Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) and Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) earned the gold for U.S. Ski & Snowboard in the inaugural mixed-team snowboardcross at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota, at Utah’s Solitude Mountain Resort.

For DIerdorff the gold was World Championship win number two, coming hot on the heels of his victory on day one of the competition in the men’s snowboardcross event. For Jacobellis, the most successful female athlete ever in the sport, the win was redemption after falling short of the podium earlier this week in the individual women’s snowboardcross competition.

With eight inches of fresh snow blanketing the snowboardcross course at Solitude Mountain, the mixed-team race made its World Championship debut at the 2019 FIS World Champs, ahead of its first appearance at an Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022.

“It feels great to come back a couple days later and do well and find the top of the podium again, and earn another world champs title,” said Jacobellis. “It was amazing to have Mick there with me. This new dynamic kept me relaxed and added an extra element of fun.”

Dierdorff also commented on the similarities and differences from a traditional snowboardcross race to a mixed-team snowboardcross race.

“I don’t think anything changes as far as mindset,” said the newly crowned double-World Champ. “Especially dropping first. It feels like a normal boardercross heat. More so, it changes for the second person. You don’t know if you will be coming out of the gate last and have all this ground to make up, like what happened today for Lindsey. Your mindset in a normal heat is to get out in front early, and to turn that into a hunt and chasing a rabbit out in front of you changes things. In addition, the fresh snow also changes conditions as we had to figure out how to ride the course in a different way at a different speed.”

Jacobellis earned her sixth World Championships gold medal and has still has never failed to top a podium at a World Championship event she has contested. This is also Dierdorff’s second top-level international competition victory. The team of Jacobellis and Dierdorff was clearly a great match.

“It was a really great experience teaming up with Mick,” said Jacobellis. “I was really happy with my performance on the individual race side and being able to switch it up and have a strategy with Mick was amazing. I’m used to going out of the gate first in the team race, so it was a little nerve-wracking sitting at the gate and waiting for it to drop. I was definitely a little over gripped in some situations and even had some trouble getting out of the start. I’m happy that turned around for me and I was able to execute.”

The sport of mixed-team snowboardcross requires a different type of communication than the traditional individual race format. With the men starting first, and the women waiting for a signal from the coach, and ultimately for their teammate to cross the line before the start gate opens, it makes for an interesting dynamic on the course.

“We do have spotters on the course,” said Jacobellis. “Jeff Archibald is down at the bottom and radios up to the top to give an idea of how the men will finish. I did know my gate was going to drop fourth. It made me really want to focus and nail that start to get as much momentum and tuck into the draft.”

With the men running first in the final, Dierdorff found himself in trouble for the first time in either the individual race or the mixed-team competition at the worst possible time, falling behind and unable to make a pass at any point throughout his half of the race. While he was able to keep himself close to the pack of riders ahead, Dierdorff crossed the line just over a half-second back.

“The first thing I am trying to do is be first and give Lindsey a big as of a gap as possible,” said Dierdorff. “The first two worked out, and then in the final, the heat didn’t go my way for the first time on their course. Initially upon crossing the finish line in fourth, but still very much in the pack, I couldn’t help but have a gut wrenching feeling. I think one of the coolest parts about it was that I realized I have one of the greatest of all time in Lindsey Jacobellis on my team. I think it made it that much more exciting for her to have that task ahead to go from fourth to first and it just shows how good of a rider she really is. It was so cool being down there and cheering for Lindsey in the first ever mixed-team event.”

With an amazing week of snowboardcross training and competition, one thing was clear, the U.S. riders really enjoyed their time at Solitude Mountain Resort.

“Coming to Solitude, I knew it was going to be an awesome course. It’s such a cool mountain and has incredible people. They supported us so well, and that helped make the dreams come true this week!”

