It was all about Norway in the finale of the pursuit weekend in Toblach, Italy. Norway's Marit Bjoergen lead a five place sweep in the women's 10k classic pursuit. Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) was leader of the chase pack, finishing seventh. Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) ended up ninth.

Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) led the U.S. men in 26th as Norway's World Cup leader Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo was back on track with another win.

In the pursuit format, athletes went out onto the course based on their times from the freestyle race on Saturday. It only took a kilometer before both a lead and a chase pack formed. Sweden's Charlotte Kalla, who won the 10k freestyle a day earlier, held a precarious eight second lead until just before the mid point when the Norwegian train rolled on by. The six stayed together most of the way building a 40 second margin over Diggins' chase group.

While the chase that came together was formidable, it was impossible to close the gap. Both Diggins and Bjornsen held their own within their pack.

“Pursuit races are pretty fun - I love being in the hunt,” said Diggins. “I had an awesome pack of girls to ski with and everyone took turns pulling at the front so we were moving along at a good pace. I just love that feeling when everyone is still racing each other, but also working hard and taking their turn so that the pack is ripping along the course! The race felt like it flew by.”

Diggins initially tried to bridge up to Norway’s Ingvild Oestberg. “She had an awesome and impressive race so when I realized we wouldn’t be able to bridge the gap, I was still skiing really hard but also preparing mentally for the final sprint-out. Which came as predicted - the final 2km felt like an all-out sprint.”

“Great skis out there today, and super fun to ski with Jessie,” said Bjornsen. “I think we have some similar strengths, and also some opposite strengths, so we can almost work together both physically and mentally.”

"All the racing from Period 1 started is catching up with me," said Brennan. "I hung tough and managed to salvage a decent result. I am very happy with all of my Period 1 racing. It's always the hardest period so to have some strong results in all disciplines gives me an immense amount of confidence for the rest of the season."

The finishes left Diggins and Bjornsen seventh and ninth in the overall World Cup standings to close out Period 1 of the World Cup. 

“I can feel my brain needs some rest right now,” added Bjornsen. “Period 1 is an intense block, with a lot of travel, and a lot of excitement for me. I felt today that my mind and body were digging deep down for the final fumes in the tank so I’m excited for some holiday time.”

The team will now take a holiday break with athletes heading to different spots in Europe from Italy to Seefeld to Meribel and more, before reconvening for the Tour de Ski that starts in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on Dec. 30 with a freestyle sprint. This year's edition of the Tour will feature seven stages in three resorts - Lenzerheide, Oberstorf, Germany and Val di Fiemme, Italy.

RESULTS
Men's 15k Classic Pursuit 
Women's 10k Classic Pursuit 

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (Dec. 16, 2017) – Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) finished second in the slopestyle finals at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge Saturday to lead five U.S. Freeski team members into the top 10. Saturday’s event was the second of four Olympic qualifying events.

“I’m feeling good with one podium locked down (for Olympic team qualifying). It was a fun contest … I’m stoked to be the top American,” said Goepper, who plans to step up his game and shoot for another podium and qualify for the Olympic team next month at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Snowmass, Colo. “I’m just going to train harder, be more focused and try to win.”

Alex Hall (Salt Lake City) was fifth, followed by Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo.) in sixth, Bobby Brown (Denver) in eighth and U.S. Freeski Rookie Team member Cody LePlante (Truckee, Calif.) posting a career-best pro finish in ninth.

In the women’s finals, Darian Stevens (Missoula, Mont.) was third, and Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.) was fourth.

“More than anything, I’m just so, so pleased with my riding right now,” said Voisin, who was third in qualifying. “I haven’t pushed myself this hard in a long time, and I think I have a lot of work to do, but I’m just so honored to be a part of women’s freeskiing right now because it’s just blowing up!”

RESULTS
Men and women’s slopestyle

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (Dec. 16, 2017)  – Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) both landed second-place finishes in slopestyle snowboarding finals at Dew Tour, achieving maximum Olympic selection points and confirming their nominations to the U.S. Olympic snowboard team.

Anderson’s signature smooth style was on display right out of the gate when she scored a 93.33 on her first run of the day to hold down the second podium spot. Canada’s Spencer O’Brien landed the win, and Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi was third. U.S. riders Hailey Langland (San Clemente, Calif.) and Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) finished fourth and sixth respectively.

