Double Downhill Cancellation for Alpine Men and Women
By Megan Harrod
December, 21 2019
Steven Nyman throws a peace sign to the camera after taking first place for the third time in his career at Val Gardena, Italy on December, 19, 2014. (Francis Bompard - Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
As rain poured down in Val Gardena, Italy, and wreaked havoc on the Saslong track, the organizers together with the jury decided to cancel Saturday's classic men's downhill race. Over in Val d'Isere, France, snow fell throughout the night, forcing organizers to cancel Saturday's women's downhill race.
Earlier in the morning, the decision in Val Gardena was that the men would start from the reserve start (super-G start). As rain continued to fall and conditions grew more and more questionable, the decision was made to cancel the race. In Val d'Isere, the forecast is calling for over one meter of snow Sunday, but the weather was supposed to be clear on Saturday for the women's downhill. With no indication the snow will slow down, as the forecast currently looks like 100% chance for snow throughout the night and into Tuesday.
"Obviously a big bummer," said Steven Nyman after getting word about the cancellation at the venue where he's won all three of his FIS Ski World Cup victories. "It's a place where the Americans have traditionally done well. Bryce is super bummed, but that's ski racing and I am looking forward to Bormio [Italy]. I'm not sure if it's official, but they're talking about making two downhills in Bormio. That's a track I know I can do well on, so we just have to look ahead. That's part of the sport."
Last year, the American men went 4-5-6 (Bryce Bennett, Steven and Travis Ganong) in the Val Gardena downhill, starting what would be a solid streak of consistency for Bryce, in particular. In Bormio on a vertical ice rink, Bryce threw down and ended up in fourth, matching his career best at the previous race in Val Gardena—just 15 one-hundredths off the podium.
The women's program has been confirmed for Sunday, with downhill replacing the alpine combined. With the way things are shaping up in Val d'Isere, current overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin's decision to forego the downhill and alpine combined in Val d'Isere is looking to have, once again, been a very wise move—reminiscent of the her decision last year to skip the speed series in Sochi, Russia, where all races were cancelled.
Up next, the men will head to Alta Badia, Italy for a giant slalom and parallel giant slalom, where all eyes will be on Beaver Creek, Colo. winner Tommy Ford. With Val d’Isere having been cancelled, the men are chomping at the bit to ski one of their favorite tracks on the tour: the Gran Risa in Alta Badia, Italy. Tommy scored a career-best (at the time) fifth in Alta Badia in 2018, leading four Americans into the points.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL Instagram Facebook Twitter
Official event hashtags: #swcaltabadia #granrisa (Alta Badia)
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app
Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
Corning Makes History at Visa Big Air
By Andrew Gauthier
December, 20 2019
Chris Corning on the top of the podium with Canada's Nicolas Laframboise (left) and Japan's Ryoma Kimata (right) at the Visa Big Air presented by Land Rover at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, Ga. (U.S. Ski & Snowboard - Sarah Brunson)
Chris Corning made history Friday night at the Visa Big Air presented by Land Rover at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, Ga. Not only did he win the first-ever internationally sanctioned ski and snowboard event in the southeast, but he also landed the first-ever quad cork 1800 on a scaffold big air jump.
“I feel great right now and I’m very happy to be alive after that,” Chris said jokingly. “It’s always scary trying it because I really don’t ever do it in practice or anything like that. I have to get pumped up to do that trick and let go of anything I’m thinking about. Also, it’s really cool to go to a place I have never been and take in the atmosphere. It was great to see how many people showed up and feel that support.”
Coming into the third and final run, Chris was in second place behind Canada’s Nicholas Laframboise, who was right on Corning’s tail in the FIS World Cup big air standings in second. With Friday’s competition representing the final World Cup big air of the season, there was a lot riding on the last jump of the night. Chris swept the pressure aside and cemented himself in the snowboard history books, securing the victory, the Visa Best Trick award, and the FIS World Cup Big Air Crystal Globe. Remarkably, this is the seventh Crystal Globe of his career.
U.S. Snowboard Team member Judd Henkes landed a backside triple cork 1620 on his third and final run to move into a respectable fourth place and locked down the only other trick to score in the 90’s throughout the night outside of Chris. The Atlanta crowd absolutely erupted in approval. Also, teammate Sean FitzSimons landed a pair of triple corks to solidify fifth place. The men’s U.S. Snowboard Team put on an incredible performance in a heated World Cup final.