RESULTS
Mixed-team snowboardcross

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

FREESKI
Wednesday, Feb. 6
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s slopestyle - Park City Mountain, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s slopestyle - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBCSN*

Saturday, Feb. 9
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s halfpipe - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBC

FREESTYLE
Wednesday, Feb. 6
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s aerials - Deer Valley Resort, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Thursday, Feb. 7
12:00 a.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s aerials - Deer Valley Resort, Utah - NBCSN*
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s team aerials - Deer Valley Resort, Utah - NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Feb. 8
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s moguls - Deer Valley Resort, Utah - NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

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

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

SNOWBOARDING
Monday, Feb. 4
3:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Park City Mountain Resort, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Park City Mountain Resort, Utah - NBCSN*

Tuesday, Feb. 5
3:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s parallel slalom - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s big air - Park City Mountain Resort, Utah - NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Feb. 8
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s halfpipe - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 9
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s halfpipe - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBC*

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

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

Julia Krass (Hanover, N.H.) won the freeski big air silver medal at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championship, presented by Toyota, in front of a capacity crowd in the Canyons Village at Park City Mountain, Utah.

“Today was unbelievable, it couldn’t have gone better,” said Krass. “I have never done an event at night like this with so many people watching and to have it be in my hometown is crazy. My whole family is here and all my friends, it’s unbelievable. My family doesn’t get to watch me ski very often so it’s pretty special to have them here. For a second I was thinking of doing a mellower trick on my last run, just to put something really clean down, but my coaches told me I got this, just grab it clean, and that I could do it. I had nothing to lose, so I went up there and did the best trick I knew. I’ve never done something like that. The slope course looks great and to start World Championships like this is epic. I’m excited to keep it going!”

Krass dropped in and immediately stomped what is arguably her most difficult trick, the left double cork 1260 mute grab. She has previously landed this trick at the Stubai, Austria World Cup and in training at the Seiser Alm Italy, World Cup, but this was the first time she was able to put it all together and earn a spot on the podium utilizing the double cork. Krass made history medaling at the first ever freeski big air World Championship competition and will have a shot at another medal is slopestyle during Wednesday’s freeski slopestyle competition.

Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.) also competed but was unable to reach the podium. Although it was not her night, she commented on the amazing crowd in Park City, saying, “it was such an honor to ski in front of this crowd tonight. I seriously cannot believe how many people showed up. It’s so awesome and it really helped all of the skiers get stoked. We can’t ask for much more than that.”

Either side of Julia Krass was Tess Ledeux of France who earned the gold and Isabel Atkin of Great Britain who closed out the podium with the bronze.

In the men’s competition, Alex Hall (Salt Lake City, Utah) finished just off the podium in fourth but put down some amazing runs in front of his hometown Park City crowd.

“I’m stoked on how I skied,” said Hall. “I landed everything like I wanted to and was able to go a little bigger on that last jump. I didn’t think I would slide into third there, so just being in podium contention for a moment was great. Everyone who placed ahead of me killed it and I’m really stoked for them. It was sick tonight, there were so many people and I was really hyped on this event. It was a really fun night overall.”

Swiss freeskier Fabian Boesch finished took home the gold, crowd favorite Henrik Harlaut of Sweden earned silver and Canada’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand earned the bronze.

With freeski big air slated to join the Olympic programme at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, it was long overdue that the event sees its premiere in world championships competition and the debut did not disappoint. Freeski World Championships competition will continue with slopestyle on Wednesday, Feb. 6 and in the halfpipe at Park City Mountain Resort on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tune in to NBC to catch all the action.

