Day two of freeski week competition at the 2019 USASA National Championships went down in a big way on Monday, with three of the four groups in action and the Open class riders taking to the pro line of Copper Mountain’s terrain park for slopestyle competition, where Riley Jacobs (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Emerson Lawton (Traverse City, Mich.) claimed this season’s titles in a heavy-hitting event.

Jacobs came into the women's slopestyle competition fresh off a bronze medal from Sunday’s Open class halfpipe event, and the freeski triple threat (she also placed fifth in the Open class rail jam) put down another strong performance on a Copper slopestyle course that got somewhat tricky to ride as the day went on under the hot spring sun.

Representing the Rocky Mountain Series, 15-year-old Jacobs earned her winning run score of 82.33 with a switch 540, into a flatspin 360, and then a right-side 720 safety through the jump line, before she finished things off with railslide backside 270 off, railslide, and railslide frontside 270 off through the bottom rail section.

“It was really good today, really fun,” Jacobs said, smiling after receiving her gold medal at the awards ceremony, “The speed was a little slow in the end, but we waxed my skis every run and I was just tucking into every jump to get enough speed. It was a lot of fun today and really nice to be out the with all the other girls, and it’s cool to win.”

Behind Jacobs was Marea Adams (Truckee, Calif.) of the North Tahoe Series, earning a score of 72.66 and the silver medal for her efforts, while Sunday’s Open class halfpipe champion Hanna Faulhaber (Carbondale, Colo.) switched places with Jacobs for the slopestyle contest, finishing the day with the bronze.

It was the men who started off the competition day, hitting the slopes for practice early in the morning and wrapping things up just after noon, and in that time they would have seen nearly 20 degrees in temperature change - presenting a challenge for even the most powerful riders in the field. Lucky for Lawton, he was able to get his work done quickly, stomping a dizzying array of tricks in his first of two runs.

Starting things off with a switch double cork 900, Lawton then went into a right-side double 1080, and then a massive left-side double 1260 through the jump line, followed by a switch 270 on continued 270 off, right 270 on continued 270 off, and switch right 270 to pretzel 270 out on the rails, earning himself a score of 93.33 and the gold.

“It was a real early start and a little scary and hard out there first thing in the morning,” said 18-year-old Lawton, who is representing the Rocky Mountain Series. “And then for finals, the conditions were changing and there were speed differences and all that, but I put down a run and ended up on top. It’s nice that they’re bringing out a little more prize money now to maybe push everyone a little more, but my goal is always just to make finals and then see what happens from there. Today it went well.”

Behind Lawton in second was 15-year-old Charlie Gnoza (Park City, Utah) out of the Southern Vermont Series, whose score of 89.00 would give him the silver, while the New Hampshire Series’ Brian Gardner (Jay, N.Y.) would earn bronze with a score of 87.33.

There is no doubt that the USASA National Championships is the premier grassroots season culmination event. Stay tuned as competition continues throughout the week and future Olympians continue to progress and foster their competitive spirit through competition and community. 

RESULTS
Men's freeski open class slopestyle
Women's freeski open class slopestyle
 

U.S. Freeski Pro Team member Colby Stevenson (Park City, Utah) earned second-place in his last slopestyle competition of the season at Total Fight Masters at the El Tarter Snowpark in Grandvalira, Andorra, Saturday.

“With a super windy qualifier and 30cm of snow the night before finals, the weather wasn’t ideal," said Stevenson. “But, then the sun came out unexpectedly and turned out to be a great competition. I changed my run-up last second and had to tone it down from what I had planned. I focussed on stepping up my rails and landing clean jumps and found myself on the podium.”

Following the last FIS Freeski World Cup slopestyle of the season in Silvaplana, Switzerland, where Stevenson also earned second, he almost boarded a flight back home but decided to stay for the 15th edition of the Total Fight Masters.

“The best part of the whole experience was that I actually was in the taxi on my way to the airport to fly back to the U.S., when I had the crazy idea to change my plans and stay for Total Fight. I’m really glad I went with my gut feeling," Stevenson said. 

Stevenson finished the season strong with two back-to-back podium finishes in what was a challenging year of competition. Unfortunately, Stevenson struggled throughout the winter in the final rounds at multiple events to break into podium contention. However, two podiums in his last two events prove that Stevenson's creative and technical approach to the slopestyle course always makes him a threat come competition time. 