I feel really good - I can't believe the Olympics are around the corner," said Anderson. It was really fun out here in Breckenridge. All of the girls are killing it. Super happy for Spencer putting down a new, creative run. I was definitely bummed I couldn’t land my cab double-nine, so I still have some work to do. But yeah, I'm feeling good."

After finishing second at last weekend’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, local rider Corning added another podium to his Olympic qualification results, putting down a massive second run to score a 95. Canada’s Max Parrot answered back with a 97, landing him the first place spot. Norway’s Mons Roisland was third.

"Oh dude, it's amazing [to have made the Olympic team]," said Corning. "I don’t really know what to say or what to think, but I’m pretty stoked. I just wanted to get some runs down and at least get a top five, that was pretty much the goal. But I’ll take a second place out of it."

The U.S. had three additional riders finish in the top 10, including Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.) in fourth, Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif.) in sixth and Brock Crouch (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) in seventh.

Olympic qualification competition continues after the New Year with Toyota U.S. Grand Prix stops at Snowmass Jan. 7-14 and Mammoth Mountain, California Jan. 15-21.
 

RESULTS
Men’s and women’s slopestyle
2018 U.S. Snowboard Team Olympic criteria and standings

MONTAFON, Austria (Dec. 16, 2017)  – Olympian Faye Gulini (Salt Lake City) rode to a second place podium spot in Saturday's snowboardcross World Cup in Montafon. It was her first career podium, barely missing out on the win in a photo finish with Italy's Michela Moioli. 

Gulini's podium finish puts her in a good spot heading into Olympic team selection in January along with teammate Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton, Vt.), who won a World Cup earlier this week in Val Thorens, France. France's Nelly Moenne Loccoz rounded out the women's podium in third. Jacobellis was 11th.

"I’ve been wanting this for my whole career," said Gulini. "I feel like I’ve been very close numerous times, but it’s nice to finally seal the deal. It really couldn't have gone better today, I'm really happy. I think a lot of people think before you get your first podium it’s like a mental block or a thing that you’ve gotta get before you get multiple podiums, so maybe now I’m due for a few more."

Mick Dierdorf (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) was the top U.S. men's finisher, winning the small final to finish fifth. Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, Mich.) also made the top 10, finishing seventh. Australia's Jarryd Hughes took the win followed by Austrians Alessandro Haemmerle and Markus Schairer in second and third.

World Cup action continues Dec. 17 with men's and women's team events. 

RESULTS
Women's Snowboardcross
Men's Snowboardcross

HOW TO WATCH (times EST)
Dec. 17
5:30 a.m. – Snowboardcross team event; Montafon – olympicchannel.com
2:00 p.m. – Snowboardcross team event; Montafon – Olympic Channel TV (same day delay)

VAL GARDENA, Italy (Dec. 16, 2017) – Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) scored a career-best FIS Ski World Cup result, finishing ninth in downhill Saturday in Val Gardena, Italy. Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) just missed the top 10, finishing 11th.

“I was pushing the line and telling myself ‘don’t do that … just get back to the regular line,’” said Goldberg, who won the opening training run on Wednesday. “Now that I’m running in the top 30, I have a clearer course and I can get away with pulling off a more difficult line.

“I got out of the track a little bit on one turn, right before the flat and I could feel myself decelerate a little bit,” he added, “but I knew that if I just got back in the track and stayed low, that I could make it up on the bottom.”

Norway took the top two spots with Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud going 1-2. Austria’s Max Franz was third. With the victory, Svindal maintained his overall World Cup lead over Jansrud, and teammate Henrik Kristoffersen, who did not compete Saturday.

Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) returned to the World Cup circuit Saturday, finishing 41st.

“I wasn’t confident and flowing and going,” said Nyman, who has all three of his World Cup downhill victories on the Saslong course. “I had some fast splits, but I had some bad splits too. But it’s OK! There are some positives, and right now I’m focusing on … training, getting the confidence back, getting the movements back, dialing equipment in … but it’s always great to race here and be back racing.”

Up next, the men's tech team tackles a giant slalom and nighttime parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy Sunday and Monday.