TRICK LIST

Men’s Freeski big air
Fabian Boesch -Left Double Cork 1620 Opposite Tail Grab | Right Triple Cork 1620 Safety Grab to Opposite Tail Grab
Henrik Harlaut - Switch Left 1440 Mute Grab | Left Double Cork 1620 Tail Grab
Alex Beaulieu-Marchand - Left Triple Cork 1260 Safety Grab | Switch Left Triple Cork 1440 Bow and Arrow Grab

Women’s Freeski big air

Tess Ledeux - Left Double Cork 1260 Mute Grab | Switch Left Bio 1080 Japan Grab
Julia Krass - Right Double 1080 Safety Grab | Switch Right 1080 Safety Grab
Isabel Atkin - Right 900 Opposite Tail Grab | Switch Right 1080 Mute Grab

RESULTS
Men’s freeski big air
Women’s freeski big air

HOW TO WATCH
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

FREESKI
Wednesday, Feb. 6
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men’s and women’s freeski slopestyle - Olympic Channel-TV and NBC Sports Gold

5:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men’s and women’s freeski slopestyle  - NBCSN*

Saturday, Feb. 9
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men’s and women’s freeski halfpipe NBC-TV and NBC Sports Gold
 

The new Olympic discipline of mixed-team snowboardcross will make its debut Sunday at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota, at Solitude Mountain Resort.

The U.S. Snowboardcross Team will be guaranteed a minimum of two teams in Sunday's event, with the possibility of a third. U.S. Team 1 will be represented by the newly crowned 2019 World Champion Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and five-time World Champion Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.). Jacobellis has had previous success in team snowboardcross competitions, earning a bronze medal with U.S. Snowboardcross teammate Faye Gulini (Salt Lake City, Utah) at the 2017 FIS World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain.

Following Dierdorff’s victory on Saturday, he shared his thoughts on the mixed-team snowboardcross competition. “I think it will be me and Lindsey out there,” he said. “I’m going to try to do the same thing I did out there on Friday, this time with Lindsey, and aim to go grab another World Championship medal!”

U.S. Team 2 will be represented by Stacy Gaskill (Golden, Colo.) and Jake Vedder (Pickney, Mich.), who won the small final in Friday’s World Championship snowboardcross competition finishing fifth overall. In addition, if the U.S. is granted a third team, eight-time X Games gold medalist Nate Holland (Sandpoint, Idaho) and Olympian Meghan Tierney (Edwards, Colo.) will compete as U.S. Team 3.

In this event, mixed gender teams of two athletes, one female and one male, compete head-to-head in heats of four. On completion of the course by the first athlete, the start gate opens automatically and the second athlete starts (relay principle). The top two teams from each heat advance to the next round. The first athlete of the second teammates to reach the finish line claims the win for the team. Athletes are eliminated throughout quarterfinals and semifinals, as well as a small final (Fifth through eighth place ) and big final (first through fourth place).

The U.S. claimed three top-five finishes in Friday’s individual snowboardcross race and will be carrying momentum into Sunday’s competition. It’s clear that the course at Solitude Mountain is running well for the team and we can expect the U.S. to put their best foot forward to potentially earn another World Championships medal. Tune in on NBC To catch all the action.

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

SNOWBOARDING
Sunday, Feb. 3
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s team snowboardcross - Solitude, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s team snowboardcross - Solitude, Utah - NBCSN*
 

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) joined an elite club with her 56th career FIS Ski World Cup victory in Saturday’s slalom in Maribor, Slovenia. She not only took sole position of fifth on the all-time World Cup win list, but she also broke the American record for World Cup victories - 13 - in a single season.

But Saturday’s victory wasn’t an easy one for Shiffrin.

“The first run was a pretty big fight for a lot of reasons,” said Shiffrin, who took a one-second lead over Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova on the first run. “There's just so many things that were happening after yesterday, and today so it was a bit more difficult to be focused. I was feeling quite uncertain if I could ski fast enough.”

Indeed, her second World Cup win of the weekend - Shiffrin and Vlhova tied for the giant slalom victory Friday - came on the heels of teammate Lindsey Vonn’s (Vail, Colo.) retirement announcement Friday, and a peppering from the media about what’s Vonn’s career has meant for the sport and her own career. However, Shiffrin made it clear that while Vonn may have paved the way as the most successful women’s alpine ski racer with 82 World Cup wins, she sets her own goals and objectives.