Fabian Boesch of Switzerland won the event and Javi lliso of Spain closed out the podium in third-place. 

RESULTS
Men’s freeski slopestyle
1. Fabian Boesch (Switzerland)
2. Colby Stevenson (Park City, Utah)
3. Javi Lliso (Spain)

VIDEO
Colby Stevenson’s 2nd place run
Freeski highlights
Full Freeski finals replay
 

The next generation of freestyle skiers wrapped their season at the FIS Junior World Freestyle Championships in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy, April 5-6 with three events: aerials, moguls and dual moguls. Sixteen athletes represented the United States and the team came home with two medals, a gold, and a bronze, and firmly moved the USA into the lead of the Marc Holder Award, which is presented to the top country from the combined freestyle and freeski Junior World Championships.

Originally scheduled to take place over three days, Mother Nature dumped more than 72 inches of snow, delaying aerials by a day. Kaila Kuhn (Boyne City, Mich.) was the top finisher of the U.S. aerials team, placing fourth. At just 15-years-old, Kuhn competed at the 2019 World Championship events held in Park City, Utah, and on the World Cup circuit this season. She is currently ranked 15th in the world for women’s aerials and will be a force to be reckoned with as she gains competition experience.

The U.S. came away with two medals on the moguls side: Sabrina Cass (Cheshire, Conn.) won gold at the singles event and Alex Lewis (Carlisle, Mass.) claimed bronze at duals.

The weather proved challenging new snow followed by warm temperatures for the April 5 moguls event. “After almost a meter of new, heavy snow overnight, the course was completely rebuilt the morning of the event - and then the temperatures rose into the ’50s,” explained U.S. Junior Worlds Moguls Coach Glenn Eddy. “The rapidly changing course conditions took a toll on the field with many DNFs. Sabrina really rose to the occasion and tackled the conditions, skiing a solid qualifying run followed by her outstanding finals performance.”

“It was an incredible feeling to win Junior Worlds,” said Cass. “The field of athletes was very competitive. My skiing definitely improved throughout the day and I’m really hyped with the way it turned out.”

In the dual event, two Americans went head-to-head in the small final, and Lewis beat out teammate Landon Wendler (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) to reach the podium in third place. “I am super happy to finish third in duals at Junior Worlds,” said Lewis. “I’ve been working hard all season and I’m glad it’s paid off with this podium.”

Following dual moguls, The United States leads the Marc Hodler Award standings with 85 points. Russia is second with 65 points, and Switzerland is third with 54 points. Two events remain,  freeski slopestyle April 9, and big air April 13, in Klappen, Sweden.

RESULTS
Men’s aerials
Women’s aerials
Men’s moguls
Women’s moguls
Men’s dual moguls
Women’s dual moguls
Marc Hodler Award standings (Following dual moguls)

Sunday was another big day at the 2019 USASA National Championships as the top men and women of halfpipe and ski cross competed under perfect blue skies and balmy temperatures at Colorado’s Copper Mountain Resort.

The Copper pipe was once again perfectly cut on Sunday as 32 men and 12 women dropped in for competition. And though the warm temps made for a little slush in the flat bottom, the expert slip crew kept things running smoothly from qualifications right through to finals, where Hanna Faulhaber (Carbondale, Colo.) and Matt LaBaugh (Avon, N.Y.) elevated their riding to take the respective women and men’s 2019 USASA Nationals titles.

Faulhaber, who finished second in Saturday’s Open class rail jam, established herself as the frontrunner for Sunday’s competition even in practice, launching big, stylish airs from the outset of the day. Then, after qualifying first, she stepped it up to another level in the finals, landing her first-ever flare in competition in a run that also included 540s both ways, an alley-oop, and a massive straight air.

“I’m super happy to put down the run that I wanted to do,” said 14-year-old Faulhaber, who represents the Aspen Snowmass Series. “That’s the first time I’ve landed my flare in competition and I’m stoked. I wanted to do my run better in my second run but I landed sketchy on one of my 540s, but I did the flare better which was cool. It’s my first year competing in open class, so to win is nice.”

The silver medal in the women's competition went to Connie Brogden (Riverside, Conn.) coming out of the Rocky Mountain Series while rounding out the podium with the bronze was another RMS rider in Riley Jacobs (Oak Creek, Colo.).