Nicolas finished in second place at the event and in the overall World Cup standings. Japan’s Ryoma Kimata finished third.
For the women, U.S. Snowboard Team member and Olympian Julia Marino finished just outside of the podium. She certainly put on a show for the Atlanta fans, landing a cab double underflip to kick off the night on her first run. Although Jamie Andreson qualified through to finals, she elected not to compete after taking a fall during training.
Japanese riders Reira Iwabuchi and Kokomo Murase finished first and second respectively, while Canada’s Brooke Voigt rounded out the podium in third.
Competition will continue at SunTrust Park Saturday with men and women’s freeski qualifications, followed by the finals. Join us at SunTrust Park or tune in on NBCSN at 7 p.m. EST to catch the action live.
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
Nyman 13th, Dupratt Career-Best 22nd Despite Rough Weather in Val Gardena
By Megan Harrod
December, 20 2019
Steven Nyman finished in 13th on Friday's super-G in Val Gardena, Italy, despite numerous delays and course holds due to weather. (Alexis Boichard - Zoom Agency/Getty Images)
On a day rife with challenging weather and course holds due to fog, the 37-year-old veteran Steven Nyman remained unfazed on his favorite track of the circuit, scoring his best super-G result at Val Gardena, Italy, since 2006 to lead the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in 13th.
It was a shortened super-G from the beginning, with the start lowered to Mauer 1 at 11:45am CET. From there, the fog rolled in and spiraled a bit out of control with at least eight holds before the organizers finally called the race after 48 athletes. Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr took the victory, with Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud on his heels in second by just .05 seconds, and German comeback kid Thomas Dressen rounding out the podium in third, .22 seconds out.
After Steven pulled a ballerina move at 110 km/hour in one of the fastest sections of the course in Thursday's one and only downhill training run, he refocused and pulled himself together for the super-G on Friday, despite the long course holds due to inclement weather.
"My boots were starting to hurt they were on for so long," Steven said with a laugh in the finish. "I skied really well, I had one mistake entering the Ciaslat, and they say if it wasn't for that, I could have been on the podium, but I really am happy with the way I executed overall. It's a sprint race, it's short, this super-G is always a sprint race—you gotta really gun. But from the beginning during inspection, I saw the course and it made sense to me the way they set over the terrain. I really liked it. I liked the way it flowed, and I'm happy."
Steven is also known as “King of the Saslong” for winning the downhill in 2006, 2012 and 2014. In fact, only two skiers have bested his three victories—Kristian Ghedina and Franz Klammer, each with four. Coincidentally, Steven and Bryce’s serviceman, Leo Mussi, was Kristian Ghedina’s serviceman for those four victories as well. So it’s safe to say that Leo Mussi is actually the “King of the Saslong.” Steven was also third on the Saslong in 2016. He's hoping that Friday's skiing is a good omen for Saturday's downhill in this place that is so near and dear to his heart.
"Hopefully it's a good omen for tomorrow, but again, the weather today...lots of waiting, lots of having to stay in the game and stay focused," reflected Steven. "You thought it was over, you thought it was back, you thought it was over, so you never really know, and tomorrow's going to be the same game. Luckily I've skied this a lot and I know what to do on the downhill track, so we'll see what happens. There is a lot of wetness in the snow, but the snow was still dense. They've done a great job to maintain the snow despite all of the course holds and the snow falling up top, and the rain at the bottom. I trusted my technician, I know he makes some good skis here in Gardena, so it came down to me and my performance."
Sam Dupratt, who scored his career-first World Cup points at none other than Kitzbuehel, Austria, in super-G (29th), scored a career-best on Friday when he tied for 22nd with France's Brice Roger. Sam gave big accolades to the organizer for getting the race off and making it happen.
"Today was awesome," exclaimed Sam. "Hats off to the organizer for pushing so hard to make this happen and sorry to the athletes that got cut off. Definitely the longest day in my skiing career. I had my boots off eating an apple strudel and drinking a cappuccino 10 minutes before I raced. It was super hard to be focused for so many hours leading up to it. I really needed this race to happen since my season has started off poorly. I tried to use that motivation from being slow in the past few races to fuel the focus and desire to send it in less than ideal conditions."
"Super stoked to score my personal best this week but planning to keep the ball rolling," Sam continued. "This was only my fifth World Cup super-G start, so it really helps to have some results to help convince myself that I belong here and that I can ski with the best skiers in the world."
Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Travis Ganong were also able to get out of the start gate before the race was called, but ended up outside of the top 30 in 35th and 38th, respectively. Tommy Biesemeyer was two shy of the start gate when the race was cancelled, and Jared Goldberg also was unable to start due to the cancellation.
Up next, the men will watch video and refocus for Saturday's Saslong classic downhill, a favorite of the American downhillers. Last year, the American men went 4-5-6—Bryce Bennett-Steven Nyman-Travis Ganong—on the Saslong. Time for some podium-hunting!
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL Instagram Facebook Twitter
Official event hashtags: #skiworldcupvalgardena, #worldcupvaldisere, #swcaltabadia #granrisa (Alta Badia)
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app
Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
The Show Must Go On: Val D'Isere, Val Gardena, and Alta Badia
By Megan Harrod
December, 19 2019
Bryce Bennett—who loves Val Gardena, and has had career-bests on the track, including fourth last season—led the Americans in Thursday's downhill training run in fifth. (Alexis Boichard - Zoom Agency, Getty Images)
The FIS Alpine World Cup Tour show must go on—and indeed it will, in Val Gardena and Alta Badia, Italy for the men (“Pizza and Pasta Tour”: commence!), and Val d’Isere, France for the women.
With some tricky weather coming through Europe, bringing rain and warmer temperatures—and what sounds like A LOT of snow over the weekend in Val d’Isere, France—the men’s and women’s World Cup circuits will brace themselves and cross their fingers/hold their thumbs. Perhaps, even, they’ll pray to Ullr (God of snow) for the best outcome.
In the first of two downhill training runs in Val d’Isere, the Austrian women were the fastest skiers of the day, led by Ramona Seibenhofer. Alice McKennis led the American women in 15th, followed by a much more aggressive and confident Jackie Wiles, in 22nd, and Alice Merryweather in 44th. Of course, training days are for figuring out and dialing in line, set-up, etc—so it was a learning day for the women, who haven’t been at this venue in two years (due to weather last season).
Alice McKennis inspects the downhill course with longtime coach Alex Hoedlmoser.
“I’ve felt really confident coming into the season, and feel really good on my skis and feel like I’m in a strong body position, so it’s obviously very exciting to do well and to realize some of your goals,” reflected Alice McKennis following her training run. “But, I knew coming into the season I was skiing well, and to follow through with the skiing I had in training feels really good.” The biggest adjustment in coming back for Alice may not be finding her form, but rather learning all of the new faces on tour.
“I don’t know who anybody is,” Alice laughed. “It’s quite a lot of younger, newer faces, and I’m definitely one of the older ladies out here. But I’m enjoying it all the same, and it’s kind of cool to see some of the younger racers. It’s a very strong field and there are a lot of young women that are skiing really well technically, and I love watching that.”
The women will kick off the series with a downhill on Saturday followed by an alpine combined on Sunday. Winds are expected to be upwards of 160 km/hour on Friday, which may throw a wrench in the plans for the second downhill training day. That said, it is supposed to clear up for Saturday’s downhill. On Saturday evening, a weather pattern is coming in that is likely to dump more than a meter (100 cm) of snow on Sunday, continuing into Monday through the holiday week. At this point, the weather does not look like it will be kind to the alpine combined women in Val d’Isere, but only time will tell.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who had a tough day in Courchevel’s giant slalom on Tuesday, announced on Thursday that she will sit out the Val d’Isere series to focus on the upcoming tech events in Lienz, Austria on Dec. 28-29th. On Twitter, she shared a series of tweets as she was making her decision, confirming for fans and media on Thursday that she would be sitting the Val d'Isere series out:
At this point, with the impending weather, it seems like Mikaela’s decision will be a smart one, as she will get some valuable time training slalom and giant slalom—her bread and butter events—as well as some quality time spent over Christmas with her team and her family.
The men are primed and ready to compete at two of their favorite venues on the circuit, with stops in Val Gardena, Italy for a speed series followed by a giant slalom and parallel giant slalom on the Gran Risa at Alta Badia, Italy. Weather has been tough in Italy, with warm temperatures and rain, as thick fog forced the cancellation of Wednesday's downhill training run. Thursday’s first and final downhill training run proved to be a success for the Americans, with Bryce Bennett—who loves Val Gardena, and has had career-bests on the track, including fourth last season—leading the Americans in fifth, followed by teammate Jared Goldberg in eighth, Travis Ganong in 26th, Ryan Cochran-Siegle 28th, Sam Morse 34th, Wiley Maple 49th, Sam Dupratt 58th and Tommy Biesemeyer 67th.