“What she’s done for the sport is incredible. I would never try to carry that torch,” Shiffrin said. “I’ll carry my own torch.”

The two-time defending World Cup champion has become the most dominant ski racer in the sport the past couple of seasons. And while the accolades continue to pile on, she remains focused on one thing, and one thing only - skiing the best she can.

“The numbers dehumanize what we’re all doing,” she said. “People have said it’s boring when the same person continues to win. For me - and for us as competitors - it’s not boring. Every race is a fight. There’s always a new goal to keep doing better, and the competition is always strong. It’s exciting, it’s nerve-wracking and there’s never any certainty. The numbers are amazing, but summing it all up to a number - it’s not possible for me. Sometimes I’m nervous, sometimes I’m confident. It’s not about winning. It’s about making my best turns.”

Facing a soft track on a warm Saturday afternoon, Shiffrin indeed focused on making her best turns. While not posting the fastest second run -  that honor went to Austria’s Chiara Mair, who came out of the 35th start position to post her second career top-15 World Cup result - Shiffrin held on for the victory after Vlhova struggled in her second run and fell to fifth. Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson finished a career-best second, followed by Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener in third. Paula Moltzan (Burlington, Vt.) posted her fourth top-20 World Cup slalom result of the season, finishing 16th.

With the victory, Shiffrin is now fifth on the all-time World Cup win list. Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark holds the record with 86 victories. Vonn is second with 82. Austria’s Marcel Hirscher has 68, followed by fellow Austria Annemarie Moser-Proll with 62, and Shiffrin with 56. Shiffrin also became the first American to win 13 World Cup races in a single season. The previous record was 12, held by Shiffrin and Vonn. Shiffrin is just one shy of Swiss Vreni Schneider’s record of 14 wins in a single season.

Up next, the 2019 FIS Ski World Championship start next week in Are, Sweden, and Shiffrin looks to carry the momentum.

“(Saturday’s win) is good for the confidence, but I also have to be careful not to take that for granted because every race is a fight and every victory is a fight,” she said. “I have big goals for World Championship, but nothing is guaranteed so just try to do my best to skiing and see what happens.”

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

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

Sunday, Feb. 3
2:00 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom - Maribor, SLO - NBCSN**
4:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Tuesday, Feb. 5
6:25 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s super-G, Are, SWE - NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

Wednesday, Feb. 6
6:25 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s super-G, Are, SWE - NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Feb. 8
5:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s super combined downhill, Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s super combined downhill, Are, SWE - NBCSN*
10:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s super combined slalom, Are, SWE - NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 9
6:30 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBC*
6:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBCSN*

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

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

Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) earned his first-ever top-level international competition victory - and it was a big one - winning the snowboardcross title at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota Solitude Mountain Resort.

“I don’t even know where my emotions are right now,” said Dierdorff. “I’m in the clouds and I’m not sure if this moment will ever sink in, this is the craziest moment I have had in my life. This past year for me, I trained super hard with the ultimate goal of making it to the Olympics and I made that goal happen. After checking that box, I just thought, what’s next, let's keep going. I know I’m one of the best out there and if I work as hard or harder than everybody I can end up on top. It’s my first win on the World Cup level at the World Championships! I can’t even comprehend all the support I have had and have here today. I tried to keep it loose up there but then get in the zone once I got in the gate. I’m fired up I ended up on top.”

Jake Vedder (Pickney, Mich.), the reigning Junior World Champion, led the small final finishing fifth in his first ever World Championships.  

“Today was crazy, I’m still catching my breath right now,” said Vedder. “I want to say congratulations to Mick Dierdorff. He absolutely crushed it. He got second in qualifying and fought all the way through to grab the victory. I’m just so stoked to be here right now. The weather was amazing and it was a battle all day long. I’m really happy to end up in fifth place, anything in the top-10 for me is great. I’m just trying to keep moving forward. We leave on Monday to go to the Feldberg, Germany, World Cup and I’m going to try to keep the momentum going. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”

Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, Mich.) finished 13th. Also, with his wife, three-year-old daughter, and a group of his closest friends in the crowd, veteran and eight-time X Games gold medalist Nate Holland (Sandpoint, Idaho) wrapped up his World Championships career with a respectable 17th place finish, just missing moving on from his opening heat.