In the men’s competition, there was a whole lot more to be offered by Rocky Mountain Series riders, with 15-year-old LaBaugh leading the way.

“I didn’t do that well in qualifier...I was on the bubble,” LaBaugh said, recounting his day in the pipe, “But in finals, my first run went pretty well and then in my second run I laced it and ended up with the win.”

That gold medal-winning second run for LaBaugh started off with a flat double-backflip on the first hit, into a right-side corked 900, a left corked 900, a right flatspin, and a left flare 720 to finish things all off and earn himself a score of 91.33.

“I had to watch a lot of guys go after me and it was very stressful,” LaBaugh continued, “I didn’t know what was going to happen...Jon (Sallinen, Carbondale, Colo.) had a really good run and just couldn’t put it down as good as he wanted. To win here in my first year competing in Open class is awesome.”

Taking the silver medal went to another 15-year-old Rocky Mountain Series rider, and reigning FIS Junior World Halfpipe Champion Connor Ladd (Lakewood, Colo.) stomped an exceptional first-run score of 87.33. Sallinen, meanwhile, would have to settle for bronze with a score of 84.66.

While there was something of a limited field on hand for ski cross competition at the 2019 USASA Nationals, there was still plenty of excitement on the Copper SX track Sunday, where China’s Ran Hongyun and Stuart Whittier (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) of the Maine Mountain Series stepped up to win gold medals.

Ran lead a large contingent of Chinese athletes on hand in Copper this week, as her nation gears up for hosting the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in just under three years, and she was able to best top U.S. skier Lauren Salko (Park City, Utah) in a photo finish to take top honors.

Salko, of the Rocky Mountain Series, was clearly disappointed in letting Ran overtake her just before the finish line in Sunday’s competition. Still, she was able to take some positives away from her experience.

“I felt like I skied really well today despite making some mistakes early on,” Salko said. “The track was running well and held up through the whole race despite the warm temperatures. It was a new experience for me being the only American racing against an all-China field and it was great to see so many international athletes come out for the event. There was a lot of tight racing and I was happy to walk away with the silver after a photo finish in the final.”

The bronze medal went to China's Chen Wuyan.

In the men’s competition, it was an all-American big final, with Whittier of the Maine Mountain Series putting on a dominant final run performance that saw him finish nearly two seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Noah Giron (Carson City, Nev.) of the North Tahoe Series. With Whittier taking gold and Giron silver, and bronze would go to Quinn McGunnigle (Phoenixville, Penn.) of the North Atlantic Series.

RESULTS
Men's freeski halfpipe open class
Women's freeski halfpipe open class
Men's skicross open class
Women's skicross open class
 

Freeski week at the 2019 USASA National Championships opened on Saturday night with a truly electric Hard Rock Riviera Maya rail jam session where six of the best women and 10 of the best men duked it out. Marion Balsamo (Penasco, N.M.), and Tucker FitzSimons (Hood River, Ore.) took the wins with standout performances. 

Representing the Southwest Freeride Series, Balsamo spends her time off the slopes riding rodeo. On Saturday, however, she was busy riding the rails, stomping tricks across a majority of the rail jam features, including an incredible double switch up front-to-front on the quad kink that also earned her “Best Trick of the Night” honors. 

“I had a ton of fun tonight,” the 16-year-old Balsamo said with a smile smiled. “It was a blast. I’ve won Nationals before, but this is my first time winning open class and I’m just really excited.”

In second behind Balsamo was 14-year-old Hanna Faulhaber (Carbondale, Colo.) of the Aspen Snowmass Series, while the bronze medal went to 15-year-old Jenna Riccomini (Port Matilda, Penn.), representing the Rocky Mountain Series.

Over on the men’s side, the finals started with an absolute banger on Saturday night, with the first rider out of the gate dropping a massive gap 270 to down-flat-down on the quad kink.

That rider was FitzSimons of the Big Mountain West Series, and after setting the tone with that first trick he didn’t slow down for the rest of his gold-medal winning jam session, ranging left and right across all features and stomping top tricks that included a switch 270 gap to down-flat-down to backside 270 out on the quad kink, and a pole jam 50-50 to lipslide on the wall ride to backside 270 out on the down rail.

