America stomped it out on home snow at Deer Valley at Saturday’s FIS Dual Moguls World Championships. The crowd was electric as Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) claimed silver, Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.) skied to bronze and Bradley Wilson (Butte, Mont.) took his second consecutive silver World Championships dual moguls medal. Kauf added her to her World Championships hardware as well, as she took bronze in duals in 2017.

“Tonight was incredible,” said Kauf. “I mean I am so exhausted from this week but I skied as hard as I could tonight and I’m really proud of my skiing and myself. I’m stoked to be on the podium with both Brad and Tess tonight, it’s incredible”

France’s Perrine Laffont was crowned women’s dual moguls World Champion. On the men’s side, Mikael Kingsbury won his second World Championships gold of the 2019 events and Japan’s Daichi Hara claimed bronze.

A highlight of the night was the women’s American semi-final when Kauf and Johnson dueled together. “To have Tess and Jaelin face off for spots in the small final and the big final was so much fun,” said U.S. Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “They are such supportive teammates of each other.”

Kauf beat out her friend and teammate Johnson, and moved on to the big final, taking on Laffont, Friday night’s bronze medalist in the single event. It was a showdown to the end. Although Kauf beat Laffont to the finish line, Laffont had the scoring edge with cleaner airs and turns overall.

In the small final, Johnson took on the newly crowned women’s moguls World Champion, Kazakhstan's Yulia Galysheva, and skied a faster, cleaner run to win her the bronze snowflake medal. This was Johnson’s first ever World Championships appearance, in a 2018-19 season which has been a breakout year for the rising star with two other podiums so far. It is clear Johnson will be a force to be reckoned with as the eighteen-year-old continues to come into her own.

“It feels like nothing I’ve ever felt before, standing on the podium here tonight,” said Johnson in front of the massive Deer Valley crowd. “I’m on cloud nine and I don’t think I’m ever going to come down. I just had the most fun tonight and skiing against my best friend and teammate Jaelin was more than I could ever have dreamed of. To end up on the podium, I’m just so grateful. I’m having the time of my life!”

Deer Valley’s own Bradley Wilson dueled against Daichi Hara of Japan in the semi-final in which Hara threw one of the most astonishing sights ever seen in moguls skiing, an unexpected double-backflip, a monster trick the Japanese star almost landed. Dual moguls are renowned for its pure sporting and entertainment value, sometimes bringing out the crazy in the athletes, and the crowd went wild after Hara recovered.

The “duals animal,” as Matt Gnoza calls Bradley Wilson, gave it his all in the big final, where he challenged Kingsbury and just beat the Canadian over the finish line. Dual moguls is a judged event, so even though two skiers seem to be racing, form and execution count. Kingsbury had the cleaner run and therefore was awarded the first place.

“Kingsbury and I have had some really good duels in the past, but he’s won the majority of them,” said Wilson. “Every time he’s just able to throw down his best run when he’s with me. It’s frustrating. You know I need him to make just a little bit of a mistake, but of course, I couldn’t expect it. He’s just an incredible skier and an incredible dude.”

The Americans kept Kingsbury on his toes all night. Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) fought with Mikael in the quarter-final, and managed to stay in front of him the whole run down. “Skiing against Kingsbury is just the most fun thing ever, especially this late in the day,” said Andringa. “You’ve got nothing to lose, the dude’s the best that’s ever been so I knew I was going to give him my all and leave everything out there and I feel confident that I did that. Tell you what Mick, next time I’m going to land that bottom air and kick your butt!” Andringa, in his first World Championships appearance, finished fifth overall.

The U.S. Moguls Team will be celebrating their three medals on Saturday night and after a few days off, head next to Tazawako, Japan, for another double event where they will compete in both moguls and dual moguls World Cup events.

RESULTS
Women’s dual moguls
Men’s dual moguls

Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) and Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif.) qualified first and third respectively for the men Saturday in snowboard slopestyle at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships presented by Toyota at Park City Mountain, Utah.

“I’m stoked to make it to finals,” said Henkes, who was among the 10 men to advance to Sunday’s finals.” It’s cool having the World Championships here in Park City. I look forward to closing out the week of World Championship competition tomorrow with slopestyle finals.”

