when we were training. Today, I took that into competition and was doing it on the second bat-wing style jump. I was definitely stoked to be using that feature in a more unique way.”

Birk Ruud of Norway won gold, while his teammate Christian Nummedal claimed silver, and Andri Ragettli of Switzerland took home the bronze. LaPlante wasn't able to put down the run he wanted and finished 13th. 

Henderson, Laplante and Podmilsak aren’t done just yet. Next up on the World Champs schedule for them is big air qualifications on March 3 at 3:30 am ET. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

HOW TO WATCH

Sunday, March 5 
1:00 a.m. ET - Freeski Big Air Finals - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

Three-time World Cup winner and Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Steven Nyman is retiring from professional alpine ski racing at 41 years old.

“My love for the sport of alpine ski racing burns strong but I have taken it to my limits physically and cannot compete on the highest stage anymore,” said Nyman. “I am happy to say my last run will be this weekend in Aspen on home snow.”

Nyman has been a key member of the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team since 2004. The Utah native began his career at Sundance Resort before moving to the Park City Ski Team. In 2002, Nyman was chosen to represent the United States at World Junior Championships where he won the slalom and finished second in the combined. 

Nyman quickly found his way onto the national team and made his official World Cup debut at World Cup Finals in Flachau in 2002, where he finished 15th in the slalom. Since then, his career has been decorated as a named athlete with four Olympics, five World Championships, three World Cup wins and a total of 11 World Cup podiums.

“As a kid I dreamt of the Olympics and racing on the World Cup and in World Championship events,” said Nyman. “I exceeded those dreams many fold—standing on the top step of World Cup podiums, competing in multiple Olympic Games and World Championship events. There is nothing like expressing yourself on a mountain in such a vulnerable fashion.”

Nyman racked up a number of successful seasons throughout his career, notably 2015, when he finished sixth in the downhill rank overall and 2016, when he podiumed four races in a row, starting with the PyeongChang Olympic test event in Jeongseon (third) and then Chamonix (second), Kvitfjell (third), and St. Moritz (second). Nyman was on track to race in the 2018 Olympics, but injury kept him out just a few weeks prior to the event. Nyman also earned the title of King of the Saslong, having podiumed a mind-blowing four times on the famed Val Gardena track, including three wins. He also had great success on Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey course, podiuming in front of the home crowd three times.  

During Nyman’s long tenure, he has taken on a leadership role within the team, inspiring his teammates and the greater U.S. Ski & Snowboard organization, including many athletes in other sports as he rehabbed a number of injuries at the USANA Center of Excellence, including both Achilles tendons, multiple broken legs, hand surgery and blown knees.

“Steven Nyman has had tremendous success on the World Cup circuit the past decades, and we at U.S. Ski & Snowboard are so lucky and thankful for his years of commitment, leadership and success,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt. “We know that Steven will continue to inspire generations of skiers to come both on and off the team as he takes this next step in his life.”

Nyman currently resides with his long-time partner Charlotte Moats in Park City, Utah, and the two are parents to two daughters, Nell and Ayla. Nyman loves being a father, and is enjoying regularly skiing with his children.

“My time is done and I’m ready to move onto the next phase and challenge myself in other ways using the knowledge and experience I have gained through ski racing,” said Nyman. “I will miss it, but I am excited for what’s next! Thank you for all the support and cheers.”

Nyman will cap off his storied career at the Stifel America’s Downhill at Aspen, an Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup on home soil next week, March 3-5. 

To read more about Nyman’s career, U.S. Ski & Snowboard worked with the Associated Press to help announce his retirement. Link here to read more.

The Bakuriani 2023 FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard, and Freeski World Championships launched into the second week of competition today, and Chris Corning came away with a bronze medal in the men’s slopestyle snowboard competition.

When asked what he was most proud of from the competition today Corning said: “I’m most proud of my course usage today. I did new stuff for me with putting a backside [1800] in my run, I’ve not done that in a slopestyle run before in a competition. I’m super stoked about that, I’ve wanted to do it for years and just have not had the opportunity.”

“The course was good today,” said Corning. “It got really slushy, we haven’t really had a good day of slush at all, and it was my first time riding slush this year, so I was happy to put a run down and ride well today.”