“It felt really good,” 21-year-old FitzSimons said, “I landed a lot of tricks that I really wanted to get, and I felt really good about my skiing. I was stoked. It was a super-fun event and I’m stoked have won and taken a little cash home at the end of the night. Everyone killed it tonight, I was super impressed with the level of riding.”

Eli Vossler (Bend, Ore.) of the Central Oregon Series claimed silver with a silky-smooth performance throughout the evening, while Will Griffith (Ketchum, Idaho) of the Big Mountain West series had one of the most consistently explosive performances of the night, launching into and out of features with abandon on his way to taking the bronze.

RESULTS
Men's freeski open class rail jam
Women's freeski open class rail jam
 

Editor's Note:
​Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID) sustained an ACL tear in September that has sidelined her for the 2019 season. Throughout Johnson's road to recovery, she'll be sharing the ups and downs of rehabilitation here in a column of her own, entitled "Patient Notes," in hopes that you will follow along for the journey to learn how challenging it is both physically and mentally to return to snow at the elite level. Being an injured athlete can be challenging and lonely, and we're hoping that by writing this column, Johnson will be able to stay connected to the community and her sponsors.

Johnson kicked off her series with a poignant pre-surgery piece with Patient Notes: Volume 2, she brought you all the post-op nitty gritty, Patient Notes: Volume 3, she talked about ferocity and frustration, Patient Notes: Volume 4, where she talked about the mental ups and downs in the mid stages of recovery and Patient Notes: Volume 5, entitled "Lies and Greed". She's thankful for your support and invites you to follow along on her Instagram. All of the words below are Johnson's thoughts, straight from her journal to your computer screen.

Enjoy the journey,

Megan Harrod 
Alpine Communications Manager

------------------

4/3/2019: 7 months post injury, 210 days post injury, 197 days post-op

Like I Never Left

It’s been a while since I last wrote; I think these pieces have been more important for me than you. And I think that being back on skis, feeling as though I was finally breaking down the barriers I had feared for months meant that I didn’t need to write as much. Sure, there were tough moments. Every World Cup race hurt, not my knee, but my heart. Physically my chest lurched every time I watched someone push out of a start gate. But, I was moving. I was skiing, and I had day to day goals to accomplish. I wasn’t sitting with my knee in the air, feeling misery crush me. I was out moving, skiing, feeling the air on my face and beginning to believe that everything might be alright.

Some people wonder, why undertake this journey at all? Or perhaps, rather, why open yourself back up to going through this heart-wrenching experience. Why ski when it seems the sport has one of the highest injury rates? A former athlete, who went through not one but five ACL injuries shocked me recently saying, ‘if I could, I’d have retired after the first one.’ But I know why I do it. I know why I will fight, have fought, like a gladiator to return to the race course that might – though I shiver to imagine it – one day tear me apart again. As I got back into gates last week, I was reminded why I never once questioned my desire to return to the sport. And now, with the feeling of ripping past super-G gates fresh on my mind, I thought I would elaborate on why anyone would pursue this sport, given the risks.

I am currently headed home after my first block of skiing in gates. Just a week ago I skied around a gate for the first time in almost seven months! Just two days ago I pushed out of the start of a super-G set. And, everything that I love about the sport washed over me again, and reminded me even more viscerally how amazing this sport is and how glad I am to be back. And, knowing intuitively how much more I love racing World Cup speed, opened my eyes to the reason I am working as hard as I am to return to that pinnacle of the sport.

I am crying thinking about it. You can’t see it, but I am. I visualized it for months. But the feeling itself…that was something else. You can’t imagine what the feeling of bumps sliding under an arcing ski at 60 miles per hour does to me. Goosebumps. You can’t fake the gorgeous sunrise that made up for the 4:45am wake-up. And then the intellectual part of me lit up looking at delays and sidehills in inspection. And finally it all came together. I pushed out of the start and felt that rush of adrenaline, the narrowing of my focus. Just me and the course. This is why I do it. Because it makes me feel alive.

I am blessed, in that it feels like I never left. I don’t mean for that to sound arrogant. Rather, I say it with both elation and giddy excitement. I felt so relieved that when I returned, my body did not rebel on my mind, but they worked together in harmony and  I skied just as well as I remember. I still have a long way to go. I still want more experience under my belt. But, I have a whole summer to get that experience. And, I’m more determined than ever to continue improving myself, because I didn’t go through all of this to be as good as I ever was. I want to be better.