Steven Nyman, also known as “King of the Saslong” for winning the downhill in 2006, 2012 and 2014—only two skiers have bested his three victories—Kristian Ghedina and Franz Klammer, each with four. Coincidentally, Steven and Bryce’s serviceman, Leo Mussi, was Kristian Ghedina’s serviceman for those four victories as well. So it’s safe to say that Leo Mussi is actually the “King of the Saslong.” In Thursday’s training run, Steven finished last. Now, you may all be scratching your heads at his time, which was 7.69 seconds off Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud’s pace. “Why?” you may ask? Well, because in one of the fastest sections of the course, Steven pulled a ballerina move at 110 km/hour.
“It's wet and currently drizzling. It's been this way for a few days,” Steven said of the weather in Val Gardena. “Today we got a window in the morning to get the run done and it happened! The snow was good and held up. They did a great job with prep considering. There's a new section on the track that is interesting. It is before the Mauer jumps. The jumps were big with some kicks to them, which will be shaved down to remove the kicks for Saturday. And, I did a ballerina move on the last turn. I caught an edge and it spun me around but I somehow didn't catch another edge and flap down I stayed on my feet going backwards into the net but did a reverse wedge pulled it off and kept going.” He is lucky to have walked away from that one unscathed.
Bryce, who led the way in 2018, in fourth, says Val Gardena holds a special place in his heart. “Val Gardena has a soft spot in my heart,” he said in an interview to the International Ski Federation (FIS) earlier this fall. “I enjoy Italy, especially that part of Italy, and the course itself fits my skiing style. I've also done well there a number of times so that always helps. My main motivation is classic downhills…downhills with history.” With the fifth-fastest time on Thursday, despite some mistakes, Bryce knows what he has to do to make up time. And, rest assured, he will.
On the men’s giant slalom side, all eyes will be on Beaver Creek, Colo. winner Tommy Ford. With Val d’Isere having been cancelled, the men are chomping at the bit to ski one of their favorite tracks on the tour: the Gran Risa in Alta Badia, Italy. Tommy scored a career-best (at the time) fifth in Alta Badia in 2018, leading four into the points.
It’s bound to be an action-packed weekend, so make sure to tune in! See below for all of the details on who and how to watch.
MEN’S STARTERS
VAL GARDENA
Bryce Bennett
Tommy Biesemeyer
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Sam Dupratt
Travis Ganong
Jared Goldberg
Wiley Maple
Sam Morse
Steven Nyman
ALTA BADIA
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Tommy Ford
Ted Ligety
Brian McLaughlin
River Radamus
WOMEN’S STARTERS
Alice McKennis
Alice Merryweather
Jackie Wiles
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL Instagram Facebook Twitter
Official event hashtags: #skiworldcupvalgardena, #worldcupvaldisere, #swcaltabadia #granrisa (Alta Badia)
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app
Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
U.S. Snowboardcross Team Set for Cervinia World Cup
By Andrew Gauthier
December, 18 2019
Hagen Kearney at the 2018 FIS Snowboardcross World Cup in Cervinia, Italy. (FIS Snowboard - Miha Matavz)
With one FIS Snowboardcross World Cup under their belt in Montafon, Austria, members of the U.S. Snowboardcross Team head to Cervinia, Italy for their second stop on the tour.
In the course of two years of organizing the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup, Italy’s Cervinia resort proved itself as a top-tier World Cup venue, with the course’s huge, sweeping turns and multiple passing areas lending themselves to thrilling back-and-forth racing throughout the competition.
Lindsey Jacobellis will lead the way for the U.S. following a solid fifth-place finish at the first race of the year in Austria. After just missing the big final in Montafon, and knowing Lindsey’s fearless determination, she will surely be looking to add another podium to her collection in Cervinia.
For the men, Hagen Kearney is coming off a respectable 10th-place finish in Montafon followed by teammates Jake Vedder and Nick Baumgartner in eleventh and twelfth respectively. Cervinia will be a great opportunity to break through into the semi-final rounds of competition.