Corning adds to his already impressive collection of World Championships hardware, which also includes a first place slopestyle finish from 2019, in addition to a second place big air medal and third place slopestyle medal from 2017. Fellow American Brock Crouch finished eighth for the day, followed by teammates Jake Canter in 11th, and Sean FitzSimons in 36th.

After battling multiple days of weather delays due to strong winds, the athletes were stoked to get the competition off the ground. By the afternoon, the sun came out just in time for finals. The finish area was full of fans, including the U.S. Snowboardcross Team, who came out to cheer on their teammates after wrapping up board testing for their competitions later this week.

It was a tough day for the women, with Courtney Rummel barely missing the final and ending up as the top American in 14th place. She said of course conditions: “It was really fast today and there was no wind, the rails were a little sticky…so that was a little hard. But there was good speed throughout the course so that was nice.” Ty Schnorrbusch and Jade Thurgood finished 22nd and 27th, respectively, with Rebecca Flynn making the difficult call to pull out of the contest as a DNS.

Rounding out the men’s podium were Marcus Kleveland of Norway in first, and Ryoma Kimata of Japan in second. The women’s podium saw Mia Brookes (GBR) take the gold in her first ever World Championships appearance, followed by Zoi Sydowski Synnott (NZL) and Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN).

The action from Georgia continues with wen’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe qualifications going down on March 1, followed by finals on March 3. Catch finals LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live

Results

Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle

Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle

HOW TO WATCH

Friday, March 3

1:00 a.m. ET - men’s and women’s halfpipe finals - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

5:30 a.m. ET - men’s and women’s snowboardcross - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

Saturday, March 4

5:30 a.m. ET - team snowboardcross - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

Sunday, March 5

5:00 a.m. ET - men’s and women’s big air finals - Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live

On day two of the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup, the snow and wind came in hot, making for an exciting, wintery end to the domestic tech series. The U.S.-based crowd again did not disappoint as the world’s best slalom skiers made it down the steep terrain on Red Dog.

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes River Radamus and Luke Winters raced but did not make second run, landing in 32nd and 35th respectively. Ben Ritchie and Jett Seymour did not finish. However, the athletes were in positive spirits and happy to be home in the United States, ski some powder, and enjoy family and friends at the Palisades venue.

“Racing in Europe we don't ever get a home crowd," said Winters. "This is the first time we have had a slalom in the United States in a long time, so to have 20-plus people of my family and friends here is cool."

The ending of the race caused a dramatic stir with former U.S. athlete and now Greek skier AJ Ginnis in fourth after first run, and coming down to win the race. However, here was a 20-minute delay following the final race to determine if Ginnis straddled, and ultimately, FIS determined that Ginnis was disqualified. The winner of the race then went to the young Norwegian Alexander Steen Olsen, second place went to Norwegian Timon Haugan, and third place ended in a tie between Bulgarian skier Albert Popov, his first World Cup podium, and French skier Clement Noel.

The Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup would not have been possible without the volunteers, course workers and everyone in between helping to pull off the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in snowstorm conditions. Just days prior to the races, the international athletes enjoyed a powder day at the resort with many claiming it to be one of the best powder days they had experienced. 

The World Cup schedule rolls on to Aspen next week for the Stifel America's Downhill March 3-5 for two downhill races and one super-G. 

RESULTS
Men's slalom

Saturday night, under the lights, Dew Tour held the men's ski super streetstyle qualifier and final, where 2x Olympian Colby Stevenson took first, and teammate Alex Hall took third. Oregon's Tucker FitzSimons placed second. 

The super streetstyle event consisted of three separate heats, with four athletes in each heat. Each competitor was allowed three attempts to earn a high enough score to advance into the second round. Two competitors from each heat then battled it off, head to head, to advance to the podium showdown. Stevenson, FitzSimons and Hall took their turns at duking it out on the course.

The streetstyle course included four different sections of a variety of rails to choose from. The first section had a staircase with two hand rails on either side, as well as a pole jam and barrier to a waterfall down rail. The second section had a flat rail, a down rail, and a pole jam to two separate down rails. The third section had a jersey barrier rail, a flat box or a fence flat rail to a corrugated down tube, as well as a shipping container feature. The last section contained a pole jam to a wall ride, a flat rail transfer to a down kinked rail, and lastly a down flat rail. 