RESULTS
Men’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Saturday, December 16
5:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
6:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – NBCSN (same day delay)

Sunday, December 17
3:30 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 1; Alta Badia – olympicchannel.com
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 2; Alta Badia – Olympic Channel TV
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
 

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) checked off another top Olympic qualifying performance Saturday, leading the U.S. Ski Team with a seventh in the women's 10k freestyle at Toblach, Italy. Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was ninth as Sweden's Charlotte Kalla took the victory.

It was Diggins' third top-eight qualifying finish in Olympic events this season. Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) made it three in the points, finishing 17th.

“I went out hard and pushed as hard as I could today,” said Diggins. “I felt like I had good skis, although it being an individual race, I didn’t do much skiing with other people out there. My style of racing is usually to just go as hard as I can from the start and try to ski smooth, powerful and work every section of the course.“

“This is a special venue for me, as I have had some of my best races here,” said Bjornsen, who had her first podium in Toblach last season. “I have some good vibes and good confidence here.”

Like the last few weeks, Bjornsen went out hard, trying to hang in as long as she could. “My second lap was incredibly hard, as my legs were burning like crazy,” she said. “I am very familiar with 5k feelings here in Toblach, but it is a whole new challenge with 10k.”

But she was buoyed by the fact that it was a career-best 10k skate. “As with last weekend, I think I have more to give, and more gears to find, but it is a great step for now! It will also put me in a really exciting position for tomorrows pursuit start 10k classic.”

The new course at Toblach but received good reviews from athletes. It was also fast - 22 minutes for the women's 10k and 30 for the men's 15k - one of the fastest on the tour. 

“It’s a fun course,” said Diggins, who won back-to-back 5k skate races during Tour de Ski the last two seasons. “Of course I’m sad that my old favorite course was changed but it’s still such a fun gliding course with so many transitions and a ripping fast downhill section! It’s always fun to be in the fight in the top-10 and really motivating to work so hard for every single second on the course.”

“It was a perfect winter day in Toblach,” said Brennan. “The new course featured a much steeper, longer climb in place of a few short climbs. It was very challenging to pace as the climbs were tough but there is also so much undulating terrain to and from that stadium that you also have to push.”

Brennan spent a bit too much energy on the second time up the climb, paying the price coming back to the stadium.

“I feel really good about my fitness and am looking forward to a pursuit start tomorrow,” she added.

The Toblach weekend wraps up Period 1 of the World Cup, then heading into the Tour de Ski. It has been a solid few weeks for the U.S. women.

“I feel like Period 1 for me has been a solid, good start to the year,” said Diggins. “My focus and peak is aiming for the Games, so right now I feel when I’m racing that I’m fighting as hard as I can but don’t have that top gear just yet - which is part of the plan, but still a little frustrating when you know you have more somewhere.”

“Kalla and the Norwegians (who took second through sixth) were clearly dominant today,” said Head Coach Chris Grover, “but the USA women were the next strongest group.”

Grover also lauded Brennan’s continuing strong performance in distance skate races. “Rosie is clearly in great shape and having one of the best starts to the World Cup season in her career.”

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) opted to sit out the weekend to rest a sore foot and prepare for the Tour de Ski. “We missed having Kikkan in the line-up today but want to see her rest her foot a bit and get back to 100% healthy prior to the Tour de Ski,” added Grover.

Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was 29th to lead the men in a 15k skate.

“It was a much better day for the men compared to the Davos,” said Grover. “Both Noah (Hoffman) and Scott (Patterson) had much better days. Erik was happy with his race. Noah and Scott felt like they had much better races than last week but were still left feeling unsatisfied.

Patterson went out hard and was one of the early race leaders, along with Bjornsen, but faded towards the end.

“It’s so tight in the men’s field that good races often get buried in placings,” added Grover. “Erik’s 30 point FIS race today would have been a 12th place result on the women’s side. All the men are looking forward to trying to move up in tomorrow’s classic pursuit.” 

Both Diggins and Bjornsen remained in the top 10 overall standings - Diggins eighth, Bjornsen ninth.

At the Alpen Cup races in St. Ulrich, Austria, Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) was third in a 5k classic race. Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) was fifth and Julia Kern (Truckee, Calif.) 15th.