U.S. Snowboardcross Team
Men
Hagen Kearney
Nick Baumgartner
Alex Deibold
Mick Dierdorff
Jake Vedder
Senna Leith
Mikey Lacroix
Saturday, Dec. 21
4:50 a.m. - Men and women’s snowboardcross, Cervinia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Men and women’s snowboardcross, Cervinia, ITA - Olympic Channel*
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
Twenty Americans to Compete at 2022 Olympic Halfpipe Venue
By Andrew Gauthier
December, 18 2019
Following halfpipe competition at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colo., twenty Americans are headed to Secret Garden, China for the second northern hemisphere FIS Freeski and Snowboard World Cup competition of the season Dec. 19-21.
The Secret Garden halfpipe will be 2022 Olympic venue and will provide athletes with a preview for what they can expect on the world’s biggest stage. Hunter Hess is returning to compete at Secret Garden where he earned his first-ever World Cup podium with a third-place finish last season. He shared the podium with an elite group including Canadian X Games gold medalist Simon D’Artois who won the event and 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Nico Porteous who finished second.
In addition to Hess, the freeski roster looks strong including Aaron Blunck, who is coming off of two consecutive podiums at the NZ Winter Games World Cup and the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix World Cup. U.S. Freeski Pro Team athlete Birk Irving kicked off the season with a victory at the NZ Winter Games after landing both a double cork 1440 and a never-been-done, gravity-defying, down the pipe double cork 720.
For the snowboarders, Maddie Mastro is coming in hot off her third-consecutive podium appearance at Copper Mountain with a third-place finish. Also, Chase Blackwell who made finals at the Copper Grand Prix will join teammate Ryan Wachendorfer this weekend.
Tune in live to catch all the action!
SNOWBOARD ATHLETES
U.S. Snowboard Pro Team
Maddie Mastro
Chase Blackwell
Ryan Wachendorfer
Americans
Josh Bowman
FREESKI ATHLETES U.S Freeski Pro Team
Aaron Blunck
Alex Ferreira
Hunter Hess
Taylor Seaton
Birk Irving
Abigale Hansen
Devin Logan
U.S. Freeski Rookie Team
Svea Irving
Hunter Carey
Jaxin Hoerter
Cassidy Jarrell
Connor Ladd
Dylan Ladd
Sammy Schuiling
SNOWBOARD
Saturday, Dec. 21
10:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Secret Garden, CHN - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
SunTrust Park Ready for Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover
By Andrew Gauthier
December, 17 2019
The 15-story jump structure build is complete in Atlanta, Ga. ahead of the Visa Big Air presented by Land Rover at SunTrust Park, the home of the Braves. Over 30,000 pieces of steel adding up to 600,000 lbs will support about 900,000 lbs of snow that will be made starting Tuesday. The world’s best freeski and snowboard big air athletes are ready to battle for the podium in FIS World Cup competition Friday and Saturday, Dec. 20-21.
Athletes have started to arrive in Atlanta with training beginning on Thursday, Dec. 19. About 164 athletes from an estimated 27 nations are scheduled to compete and the true scale competition is quickly being realized. For the snowboarders, the FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air Crystal Globe will be on the line. Following what U.S. Freeski and Snowboard Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air Head Coach Mike Jankowski called, “one of the most heated big air competitions ever," at the Air + Style Beijing World Cup in China, U.S. Snowboard Pro Team member Chris Corning will arrive in Atlanta as the FIS big air cup standings leader just ahead of Canadian rider Nicolas Laframboise. Both are confirmed to compete in Atlanta.
Other notable athletes scheduled to compete include one of the winningest snowboard athletes in history, Canadian Mark McMorris, as well as U.S. Snowboard Team member and Olympic gold medalist Red Gerard, and four-time X Games medalist Sven Thorgren of Sweden. For the women, 2018 Olympic big air silver medalist Jamie Anderson and current FIS big air cup standing leader and 2019 big air Crystal Globel winner Reira Iwabuchi of Japan are ready to put on a show for the people of Atlanta.
For the freeskiers, the current FIS Big Air Cup standings leader Birk Ruud of Norway, U.S. Freeski Team member Alex Hall, who is coming off back to back big air victories at X Games Norway and the Modena, Italy World Cup, as well as fan-favorite Henrik Harlaut of Sweden are set to compete. For the Women, current FIS Big Air Cup standings leader Guilia Tanno of Switzerland, teammate and 2018 Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hoefflin, as well as U.S. Freeski Team member Caroline Claire are ready to drop.
Join us at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, Ga. for what is sure to be two amazing days of World Cup competition. Can’t get to Atlanta? Not a problem, all final rounds of competition available live on NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold.