Stevenson earned his top spot with a score of 92.66, with a run including a switch 270 onto the waterfall rail, pretzel 450 out, to a backside 360 switchup on the transfer, 270 out, to a right side 450 onto the jersey barrier and switch out, and ending the run with a switch on, front swap over the transfer, continuing 270 out. FitzSimon's earned his silver with a 89.33, and rounding it out in third was Hall with a 70.00. 

Results 

Men's Super Streetstyle

On a flat light day at Copper Mountain, Colo., Dew Tour held its second day of events, including the men's snowboard halfpipe finals. 2x Olympian, and 2x Copper Mountain Toyota U.S. Grand Prix winner, Taylor Gold, stomped his fourth and final run to secure a second place finish. Japanese rider Ayumu Hirano took home the win, along with teammate Raibu Katayama who placed third. 

Gold earned a silver medal with a score of 91.33 with a run that included a McTwist, into a front 1260 tail grab, into a double chuck 1080 melon grab to indie grab switch up, into an air to fakie melon grab, into a cab 1080 with a roast beef grab. After falling on his first three of four runs, Gold was relieved to finally put one down when it counted most. 

"Conditions out in the pipe today were surprisingly really good," said Gold. "It was forecasted to not be so nice today, so we got super lucky and it ended up being somewhat sunny. The pipe was running good too, so it was ideal." 

Gold reflected on his accomplishments. "I'm really stoked on getting second," said Gold. "It was kind of nice because it just felt a lot more mellow this year, just a little bit more loose and fun. The vibes at the top of the pipe were a lot more enjoyable versus last year where it was really intense. It felt really good to put one down at the end, as I was kind of struggling to land one during my first three runs. I was just happy to land one!"

Following his second place finish in the halfpipe event, Gold strapped back into his board and headed to the top for the superpipe jam cash event. The snow was coming down hard at this point, but the athletes were still catching big airs up to 22 feet high. 

Up next, Gold plans on going on a road trip with his filmer to find deep powder. 

RESULTS
Men's Halfpipe

Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern teamed up for the freestyle team sprint at World Championships and took home the bronze medal. With new snow coating the Julian Alps, both men and women put forward their fastest sprinters for the team sprint. On the same 1.4km course from the classic sprint two days prior, today’s race featured a qualification round and 3x1.4km final round. With over 34 teams in the qualification for the men and 26 for the women, both athletes' qualifying times combined together decided the 15 teams that would move onto the final.

Thorough the qualification round, the women representing the red, white and blue came out on top, qualifying first with their combined time. Diggins and Kern, both feeling strong and ready, put the pieces together and had forward momentum with their number one spot for the afternoon race. For the men, Ben Ogden and JC Schoonmaker teamed up. Earlier in the week, Schoonmaker was top ten in the 1.4km classic sprint, finishing the day in ninth place - teamed up, the young but strong duo skied a fast and technically sound sprint race and ended the qualifications within the top three.

With thousands of fans once again filling the grand stands on all sides of the stadium, the atmosphere was filled with cheers that could be heard miles away. The course was slow at the start but the more athletes skied over the track, the faster it became. When it came to race time, everyone was ready. With qualifications deciding the 15 teams moving onto the final, the U.S. teams were a definite threat. 

Diggins and Kern led the final race until the last lap. With both women skiing three laps of the 1.4km lap, the strategy was to stay out of trouble, ski smart and fast and compete for your team and your relay-mate. “I really truly feel like we earned a medal,” said Diggins. “It’s not like we lost a gold, rather we earned a bronze! We earned the right to be proud of a really hard race and even if there was no medal we went out there and prepared and supported each other and believed and skied a good, hard, honest race and that is what makes me proud!”

For Kern, this was her first-ever World Championships podium.

“It’s really exciting (bringing home a medal to the United States),” said Kern. “I think it is really exciting. I think we are growing the sport the best we can in the U.S. and we hope that this inspires people back home and keeps developing our sport in the U.S. to become bigger and bigger!”

On the 10 year anniversary of the team sprint medal in Val di Fiemme, the U.S. women put the pieces together to bring home another team sprint medal and this time, with Kern and Diggins. 

“I love team sprinting,” said Diggins. “Any time you race for the team as a whole, you really bring your best and that is what we did today. It was really special.”

RESULTS

Women's 

Men's