For the women, double-Olympic gold, and five-time X Games gold medalist Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.) qualified third and will be looking for her first-ever World Championship podium.

“I’m excited to ride here in Park City,” said Anderson. “It’s a new course, new energy, and lots of new snow! It should be a really fun final.”

Corning currently leads the FIS snowboard slopestyle World Cup standings and is looking to improve on his bronze medal from the 2017 World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain. Henkes is seeking his first top-level international competition result of his career.

The final round competition gets underway Sunday, and the networks of NBC will provide live broadcast and streaming coverage of all the action. NBC will also broadcast a one-hour recap on the men and women’s slopestyle finals at 4:30 p.m. EST.

START LISTS
Men’s snowboard slopestyle
Women’s snowboard slopestyle

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Sunday, Feb. 10
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s slopestyle - Park City Mountain, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:30 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s slopestyle - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBC*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.
 

Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.) defended the FIS World Freeski Championship halfpipe title he won in 2017 in Sierra Nevada, Spain, at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota, at Park City Mountain, Utah. U.S. Ski & Snowboard teammate Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) added to the U.S. team’s victorious day, earning the bronze medal in a competition stacked with amplitude and progressive skiing.

“Feeling so good man, I’m definitely on cloud nine right now,” said Blunck straight after this title-winning run. “X Games didn’t really go my way so I just wanted to come out here and redeem myself. It just so happens that we got to ski quite a bit of pow before the competition and I think that was the recipe for success. I was happy, I was having fun the whole time. I came out here for finals today and it was game on and I was ready to go. The Park City crowd is so good. I consider the World Champs one of the biggest events of the year, so having everyone come out definitely made the event a great experience. I want to say thanks to everyone for coming out, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you guys.”

Sigourney earned herself a spot on the World Championship podium with consistent amplitude and the smooth style which has put her on the podium throughout her career.

“I feel so good,” said Sigourney. “I was happy I was able to put down two solid runs. I wasn’t loving the pipe at the beginning of the week, but it was really good today and running super fast. I was happy I was able to show my strong suits and go as big as possible. It was just fun out there. It’s always good to see everyone else pushing themselves and also pushing me. Some of my tricks felt pretty lofty and I was happy to keep trying to scare myself more and more!”

Topping off the podium for the women was Estonian phenom Kelly Sildaru. On her third and final run, she put it all together to claim the gold medal by completing a world’s first in women’s competitive halfpipe skiing - landing a switch-1080 on her last hit. This is the first ever World Championship medal in snowboard, freestyle or freeski for Estonia.

“I wasn’t sure if I should do it because it was my first switch 1080 in competition,” said Sildaru. “I was considering doing the same run I did on my second run, but do it better and go higher. Then I thought to myself, why don’t I just try? I did it somehow and l’m still shaking. It feels unbelieve to be the World Champion.”

Cassie Sharpe of Canada finished second for the women with a strong performance. For the men, Kevin Rolland of France finished second and Noah Bowman of Canada closed out the podium in third.

“I feel great,” said Rolland. “This is the best pipe ever in Park City. Every year we come here and it is the best pipe of the season. When we have a good shape in the pipe, the crowd will see the best quality competition.“

An amazing halfpipe and a very supportive crowd filling Park City Mountain, the 2019 FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Championships was a competition to remember.

RESULTS
Men’s Freeski Halfpipe
Women’s Freeski Halfpipe
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named 14 ambitious athletes to the 2019 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships Team to represent the U.S. in Val di Fassa, Italy, in six events Feb. 18-27.

The 2019 squad derives from U.S. Ski Team B, C, D teams, and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard National Development Group, as well as top U.S. Ski & Snowboard club program athletes from across the nation. Headlining the team are River Radamus (Vail, Colo.), who will be joined fellow 2016 Youth Olympic Games participant Keely Cashman (Strawberry, Calif.), and frequent Alpine FIS Ski World Cup participants AJ Hurt (Carnelian Bay, Calif.) and Katie Hensien (Redmond, Wash.).