EVENT SCHEDULE Visa Big Air
SunTrust Park, Atlanta, Ga., USA
Snowboard & Freeski Big Air FIS World Cup
December 18-21, 2019
*Subject to change
Friday, Dec 20
12:00 - 10:00 p.m. - Sponsor Village/Entertainment - The Battery
5:30 p.m. - Gates Open
6:00 - 6:45 p.m. - Men's and women's snowboard big air finals practice
7:00 - 8:30 p.m. - Men's and women's snowboard big air finals
Saturday, Dec 21
12:00 - 10:00 p.m. - Sponsor Village/Entertainment - The Battery
5:00 p.m. - Gates Open
5:30 p.m. - Teton Gravity Research Premiere - “Fire on the Mountain”
6:00 - 6:45 p.m. - Men's and women's freeski big air finals practice
7:00 - 8:30 p.m. - Men's and women's freeski big air finals
HOW TO WATCH All times EST
FREESKI
Saturday, Dec. 21
7:00 p.m. - Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover, Atlanta - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold
Sunday, Dec. 22
3:00 p.m. - Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover, Atlanta - NBC**
SNOWBOARD
Friday, Dec. 20
7:00 p.m. - Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold
Saturday, Dec. 21
3:00 p.m. - Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover - NBC**
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app
Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
The Next Generation: Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 Team Announced
By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
December, 17 2019
Lauren Macuga will represent the United States on the alpine team at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced its 2020 team for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 set for January 9 - 22 in Switzerland. Nominations include those age-eligible athletes who qualified based on published selection criteria in the 2019 winter season.
Lausanne is known as the “Olympic Capital,” and has been the home of the modern Olympic Movement for more than 100 years. More than 50 international sporting organizations are based in this region. The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) serves to inspire the next generation to embody the Olympic values of Respect, Friendship, and Excellence. Competing in a location so steeped in Olympic history and tradition will set the tone for what is sure to be an awesome few weeks of competition. America’s next generation of ski and snowboard greats will compete for youth Olympic glory and put the world on notice.
Since the last YOG, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) increased alpine quotas for major nations to two athletes per-gender. The U.S. finished top-eight in the Hodler Cup at the Junior World Ski Championships, qualifying alpine for a third spot per gender.
“We have a good group of young athletes on our [alpine] team,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. “These are all U18 athletes, so it will be the first major international championship event of their careers. They are all really excited to participate, and to compete for medals with the best athletes their age in the world.”
Because of a fourth overall team performance in the Marc Holder Award standings in 2018, the International Federation du Ski (FIS) and the IOC awarded the United States three Youth Olympic starts per gender in the disciplines of cross country, ski jumping and nordic combined - a step up from the usual one per gender in previous years. The Marc Hodler Award is based on total Junior World Nordic Ski Championships, including a nation’s points awarded for cross country, ski jumping and nordic combined.
Snowboard and Freeski athletes will compete in halfpipe, slopestyle/big air, and ski/snowboardcross events. Quota spots for U.S. athletes were earned based on the team’s performance at FIS Junior Worlds in 2019. Some of the standout performances at the 2019 FIS Junior Worlds events included a men’s podium sweep in Freeski halfpipe, two podium finishes in Freeski slopestyle, two podium finishes in Freeski big air, one podium finish in Snowboard halfpipe, and one podium finish in Snowboard slopestyle.
“We have a really strong team of development athletes nominated to this team and we are looking forward to a fun and exciting event and experience in Switzerland,” said Sport Development Senior Manager for Freeski and Snowboard Ashley Diebold.
For the full roster of athletes representing the United States, visit teamusa.org.