The final day of snowboard week competition of the 2019 USASA National Championships went down on Thursday at Copper Mountain, Colorado, where once again all five daily venues were buzzing with action from first chair to last, and where the highlight Open class slopestyle competition saw Makayla Kellogg (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and David Retzlaff (Holly, Mich.) use their final runs of the day to claim this season’s national titles.

The day started with a change in schedule for the women. In the riders meeting after practice, the competitors on hand elected to forego qualifications and head straight into a three-run final for all riders. 

Kellogg was one of the standout riders from the get-go. However, despite stomping both of her first two runs, she still found herself in second-place behind Colorado’s own Ellie Weiler (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) before the start of run three. 

As it turned out, Kellogg had another gear, stepping it up in a third run that included a cab 540, backside 360, and a well-held mute grab through the jump line, before going 50-50 frontside 360 out, 50-50 to boardslide, and 50-50 frontside 180 through the rails to earn a score of 88.25 and the gold medal.

“I started the day off pretty nervous," said Kellogg. Practice was pretty scary and I wasn’t landing stuff. We switched my run up and I started landing it every run, and then landed all three runs in finals, so I was super happy about that. I’m so excited to win…I don’t even know how to explain it. Everybody threw down today and it’s awesome to be first.”

16-year-old Weiler would finish the day with a score of 85.25 for the silver medal, while Lauren Dominio (Dillon, Colo.), a Rocky Mountain Series rider like Weiler, would round out the podium in third with a score of 82.00.

Over on the men’s side of things, top qualifier Retzlaff would need to come up with a little last-run heroics to take his National Championships title after failing to put down his first run and looking up an intimidating leaderboard that had three riders in the 90’s after their first runs. 

Dropping in last on the day, 19-year-old Retzlaff started things off on his 95.75-scoring gold medal run with a cab 900, into a frontside 1080, and finally a backside 1260 to finish off the jump section, before going cab 270 sameway 270 out, switch boardslide to regular, and frontside 270 boardslide to regular through the rails.

“I stomped my first qualifying run, and then I upped it in my second qualifying run and I think I increased my score by 10 to take top spot,” Retzlaff, another Rocky Mountain series product, said about his day, “So I was last one to drop in finals, but on my first run I just came up short on a jump. After first run there were some high scores on the board, but I didn’t really pay attention to them and I was able to put down my bigger tricks in my last run and get a 95-something."

“I was just trying to stay focused, wasn’t really thinking about what the other competitors were doing, just trying to make sure I knew what I could do and know that it was all up to me if I was going to land or not. It’s super cool. I ended up third last year, so to come back and win it this year is awesome. I’m excited about it.”

Second place behind Retzlaff was 18-year-old Alec Little (Park City, Utah) of the Big Mountain West Series, who took silver with a score of 93.00. Bronze, meanwhile, went to the Maine Mtn Series’ Bo Warren (Ipswich, Vt.), as the 22-year-old put down a first-run score of 91.50 to earn his place on the podium.

The final day of USASA Nationals snowboard program signifies the end of one the most critical events to the athlete development pipeline. In addition, USASA also just completed it's 30th year as an integral piece of the event and development pipeline. Thanks to USASA's focus on creating opportunities for the youth, the future of competitive snowboarding is a bright one! Learn more about the U.S. Ski & Snowboard and USASA partnership below. 

Snowboard Athlete Development Pipeline
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USASA Offer Opportunity

RESULTS
Men's snowboard slopestyle open class
Women's snowboard slopestyle open class
 

Any fan of outstanding snowboarding was in for a treat at the 2019 USASA National Championships at Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado on Wednesday afternoon, as a perfectly-cut halfpipe, ideal weather conditions, and an exceptional field of riders from around the country all combined to produce an excellent Open class halfpipe competition.

Every rider on hand stomped at least one of their two finals runs, and with every one of those stomped runs offering multiple brow raising moments, the judges had their work cut out for them on Wednesday. However, two riders in particular separated themselves from the pack, and at the end of the day it would be two U.S. Snowboard Rookie Team members Tessa Maud (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Jason Wolle (Winter Park, Colo.) leading the way from qualifiers through to final runs and taking the 2019 Nationals titles.