Last year at Junior Worlds in Davos, Switzerland, Radamus was second in super-G, while Hensien was fourth in slalom, Hurt was seventh in downhill and Kyle Negomir (Littleton, Colo.) was seventh in super-G. This season, Radamus scored his first FIS Ski World Cup points in giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy, in just his fifth World Cup start. Radamus, Negomir, Hurt and Cashman have all scored Europa Cup points this season, while Radamus, Ben Ritchie (Waitsfield, Vt.), Hensien and Cashman have each won NorAm races.

“We are excited to bring this accomplished group of 14 athletes to the 2019 World Junior Ski Championships,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. “Through the selection period, they have all performed at the top of the NorAm Cup, four have scored Europa Cup points, and one has scored World Cup points. We are also returning one medalist and three other athletes with top-10 results from Davos last year. Going into these Championships, we believe everyone has the potential to win medals and earn top-10 results for the team.”

The 2019 Junior Worlds will include men and women’s downhill, super-G, alpine combined, slalom, giant slalom and a mixed team event. Live timing will be provided by FIS.

2019 FIS ALPINE JUNIOR WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
Name, Hometown; Team Affiliation; Club (Birthdate)

Women

• Keely Cashman, Strawberry, Calif; Squaw Valley Ski Team (4/4/1999)
• Katie Hensien, Redmond, Wash.; Rowmark Ski Academy and University of Denver (12/1/1999)
• AJ Hurt, Carnelian Bay, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team (12/5/2000)
• Nellie-Rose Talbot, Vail, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (8/24/1999)
• Claire Thomas, Salt Lake City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard and Dartmouth College (3/11/1998)
• Alix Wilkinson, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team (8/2/2000)

Men

• Cooper Cornelius, Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski Club (2/20/1999)
• Jacob Dilling, Vail, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (10/19/1999)
• Bridger Gile, Aspen, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski Club and Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (10/15/1999)
• Jimmy Krupka, Waitsfield, Vt.; Green Mountain Valley School and Dartmouth College (7/15/1998)
• Kyle Negomir, Littleton, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (10/03/1998)
• River Radamus, Edwards, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (2/12/1998)
• Ben Ritchie, Waitsfield, Vt.; Green Mountain Valley School (9/5/2000)
• Jett Seymour, Steamboat, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and University of Denver (11/5/1998)

COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Feb. 18 – Men’s downhill training
Feb. 19  – Women’s giant slalom and men’s downhill training
Feb. 20  – Women’s slalom and men’s downhill
Feb. 21  – Men’s super-G
Feb. 22  – Men’s and women’s team event and women’s super-G
Feb. 23  – Men’s alpine combined
Feb. 24  – Women’s alpine combined
Feb. 25  – Men’s giant slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 26  – Men’s slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 27  – Women’s downhill

MORE INFORMATION
Val di Fassa 2019

Fresh off her mixed-team World Championship victory, Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) claimed her 30th career victory as the FIS Snowboard World Cup returned to action Saturday in Feldberg, Germany.

“I’m really happy with the way my starts are coming together,” said Jacobellis, the winningest snowboardcross athlete of all time, after her historic 30th win in some challenging conditions at Feldberg. “It makes things a lot easier when you don’t have to battle through traffic. I got out front and tried to stay in the smallest tuck possible so that I wasn’t creating a lot of draft for the girls behind me.”

The ladies’ big final was about as talent-loaded as you could hope to see, with Jacobellis lined up alongside 2019 World Championship two-time medallist Michela Moioli from Italy, 2019 World Champion Eva Samkova, and the resurgent Chloe Trespeuch from France.

Fighting from the rider’s left lane, Jacobellis was able to out-pump her competitors through the start section to pull into an early lead that she would not relinquish through the twisty Feldberg course, leaving Moioli and Samkova for battle for second while Trespeuch - who missed the first part of the season due to injury - looked for an opening from the back.

Across the line, it would be Jacobellis with the win, followed by Moioli in seconds, Samkova in third, and Trespeuch forced to settle for fourth. Faye Gulini (Salt Lake City, Utah) was 11th, and Stacey Gaskill (Golden, Colo.) was 20th.

Matched up in a tough final heat against a pair of German athletes in Paul Berg and Konstantin Schad, as well as young Japanese rider Yoshiki Takahara, Australia’s Cameron Bolton took out a page out of Jacobellis’ book, jumping quickly out of the left gate and into the lead before the first corner with the Germans hot on his tail in the men’s final.