2020 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Youth Olympic Team
(Hometown; Club; USASA Series (if applicable); Year of Birth)
Alpine
Women Lauren Macuga (Park City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard Club; 2002) Emma Resnick (Vail, Colo.; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; 2003)
Nicola Rountree-Williams (Edwards, Colo.; Independent/Private; 2002)
Men
Daniel Gillis (Guilford, Conn.; Burke Mountain Academy; 2002)
Maxx Parys (Bethel, Maine; Gould Academy; 2002)
Trent Pennington (Shalimar, Fla.; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; 2002)
Cross Country
Women Kendall Kramer (Fairbank, Alaska; Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks; 2002)
Sydney Palmer-Leger (Park City, Utah; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 2002)
Nina Seemann (Bondville, Vt.; Stratton Mtn School, 2002)
Men
Will Koch (Peru, Vt.; Stratton Mtn School; 2002)
Brian Bushey (Montpelier, Vt.; Green Mtn Valley School; 2002)
Kai Mittelsteadt (Bozeman, Mont.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 2002)
Snowboard
Halfpipe
Men
Jack Coyne (Edwards, Colo..; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)
Kolman LeCroy (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.; Mammoth Mountain Ski and Snowboard Team; Mammoth Unbound Series; 2002)
Women
Tessa Maud (Carlsbad, Calif.; Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team; Unbound Series; 2003)
Athena Comeau (Rutland, Mass.; New Hampshire Series; 2002)
Slopestyle/Big Air
Men
Jake Canter (Evergreen, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; Aspen Snowmass Series; 2003)
Dusty Henricksen (Mammoth Lakes, Calif; Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team; Unbound Series; 2003)
Women
Ty Schnorrbusch (Monroe Township, N.J.; Tom Anderson, Rocky Mountain Series 2002)
Courtney Rummel (West Bend, Wisc.; Adam Junio; Midwest Best Series; 2003)
Freeski
Halfpipe
Men
Connor Ladd (Lakewood, Colo.; Rocky Mountain Series; 2003)
Hunter Carey (Winter Park, Colo.; Winter Park Competition Center; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)
Women
Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.; Winter Park Freeride Team; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)
Hanna Faulhaber (Carbondale, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club; Rocky Mountain Series; 2004)
Slopestyle/Big Air
Men
Kiernan Fagan (Brownfield, Maine; Wy’East Mountain Academy; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)
Hunter Henderson (Madbury, N.H..; Waterville Valley BBTS; New Hampshire Series; 2002)
Skicross
Men
Eli Derrick (Harrisonburg, Va.; Carrabassett Valley Academy; Maine Mountain Series; 2002)
Ski Jumping
Men
Erik Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2004)
Landon Lee (Eau Claire, Wisc.; Flying Eagles Ski Club / USANS; 2002)
Women
Annika Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2002)
Paige Jones (Park City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard / USANS; 2002)
Nordic Combined
Men
Niklas Malacinski (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2003)
Carter Brubaker (Anchorage, Alaska; Team Alaska / USANS; 2003)
Women
Tess Arnone (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2003)
Alexa Brabec (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2004)
LIVE STREAM
Live stream of the Olympic Channel will be up in the US at TeamUSA.org/Lausanne2020 starting with Opening Ceremonies. It will be free of charge with no log-in needed. You can see their schedule here: https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/live/.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
For the full schedule of events, visit Lausanne2020.sport.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
Shiffrin Maintains Overall Lead Despite Challenging Day
By Megan Harrod
December, 17 2019
It was an uncharacteristically tough day for Mikaela Shiffrin in Courchevel, France, as she finished in 17th place in Tuesday's giant slalom. (Cristophe Pallot - Getty Images)
It was an uncharacteristically tough day for Mikaela Shiffrin in Courchevel, France, as she finished in 17th place in Tuesday's giant slalom. Italy's Federica Brignone was first by .13 seconds over Norway's Mina Fuerst Holtmann, and Switzerland's Wendy Holdener rounded out the podium in third.
It just didn't seem to click for Mikaela from the start of the day, as she kicked out of the start gate bib one and seemingly couldn't find her flow. Warm weather forced organizers to salt and water the track, but the conditions held up surprisingly well. As one of the few remaining multi-event skiers, since Nov. 23rd, Mikaela has competed in Levi, Finland then traveled to Killington, Vt., onward to Lake Louise, Canada for a speed series, then over to St. Moritz, Switzerland for the super-G before opting to sit out of the parallel slalom Sunday.
In this stretch opening of races, she was first (slalom), third (giant slalom), first (slalom), 10th (downhill), second (downhill), 10th (super-G), third (super-G), and 17th place in Tuesday's giant slalom. In Soelden's giant slalom opener, she skied the strongest she has on the hill and finished in second by a mere .06 hundredths. She currently leads the World Cup overall and slalom standings. For anyone's standards, this would be a successful run.
This is ski racing, after all. Despite how "easy" Mikaela makes it look, it's not easy. She's an athlete with exceptional talent. And, she is a champion. Champions handle both success and failure with class and find a way to learn from their experiences and translate them into positives to take into the next race. And, for Mikaela, there are plenty of races and plenty of days ahead.