Already on her way to becoming a World Cup regular at just 15-years-old, Unbound Series representative Maud impressed from the outset, with big, smooth airs and long-held grabs throughout her spins and straight airs, dropping a first run that included a first-hit frontside 720, cab 720, tuck-knee, backside 540, and a big stalefish to finish things off.

“It was super fun out there today, and all the girls killed it,” said Maud following the awards ceremony, “I rode the Rev Tour and the World Cup this year, but USASA has a huge place in my heart because I’ve been doing it for eight years. I love it and it’s good to be back here with all my old friends and around the groms and everyone. It’s super fun.”

Second place and the silver medal for the ladies went to 14-year-old Alexandria Simsovits (Calabasas, Calif.), also of the Unbound Series, while Japan’s Ayako Kamata would earn bronze.

In the men’s contest, Wolle let it be known early that he wasn’t going to be easily stopped, dropping a massive double Michalchuk with his first hit of his first finals run that was the inarguable trick of the day, before going on to stomp a frontside 900, backside 540, frontside 720, and cab 720 to take a clear victory.

“Today was awesome,” the Rocky Mountain Series rider smiled with his gold medal in hand, “I podiumed last year - I got third place - but I really wanted to step it up this year and put down a really good run and today it all came together. I actually dislocated my elbow three weeks ago, so I’ve only had two days on snow since then, and to come back and put down probably one of my best runs of the season and walk away with the win is really something special. I’m super happy with it.”

Knowing he had the win in the bag before dropping in on his final run, Wolle took a moment to stop on the deck at the top of the pipe and wave to the crowd, before dropping in on a lofty straight-air victory lap that was as pretty to watch as anything seen in the pipe all day.

“My victory lap…I don’t want to sound to cocky, but I was really happy with my first run, so when the last score came in I knew I could do (the victory lap) and I kind of had to. My coaches and my friends and my family were all here, so I had to show off a little bit. Nationals is always such a good vibe, so it’s fun to show off a bit for the crowd.”

“Thirty years of Nationals is pretty impressive, and to have it here at my new home - I’m living in Frisco now and I’m training at Copper all the time - so it’s pretty cool. I’ve been coming to Nationals for five years now and to win at the 30th anniversary is pretty special.”

Behind Wolle in second place was Fynn Bullock-Womble (Mebane, N.C.), as the 14-year-old Rocky Mountain Series product continued a hugely impressive showing at the 2019 Nationals that saw him finish fourth in the Open class rail jam on Tuesday night. Third place and the bronze medal, meanwhile, went to 25-year-old Shane Serrano (Bridgewater, N.J.) of the Aspen Snowmass Series.

U.S. Snowboard Rookie Team athletes like Wolle and Maud started competing at USASA grassroots events and are great examples of the progression possible working within the USASA and U.S. Ski & Snowboard athlete development pipeline. To this point, snowboarding in the U.S. has found great success. As an illustration, the U.S. Snowboard Team has amassed 31 Olympic medals dating back to the 1998 Olympics. It is easy to see why in 2012 Bill Marolt awarded the USASA the Russell Wilder Award stating, "without USASA, the U.S would not be able to dominate in the sport of snowboarding as we do today".

RESULTS
Men's snowboard halfpipe open class
Women's snowboard halfpipe open class
 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic Committee has announced finalists for the Team USA Awards, Best of March, which recognize the outstanding achievements of Team USA athletes from last month. Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) has been nominated. 

Shiffrin was nominated for Best Female Athlete of the Month, as a result of her outstanding achievements on the FIS Ski World Cup throughout the season, but the month of March, specifically, winning three FIS Ski World Cup victories between Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, and Soldeu, Andorra, and claiming four of five World Cup titles this season in overall, giant slalom, slalom and super-G.

A total of 10 sports – including alpine skiing, biathlon, figure skating, gymnastics, long track speedskating, Para-cycling, Para Nordic skiing, Para snowboarding, rugby and shooting – are represented among the 13 finalists across men’s, women’s and team categories. The finalists’ collective accomplishments tell the inspiring story of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes year-round. 

Fans can vote for Shiffrin through midnight on Monday, April. 8 on Team USA's website.