For the ladies, five-time World Champion Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) also lead the small final finishing fifth overall.

“I am happy with how today went,” said Jacobellis. “I was doing my best and was in the mix in every race. It’s harder and harder every year with the women’s level of riding continuing to get better. I knew it was going to be very hard to get the sixth win. I have done the three-peats and four-peats at X Games, but the probability of a sixth World Championship win today with the level of riding was low, but I did my best. It was definitely challenging starting off a little stiff and not being able to move with a full range of motion and execute the course the best I could on a training day. Every day I felt a little better and better, but not 100-percent. At this point, I don’t think I’ll ever be riding 100-percent with all the injuries I have accumulated over the last 20 years of racing this sport, but it’s really cool to be part of the growth. I look forward to having the Supergirl contest later this March. It’s really exciting to see how you impact the younger generation of female riders and it’s just really heartwarming. If you can influence their lives in a positive way in the moment that helps them strive to that next level, it’s a really rewarding experience.

World Championship snowboardcross competition will continue with the new Olympic discipline of mixed team snowboardcross competition on Sunday. Tune in to NBC to catch the action live.

RESULTS
Men's snowboardcross
Women's snowboardcross

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

Sunday, Feb. 3
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s team snowboardcross - Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s team snowboardcross - Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah - NBCSN*

Monday, Feb. 4
3:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Park City Mountain Resort, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Park City Mountain Resort, Utah - NBCSN*

Tuesday, Feb. 5
3:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s parallel slalom - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s big air - Park City Mountain Resort, Utah - NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Feb. 8
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s halfpipe - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 9
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s halfpipe - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBC*

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

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

The first freeskiing event of the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota, will kick off at the Canyons Village in Park City, Utah, with big air competition Saturday. The Americans competing include some of the U.S. Freeski Team’s biggest stars, including Park City locals Alex Hall (Salt Lake City, Utah) and McRae Williams (Park City, Utah). In addition, Willie Borm (Chaska, Minn.) and two-time Olympic medalist Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) are ready to compete.

“The big air is definitely big air,” said Olympic silver medalist Goepper. “The venue at the Canyons area is perfect. It’s so awesome that Park City Mountain is hosting the big air for the World Championships. Hopefully, they will continue to host awesome events like this for years to come.”

For the women, Olympians Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.), Julia Krass (Hanover, N.H.) and Caroline Claire (Manchester Center, Vt.) are set to compete.

“I’m so excited to be able to represent the U.S. at World Championships for the first time and to have it be at our home mountain is just unreal,” said Krass. “It’ll be so fun having so many people I know watching, including my family. Park City has done an amazing job building everything. Having the big air jump at the base of the Canyons is such a sick spot, and the jump is riding really nice. I’m looking forward to a good week!”

Voisin and Krass both have double corks in their arsenals, putting them in contention for the podium. They have each had a chance to warm up these tricks at previous events this season. Krass was able to land her right side double cork 1080 in training at the Seiser Alm, Italy, World Cup event and Voisin landed her left double cork 1260 at X Games in Aspen, Colo., last week. Claire has also been having a strong season as she’s currently second in the FIS World Cup standings for big air behind Canada’s Elena Gaskill.

In addition, Alex Hall is coming off the performance of a lifetime in Aspen, Colo. where he earned his first ever X Games medal with a gold in slopestyle. He is currently sitting in fourth place in the big air World Cup standings, but the U.S. will have their work cut out for them as the team is going up against some of the world best big air freeskiers in the world. Tune in to catch all the action on NBC.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 2
9:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s big air - Park City, Utah - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

The federal law Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and SafeSport Authorization Act of 2017 is designed to protect athletes from abuse in sport. Join the more than 525,000 individuals who have completed the U.S. Center for SafeSport training. Do your part to prevent and respond to abuse in sports and keep athlete safety at the forefront.