With Takahara clipping Schad’s board and nearly crashing on the first corner, Schad and Berg would be free to battle for second while Bolton opened up a comfortable lead, holding on easily through the finish for the win.

“It feels really, really good,” said Bolton of his first World Cup win, “It was a tricky race today and I'm happy I was able to come out here and do it. Three years ago I broke my back on this course, so to come out here and qualify first and then take the win, it feels like I have a little bit of redemption. And to share the podium with a couple of German riders on their home turf is nice, too.”

Berg finished second and Schad in third, while 21-year-old Takahara, competing in just his 10th World Cup event, had the best finish of his career in fourth. Alex Deibold (Salt Lake City, Utah.) won the small final to finish fifth. Senna Leith (Vail, Colo.) was 11th; 2019 individual and mixed-team World Champion Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) was 13th;  Hagen Kearney (Silverthorne, Colo.) was 14th; Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.) finished 17th, Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, Mich.) was 20th.

Action at Feldberg continues on Sunday with what will be the first-ever mixed team snowboard cross World Cup event, after the new format made its debut last weekend at the 2019 World Championships in a highly entertaining affair.

RESULTS
Men’s snowboardcross
Women’s snowboardcross

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, Feb. 10
4:00 a.m. - Men and women’s team snowboardcross - Feldberg, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gol

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) skied to an impressive second place Saturday in the FIS Cross Country freestyle sprint in Lahti, Finland.  Caldwell led three U.S. qualifiers in the heats with Ida Sargent (Craftsbury, Vt.) in 26th place, and Kelsey Phinney (Boulder, Co.) in 27th place. Neither Sargent or Phinney advanced past the quarterfinals.

The race was won by Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla with Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist in third.

“I’m really happy with my race today,” said Caldwell. “The conditions were wet and fast and this course is always a fun one with how tactical it can be. I was happy to feel better as the day went on and to finish 2nd in the final was awesome. It was also really cool to watch my SMS T2 club team teammate, Kelsey Phinney, qualify for her first heats and finish in the top 20! Our service team gave us great skis and we’re all looking forward to some team sprinting tomorrow!”

“Sophie skied a technically brilliant race today and showed some uncharacteristically aggressive skiing,” said Coach Matt Whitcomb. “Considering she has just returned from a three-week training trip to the U.S., her second place today shows that she is clearly in good form.”

The U.S. men failed to qualify anyone for the heats. The men’s race was won by Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, with Federico Pellegrino of Italy in second and Finn Haagen Krogh of Norway completing the podium.

Up next, a classic team sprint event in Lahti.

RESULTS
Men’s freestyle sprint
Women’s freestyle sprint

Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) sustained a concussion and left-knee injury on Thursday morning prior to the downhill training run during her warm-up, sidelining her for the foreseeable future. 

The crash came after a violent crash in Tuesday's FIS Alpine World Ski Championships super-G, where Ross went through a panel and slid into the safety net, but was OK and able to ski to the finish.

Ross, who suffered a severe knee injury at U.S. Alpine Championships late in the 2017 season, worked tirelessly to make a comeback in time to qualify for the 2018 Olympic Team. She was a part of the fastest downhill team in the world in 2018. She struggled to find her groove early this season but had made considerable steps forward in the month of January, scoring inside of the points in every single start since the new year - including three top 15 results. 

Ross shared her thoughts in an Instagram post on Saturday: 

On Thursday morning, while warming up for the training run, I crashed and sustained a concussion and left-knee injury. My knee doesn't seem to need surgery, but it is time for some rest for both my body and head. Unfortunately this means I won't be able to race in the World Champs DH tomorrow, and will likely be out for the remainder of the season.

Although this injury is not 'severe,' it is incredibly disheartening. I've had such a good feeling on my skis over the last month, and have felt like things were coming together on and off the hill. It's been almost 2 years since my last knee injury, and I was finally starting to ski like myself again: with drive, hunger, and without an overwhelming amount of fear or doubt. So...this moment is a bit of a reality check. Some would call it a slap in the face 👋 it certainly feels as though I've been slapped, and I suppose, realistically, I have. I mean, I face planted pretty dang hard. Nothing like a good, snowy-mountain slap! 