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA Showcases Shiffrin’s Record-Setting 2018-19 Season With 25 Hours of Programming, Starting Mon., April 8

“Lindsey Vonn: A Legendary Career” Series Begins Tuesday, April 16 with 15 Hours of Archival Coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will celebrate two of the most distinguished U.S. Olympic winter athletes of all time — Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn — with 40 hours of alpine skiing programming from April 8-19 that highlight Shiffrin’s record-setting 2018-19 season and Vonn’s historic 15-year career.

Beginning on Monday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET and continuing through April 12, the Olympic Channel will commemorate Shiffrin’s historic 2018-19 alpine skiing season with 25 hours of primetime programming. Coverage of Shiffrin’s record-setting 2018-19 season includes 20 races, including her 17 alpine skiing World Cup wins and three medal-winning performances at the FIS World Alpine Skiing Championships in Are, Sweden.

Shiffrin, only 24 years old, has amassed two Olympic gold medals, 60 World Cup victories, and is the three-time reigning overall World Cup champion. Her 2018-19 season included World Cup titles in the slalom, giant slalom, super-G, and the overall title. Her 17 World Cup victories in a single season broke Vreni Schneider’s 30-year record.

The following week, starting on Tuesday, April 16 at 8 p.m. ET, the Olympic Channel will present a new series, “Lindsey Vonn: A Legendary Career.” The series spans 15 seasons, showcasing 15 hours of archival coverage and 12 of her most notable races. The extensive coverage spans from her first World Cup victory in 2004 at Lake Louise, Canada, to her final race at the 2019 World Championships in Are, Sweden, where she earned bronze in the downhill. In her momentous career, Vonn won a total of 82 World Cup races – the most by a woman and second-most all time – and earned three Olympic medals (a gold and two bronze). 

HOW TO WATCH
All times EDT
*All coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will be streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and the Olympic Channel app.

Mikaela Shiffrin Programming Schedule:

Monday, April 8  
7:30 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Slalom: Levi, Finland
9:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Slalom: Killington Cup
11:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Super-G: Lake Louise, Alberta

Tuesday, April 9
7:30 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Super-G: St. Moritz, Switzerland
9:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Parallel Slalom –  St. Moritz, Switzerland
10:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Giant Slalom: Courchevel, France
11:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Slalom: Courchevel, France 

Wednesday, April 10
12:00 a.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Slalom: Semmering, Austria
7:30 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Slalom: Zagreb, Croatia
8:30 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Giant Slalom: Kronplatz, Italy
9:30 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup -Women’s Super-G: Cortina d’ Ampezzo, Italy
11:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Giant Slalom: Maribor, Slovenia

Thursday, April 11
12:00 a.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Slalom: Maribor, Slovenia
7:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Skiing Championships -Women’s Super-G
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Skiing Championships – Women’s Giant Slalom (Run 2)
10:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Skiing Championships – Women’s Slalom (Run 2)

Friday, April 12
7:30 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – City Event: Stockholm, Sweden
9:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women’s Slalom: Spindleruv Myln, Czech Republic
10:00 p.m.-  FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – World Cup Finals: Women’s Slalom – Soldeu, Andorra
11:00 p.m. - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup – World Cup Finals: Women’s Giant Slalom – Soldeu, Andorra

“Lindsey Vonn: A Legendary Career” Programming Schedule:

Tuesday, April 16
8:00 p.m. - Women’s Downhill: Lake Louise World Cup (2004)
9:00 p.m. - Women’s Super-G: 2009 World Championships
10:30 p.m. - Women’s Downhill: 2009 World Championships

Wednesday, April 17
8:00 p.m. - Women’s Downhill & Super-G: 2010 Winter Olympics
9:30 p.m. - Women’s Giant Slalom: Are World Cup (2012)

Thursday, April 18
8:00 p.m. - Women’s Downhill: Cortina d’Ampezzo World Cup (2015)
9:30 p.m. - Women’s Super-G: Cortina d’Ampezzo World Cup (2015)
11:00 p.m. - Women’s Super-G – Lake Louise World Cup (2015)

Friday, April 19
8:00 p.m. - Women’s Downhill: 2018 Winter Olympics
9:30 p.m. - Women’s Downhill: Are World Cup Finals (2018)
10:30 p.m. - Women’s Downhill:  2019 World Championships