For the 2019-20 season all U.S. Ski & Snowboard adult members, with the exception of some alpine masters racers, are required to complete training through the U.S. Center for SafeSport as a part of their membership. If you are involved in ski & snowboard and wish to take the Center’s core course, please contact Member Services at membership@usskiandsnowboard.org or 435.647.2666.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport also offers the following training for parents of athletes through their sister site www.athletesafety.org. 
 

Parent's Guide to Misconduct in Sport:

If you are a parent looking for resources on keeping your athlete safe, you can access the Parent Training at no cost. Simply create an account at www.athletesafety.org, add the parent training to your bag, and you'll be able to access the training.

The Parent's Guide to Misconduct in Sport is designed for the parents of athletes of all ages. This course explains the issues of misconduct in sport and helps parents ensure their children have a positive and safe sport experience.

Join us in working to ensure a safe environment for athletes!

Known as the most successful female ski racer in the world – Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) – announced on Friday that she has decided to retire after what will be her eighth World Championships bid in Åre, Sweden. 

Vonn is the only American woman to ever capture downhill gold at the Olympics and the only American woman with four World Cup overall titles. Six weeks after she turned 20, Vonn (then Kildow) produced her first World Cup victory in Lake Louise, Alberta. She has since captured an all-time win record on the women's side with 82 World Cup wins. In addition to her 2010 Olympic downhill gold and super G bronze and her 2018 Olympic downhill bronze, she holds seven World Championship medals, including double gold in 2009.

In her post on Instagram, she stated that she will compete in the downhill and super-G in Åre, which will be the final races of her career. 

It’s been an emotional 2 weeks making the hardest decision of my life, but I have accepted that I cannot continue ski racing. I will compete at the World Championships in Downhill and SG next week in Åre, Sweden and they will be the final races of my career. 

I have always pushed the limits of ski racing and it has allowed me to have amazing success but also dramatic crashes. I have never wanted the storyline of my career to be about injuries and because of that I decided not to tell anyone that I underwent surgery this past spring. A large portion of cartilage that had delaminated from my bone was removed. My crash in Lake Louise last year was much more painful than I let on, but I continued to race because I wanted to win a medal in the Olympics for my late grandfather. Again, I rehabbed my way back this summer and I felt better than I had in a long time. Then I crashed in Copper this November and injured my left knee, tearing my LCL plus sustaining 3 fractures. Despite extensive therapy, training and a knee brace, I am not able make the turns necessary to compete the way I know I can. My body is broken beyond repair and it isn't letting me have the final season I dreamed of. My body is screaming at me to STOP and it’s time for me to listen. 

Honestly, retiring isn’t what upsets me. Retiring without reaching my goal is what will stay with me forever. However, I can look back at 82 World Cup wins, 20 World Cup titles, 3 Olympic medals, 7 World Championship medals and say that I have accomplished something that no other woman in HISTORY has ever done, and that is something that I will be proud of FOREVER!

I always say, “Never give up!” So to all the the kids out there, to my fans who have sent me messages of encouragement to keep going… I need to tell you that I’m not giving up! I’m just starting a new chapter. Don’t lose faith in your dreams, keep fighting for what you love, and if you always give everything you have you’ll be happy no matter what the outcome.

Thank you for the amazing years, for always supporting me, and for making my job so fun. Can’t wait to see some of you in the finish in Åre where I will give it my all one last time.