I don't know what the future holds, but what I do know is that I won't let this injury stop me from standing back up again. From continuing to dream. From helping me grow into the person I was meant to be.

I'll be in the finish tomorrow to cheer on my teammates Alice Merryweather and Lindsey Vonn. Although it won't be in the capacity I'd hoped, I'll be there for Lindsey's last race, and last finish hug. I'm so grateful that I'll be able to be there, and grateful for the journey that got me here.

Thanks for all of the love and support ❤️ I'll keep you all updated as things progress! XOXO

It was a challenging day as Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) led the way for the U.S. Ski Team in the men’s downhill at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Saturday in Are, Sweden.

With moderate snowfall and fog, race organizers postponed the start of the race by an hour, but conditions didn’t improve much once the first athlete kicked out of the start house.

“Obviously they made the call because (Sunday’s) conditions aren’t going to be any better,” said Bennett, who was the top-placed American in ninth. “It was safe, but I’ve never skied a downhill like that before. You couldn’t really see the track, it was like an inch or two of powder everywhere…it just wasn’t that fast.”

“Today was, I think for everyone, it was a really challenging day,” added Cochran-Siegle, who finished 12th coming out of the 35th start position. “Tough for the early guys who had that stop-start...to deal with. And I think for us, there was a pretty good amount of snow coming down by the time the later guys ran. We all had tough conditions.”

Norway swept the gold and silver medals with Kjetil Jansrud edging out his teammate Aksel Lund Svindal, who was competing in his final race after announcing his retirement last month, by a mere .02 seconds. Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr came out of the 17th start position to take the bronze.

“It’s pretty cool to see the way it ended with Aksel in the podium with his best bud,” said Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah), who finished 23rd. “That’s a pretty impressive way to end it. That’s cool to watch, but I wish I was up there.”

While it was a challenging day for many, and a triumphant day for a few, there were some positive takeaways for Bennett and Cochran-Siegle.

“It comes down to execution I did some parts well,” Bennett said. “I was having a hard time seeing what I needed to do this week and I spent a decent amount of time last night watching video, and I think it paid off alright. I’m happy with today.”

“I’m really happy with my skiing,” Cochran-Siegle added. “I feel like my plan going the race was trying to nail a couple sections and ski well, and I feel like I really did that, which is cool to do at such a big event.”

Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.), the 2015 World Championship downhill silver medalists, finished 26th.

Up next, the 2019 World Championships continue with Lindsey Vonn’s final race in the women’s downhill Sunday. On Monday, the men will compete in alpine combined.

RESULTS
Men’s World Championships downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Saturday, Feb. 9
3:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBC*
6:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBCSN*

Sunday, Feb. 10
6:30 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBC*
10:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBCSN*

Monday, Feb. 11
5:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships combined downhill - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships combined downhill - Are, SWE - NBCSN*
8:30 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships combined slalom - Are, SWE - NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Tuesday, Feb. 12
9:55 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships team event - Are, SWE - NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Thursday, Feb. 14
8:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s giant slalom run 1 - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:30 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s giant slalom run 2 - Are, SWE - NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Feb. 15
8:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s giant slalom run 1 - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s giant slalom run 2 - Are, SWE - NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 16
5:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s slalom run 1 - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s slalom run 1 - Are, SWE - NBCSN*
8:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s slalom run 2 - Are, SWE - NBCSN OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s slalom - Are, SWE - NBC*

Sunday, Feb. 17
5:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s slalom run 1 - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s slalom run 1 - Are, SWE - NBCSN*
8:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s slalom run 2 - Are, SWE - NBCSN OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.
 

Deer Valley’s Champion ski run lived up to its name at Friday’s FIS Moguls World Championships. With almost four feet of new snow falling on Deer Valley Resort leading up to course preparation and training on Wednesday, the course was absolutely ripping, with soft moguls and huge landings. U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) finished the night’s competition in sixth, the highest position of U.S. athletes on the first night of moguls competition at Deer Valley.