Sunday will wrap up the pre-holiday World Cup schedule with the classic portion of the pursuit. Athletes will be seeded by Saturday's results. The Sunday races are not Olympic qualifiers.

RESULTS
Men's 15k Freestyle
Women's 10k Freestyle 

WATCH
Sunday, Dec. 17
5:30 a.m. ET - Women's 10k classic pursuit - Live stream OlympicChannel.com
7:30 a.m. ET - Men's 15k classic pursuit - Live stream OlympicChannel.com 
1:00 p.m. ET - Women's 10k classic pursuit - Olympic Channel TV: Home of Team USA
NOTE: All races are streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel mobile app. Many races are also broadcast later on the same day on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA TV broadcast channel.

Streaming and Broadcast Schedules 

VAL D’ISERE, France (Dec. 16, 2017) – Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) is back to her winning ways, taking her 78th FIS Ski World Cup victory in super-G in Val d’Isere, France, Saturday. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who much like Vonn has struggled with early-season results, finally landed on the podium in second. Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel scored her first World Cup podium in third.

“I guess I’m not a washed-up old hag,” Vonn said following Saturday’s victory and responding to numerous social media comments this week regarding her form as she prepares for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. “I think I proved myself, and karma definitely comes back around. I’ve got some good karma coming my way.”

Indeed, good karma played a key roll in Saturday’s victory as she edged one win closer to the all-time World Cup victory mark of 86 wins held by the great Ingemar Stenmark.

“I almost went down there before the finish, but thankfully I was able to hold on to it and pull it out,” Vonn said following her victory on the slow, soft track.

With snow, fog, and wind wiping out downhill training this week, the women tackled an abbreviated soft and bumpy super-G course - a make-up race from last week’s canceled event in St. Moritz. And despite a few course holds due to fog and light snow, four American women scored World Cup points, including Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.), who took a huge step toward returning to top form following last season’s knee injury.

“The track is in a lot better shape than I thought it would be based off how much it has snowed over the past couple of days,” said Ross, who finished eighth. “It is a little bumpy, but it’s still totally rip-able and the snow is responsive enough to feel your skis.

“Today was definitely a big step,” she added. “I feel really good to be back, and be back in race mode.”

Alice McKennis (New Castle, Colo.) was 22nd and 2016 World Juniors Downhill Champion Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) scored her first World Cup points, finishing 24th. Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.) continued her comeback from injury, finishing her first World Cup race in more than two and a half years, in 45th position.

"It was really a bit of a challenge today with the flat light and the snow, but I stuck to my plan and skied really solid, and I’m really happy with how it went," Merryweather said. "I have a little bit of confidence now and I’ll take it into tomorrow and charge even more.”

With downhill training canceled this week in Val d’Isere due to weather, the women race super-G again on Sunday. On Monday the tech women head to Courchevel, France, for a giant slalom and a parallel slalom under the lights. Current overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin, as well as Lindsey Vonn and Resi Stiegler will headline the tech women. 

RESULTS
Women’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Saturday, December 16
5:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
6:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – NBCSN (same day delay)

Sunday, December 17
3:30 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 1; Alta Badia – olympicchannel.com
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 2; Alta Badia – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)

WOMEN’S SUPER-G (after 2 races; 3 races remaining in qualifying period)
Up to three athletes in each event will be selected based on following criteria in sequential order. Top two athletes based on current World Cup rankings at start of Olympics will have automatic start right in event. Up to four may be entered in Olympic event.

Top Three Finish
Lindsey Vonn (1)

Top Five Finish
Mikaela Shiffrin (1)

Top 10 Finish
Laurenne Ross (1)

Current World Cup Points Ranking
9. Lindsey Vonn (107)
17. Mikaela Shiffrin (56)
21. Laurenne Ross (33)
35. Alice McKennis (11)
37. Breezy Johnson (8)
39. Alice Merryweather (7)

SECRET GARDEN, China (Dec. 16, 2017) – World Champion Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.) led four U.S. aerialists into finals on day one of competition at Secret Garden Resort, finishing third and landing one of two podium spots needed to objectively qualify for the 2018 Olympic team.