Following the race Mikaela—who was visibly upset—was speechless, and a little stunned. "I have a lot of thoughts, but I probably shouldn't say any of them on camera," she said playfully through her frustration. "Look, it's not really OK for me to expect something more from the day. I mean...I skied and I placed how I placed. The girls who are ahead of me skied harder, better and cleaner than me. They did a better job. It makes sense, actually—but, yeah. I have a lot of thoughts."
Never one to place blame on weather or equipment, Mikaela was quick to look inward, "I don't have any excuse, really. They did an amazing job preparing the surface. The slope was actually in an amazing condition. Both courses were really fun to ski, and my equipment has been really great in training and everything. There's really no one to blame but myself. I'm for sure going to watch my video. It's experience, and there's always a lesson to learn. Right now it feels heartbreaking, but it's also not the end of the world so we just have to move on to the next one."
Prior to Tuesday, Mikaela had won the last four races in Courchevel, France—including two giant slaloms—and she had finished on the podium in each of the previous six World Cup giant slalom races. The last time Mikaela finished outside of the top-10 in a World Cup giant slalom was a 14th-place in Jasna, Slovakia in March of 2016, and the last time she finished outside of the top-15 was in Åre, Sweden in March of 2014. In the 26 giant slalom races between Jasna and Tuesday's race in Courchevel, she has been top-5 in 23 of them (88%), reached the podium in 17 of them (65%), and won nine of them (35%). Keep in mind, many of Mikaela's competitors are specialists in their respective disciplines.
Nina O'Brien, who has been skiing fast and strong in training, also struggled with the softer snow and couldn't get into a groove, as she finished outside of the 30 on the first run. Mikaela has maintained the lead in the overall standings (546 points) ahead of Italy's Federica Brignone (381 points).
Up next for the women is a speed series including a downhill and an alpine combined in Val d'Isere, France. Mikaela plans to ski in both events, though there is a weather pattern coming in with one meter of snow in Sunday's forecast, so it will be a day-to-day decision.
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app
Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
Bryce Bennett
Bryce Bennett began skiing at the age of two, hailing from Olympic Valley, California, where he grew up shredding the terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Tommy Ford
Tommy Ford grew up skiing out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. He has been a strong force on the alpine scene since the beginning.
Ogden, Lustgarten Extend SuperTour Leads
By Tom Horrocks
December, 16 2019
Katherine Ogden leads the women's classic sprint at round 2 of the SuperTour in Sun Valley, Idaho. (U.S. Ski & Snowboard)
Katherine Ogden (Dartmouth) and Benjamin Lustgarten (Craftsbury Green Racing) extended their overall SuperTour leads following round 2 of the series in Sun Valley, Idaho, last weekend.
Katherine took her second SuperTour win of the season in the classic sprint at Sun Valley. She also finished second to recently retired World Cup athlete Riitta-Lisa Roponen of Finland in the 10k freestyle. Katherine holds a 50-point lead over Guru Jordheim (University of Utah) in second, and a 55-point lead over Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury Green Racing) in third. Katherine also leads the U23 overall standings.
Sydney Palmer-Leger (SVSEF) grabbed her third podium result of the season, finishing second in the classic sprint, and third in the 10k freestyle. She is currently fourth in the overall SuperTour standings, and second in the U23 standings.
“That is very encouraging going into Youth Olympic Games in January,” noted U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Program Manager Bryan Fish, “and her results bode well for strong Junior Worlds potential.”
On the men’s side, Ian Torchia (SMS) had an impressive performance in Sunday’s 15k freestyle in Sun Valley, taking a 28-second victory over Bernhard Flaschberger (University of Denver) in second, and Johnny Hagenbuch (SVSEF) in third. Ian current sits second overall, 11 points behind Benjamin, who finished seventh in Saturday’s classic sprint and sixth in the 15k freestyle.
Tyler Kornfield (APU) won Saturday’s classic sprint, followed by Luke Jager (University of Utah) in second and Peter Holmes (SVSEF) in third.
Hats off to both Canmore, Alberta, and Sun Valley for hosting well organized and challenging courses for athletes to prepare for international competition. The partnership with Nordic Canada was very successful, hosting the combined Canadian NorAm and U.S. SuperTour in Canmore, which included 628 racers, for the first event of the season. The most racers ever at this 1988 Olympic venue.
The SuperTour Series continues Jan. 2-7 in Houghton, Mich. with men and women’s freestyle sprint, men and women’s classic sprint, and men and women’s classic and freestyle distance events. All events will be available for live streaming thanks to CXC Skiing and U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