Yulia Galysheva (Kazakhstan) led the women and took the World Championship title, Kazakhstan’s first ever freestyle or snowboard World Championships gold, followed by Jakara Anthony (Australia) in second and Perrine Laffont (France) in third. Mikael Kingsbury (Canada), the winningest moguls athlete of all time, claimed his third World Championship title; Matt Graham (Australia) finished second and Hara Daichi (Japan) came in third.

Six Americans represented the United States in the finals under the lights at Deer Valley Resort: Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.), Nessa Dziemian (East Hampstead, N.H), Bradley Wilson (Butte, Mont.), Hunter Bailey (Vail, Colo.) and Dylan Walczyk (Rochester, N.Y.). This was Johnson, Dziemian and Bailey’s first World Championships event. “It’s always awesome coming here to Deer Valley with my friends and family coming out and watching, and making finals is the best,” said Dziemian. “This place is the best spot to make finals. It’s under the lights and you’re skiing down to all of your friends and family at the bottom. It’s just so surreal.”

Kauf, the bronze medalist in dual moguls at the 2017 World Championships, was the top American finisher, coming in sixth overall. “Tonight went alright. I got a lot better as the day went on. The final run I made a bobble in the top section, I almost fell up there and so after that, I just figured I had nothing to lose and had to send it in the middle. It cost me a little bit, I had some bobbles, but overall it was a good day,” said Kauf.

Walczyk led the U.S. men, finishing eighth overall, his best World Championships result to date. “That middle section [of the course] was some of the best skiing of my life,” he said.

Wilson, the silver medalist in dual moguls at the 2017 World Championships, also had the run of a lifetime, skiing the fastest time of the finals at 23.14 seconds. “The skiing in the middle felt so good and then there’s one section where the moguls get a little farther apart and my skis just got a little bit out ahead of me. I went to slow down but at the same time I lost a pole plant. I just couldn’t get that edge set and landed a little too far,” Wilson said of his unfortunate bottom-air crash.

The U.S. Moguls Team has one more opportunity for World Championships glory at tomorrow (Saturday)’s dual moguls event. A crowd favorite, there is nothing like skiing on home snow for these athletes. “I’m excited for duals tomorrow. I think it’s going to be awesome and this course is the best for it,” said Kauf.

Results
Women’s moguls
Men’s moguls

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Saturday, Feb. 9
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s dual moguls - Deer Valley Resort, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Feb. 10
2:00 a.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s dual moguls - Deer Valley Resort, Utah - NBCSN*

Chloe Kim (Torrence, Calif.) took home the halfpipe gold as U.S. Snowboard teammate Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) grabbed the bronze at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota, Friday at Utah’s Park City Mountain.

“I’m pretty stoked,” said Kim, who pulled out a new trick - a front double cork 1080 - for her victory lap after already securing the gold medal with a score of 93.50 “It’s been pretty rough to find a good halfpipe to do it in that’s safe and that’s fun to do it in. And so today, I was like, ‘I have a third run, why not try it?’ I really wish I would have gotten it, but at the same time I kinda knew it wasn’t going to go all right when I took off. But I’m pretty stoked on how it went and hyped to go home in one piece. So, it’s all good!”

Mastro claimed her first World Championships medal after finishing sixth at the 2017 World Champs in Sierra Nevada, Spain.

“I’m pretty stoked. It’s really fun to come out and put down runs and have fun with it,” Mastro said. “That’s what today was about for me. It’s awesome everyone [on team U.S. Ski & Snowboard] is ripping. We really pushed each other this week. It’s inspiring to have such a great group of girls all around you, from slopestyle to halfpipe.”

China’s Xuetong Cai took home the silver medal. 2018 Olympic bronze medalist and 2013 World Champion Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) finished fifth.

In the men’s competition, reigning Junior World Champion Toby Miller (Mammoth Lake, Calif.) just missed the podium, finishing fourth.

“I'm super excited,” said Miller. “The level of riding out there today was through the roof. Coming here and ending up fourth, I couldn’t be happier.”

Two-time defending World Champion and 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Scotty James of Australia pulled the three-peat with another dazzling halfpipe performance. Japan’s Yuto Totsuka was second, followed by Switzerland’s Patrick Burgener taking his third career World Championship halfpipe bronze.

RESULTS
Men’s halfpipe
Women’s halfpipe