Caldwell struggled to put down clean landings throughout Saturday’s competition, but her high degree of difficulty jumps help propel her to her first podium of the season. She performed a triple twisting triple flip, a full-full-full, in the super final, scoring a 68.04. Belarus’ Hanna Huskova took the win followed by China’s Mengtao Xu in second. Kiley McKinnon (Madison, Conn.) also advanced to finals for the U.S., but was unable to land cleanly on her double twisting double, a full-full, and finished 12th.

World Champion Jon Lillis (Rochester, N.Y.) was the top U.S. men’s finisher in sixth. China’s Zongyang Jia took the win with a quadruple twisting triple flip, a full-double full-full, and a score of 127.88. Belarus’ Maxim Gustik was second and Canada’s Louis Irving third. Mac Bohonnon (Madison, Conn.) just missed making the super final, landing in seventh.

Competition continues on Sunday, Dec. 17 in the aerials team event, where the individual qualification results will count as a World Cup finish.

RESULTS
Men’s Aerials
Women’s Aerials

HOW TO WATCH
Dec. 17
12:30 a.m. – Men’s and women’s team aerials – Olympic Channel TV

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (Dec. 15, 2017)  – Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.) rebounded from a disappointing finish at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix last weekend at Copper Mountain to grab his first halfpipe victory of the season at the Dew Tour, the second Olympic qualifying event of the season. Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.) was second. In the women’s halfpipe finals, Maddie Bowman (Salt Lake City) was third.

“I can’t believe what just happened,” Ferreira said after his victory. “Today I just skied for me. I tried not to put the pressure on me, and just went out there and skied.”

“Super stoked right now,” Blunck said of his second-place result after coming into the finals as the top qualifier. “The level of riding today was absolutely insane.”

Just the fact that Breckenridge was able to pull off the Dew Tour event following an unusually warm start to the winter in Summit County had Blunck fired up.

“We had such a crazy hot spell this year … and with the warm weather and not being able to make much snow ... shouts out to Breckenridge - they just killed it!” he said. “SPT (Snow Park Technologies) build a great pipe that just kept getting better and better.”

Olympic qualification competitions continue after the New Year with the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass, Colorado Jan. 7-14, 2018.

RESULTS
Men’s and women’s halfpipe

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (Dec. 15, 2017)  – The U.S. riders continued to demonstrate their dominance in the second Olympic qualifying event of the season at Dew Tour. Chloe Kim (Torrence, Calif.) led another USA sweep of the podium with teammates Kelly Clark (Mammoth, Calif.) and Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) in second and third. Jake Pates (Eagle, Colo.) put his name on the board with a big victory, and Ben Ferguson (Bend, Ore.) landed his second podium in the same number of Olympic qualifying events, finishing third.

After a win at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Copper last weekend, Kim confirmed her nomination to the U.S. Olympic snowboard team, posting a 93.00 on her first run of the day that would carry her through to victory. After a gnarly crash on her second run, veteran Kelly Clark pulled out a solid, clean final run to finish second. Arielle Gold landed her first podium finish of the Olympic qualifying season, finishing third.

“I am speechless right now, it hasn’t really set in,” said Kim. “I just looked at my parents and was like, ‘I just made the Olympic team!’ I’m still processing it, but I am so excited.”

The U.S. women stacked riders into the top spots in the final with Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) finishing fourth, Hannah Teter (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) fifth and Elena Hight eighth.

Pates pulled out the biggest surprise of the day, landing a killer last run that included a back double 12 tail grab to score a 97.33, besting Australia’s Scotty James and fellow U.S. Snowboard Team rider Ferguson who both also posted scores above 90. It was Pates’ first major event win, propelling the 19-year-old into the mix for the coveted Olympic team spots.

"I feel insane, I’m super stoked," said Pates. "I had an awesome day. It was super fun out here and everybody was shredding and pushing each other - good vibes flying around everywhere."

Danny Davis (Highland, Mich.), Chase Josey (Sun Valley, Idaho), Gabe Ferguson (Bend, Ore.) and Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) rounded out top finishes for the U.S., finishing sixth through ninth respectively.

Olympic qualification competitions continue after the New Year with the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass, Colorado Jan. 7-14, 2018.

RESULTS
Men’s and women’s halfpipe