Love always,
Lindsey

“Lindsey Vonn will be celebrated as not only the greatest U.S. female skier of all time, but as an athlete who has inspired people around the world, both in and out of the sport of ski racing, for many years,” said Tiger Shaw, President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “We have been so lucky to have been able to share many of Lindsey’s extraordinary achievements, but now the time is right for Lindsey to call time on her incredible career. On behalf of everyone in the U.S. and throughout the global ski racing community, thank you Lindsey. You have consistently raised the bar, you have created a legacy that will live forever, and you have given us all some of the greatest memories in our sport.”

Joy and disbelief pretty much sum up Mikaela Shiffrin’s (Avon, Colo.) FIS Ski World Cup victory number 55 in Maribor, Slovenia Friday. Joy in the fact that she won her ninth career World Cup giant slalom, but disbelief in the fact that after two runs she tied Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova for the joint Golden Fox Trophy win.

"I saw Petra from the start and I was like “OK, I better up the ante a little bit,’” said Shiffrin, who took a 0.48-second first-run lead, expanding it to0.62-second mid-way through the second run.  “It was a fight in the second (run). I almost lost it at the bottom. I was fighting to find the finish line, and a little bit relieved to see the green light.”

Battling low visibility with fog and light mist, Shiffrin looked sharp, but so did Vlhova, who has been inching closer to the World Cup leader in both giant slalom and slalom this season. Vlhova laid down the fastest second run time, moving ahead of Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel by 0.93 seconds to take the lead and put the pressure on Shiffrin.

Shiffrin skied clean through the top of the course, before a slight mistake stole her momentum near the flats leading into the finish. When she crossed the line, she saw the scoreboard go green, a signal that she was in the lead. But it also showed 0.00, which indicated a tie. Mowinckel settled for third.

“All the time we are really close and today we can share first place...I’m happy,” a smiling Vlhova said.

It was Shiffrin’s first win in giant slalom on the Maribor track, so she can walk away feeling like she has ticked that box, “It’s incredible, and it’s the first time I won a GS here - so it’s a really nice feeling,” Shiffrin said. “It’s pretty cool [to share the win with Vlhova], I know she’s been skiing pretty strong in GS - and of course strong in slalom as well - there are some days when more than one person deserves to win the race, and today we were sharing that.”

Both Shiffrin and Vlhova have been building momentum heading into next week’s FIS Ski World Championships in Are, Sweden, where Shiffrin won the slalom last season. Shiffrin continues to lead the World Cup overall, slalom, giant slalom and super-G standings, but Vlhova continues to apply pressure in the slalom standings, trailing by just 80 points with three World Cup races remaining, including Saturday’s slalom race in Maribor.

Of course, there are always records to talk about, and with this ninth career giant slalom victory, Shiffrin tied Tamara McKinney with the most giant slalom wins among U.S. women. Additionally, she equalled Vreni Schneider with 55 World Cup victories in third place all time among women, and joint fifth-place all-time among women and men. It was Shiffrin’s 12th victory of the season, equalling her career best 2017-18 season victory count.

RESULTS
Women’s giant slalom

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

Friday, Feb. 1
12:00 p.m. - Women’s giant slalom - Maribor, SLO - NBCSN*

Saturday, Feb. 2
4:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Maribor, SLO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2 - Maribor, SLO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Feb. 3
2:00 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom - Maribor, SLO - NBCSN**
4:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named Intermountain Healthcare an official medical provider of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team as part of a four year partnership. 

As an official medical provider of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team, Intermountain Healthcare will serve as the freestyle title sponsor and snowboard associate sponsor for the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota. The Championships events will take place in Summit County, Utah, on February 1-10, 2019. 

“We are thrilled to have Intermountain Healthcare on board as our medical provider,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief Marketing Officer Dan Barnett. “Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in extraordinary patient care and innovative medical technology and we look forward to working with them to help keep our athletes healthy and focused. Engaging Intermountain Healthcare in progressing our sports medicine department will help turn elite athletes into Olympians as they push their bodies every day to, and beyond the limits of their sports.” 

As stewards of healthy communities, Intermountain will partner with U.S. Ski & Snowboard in creating three new certified Centers of Excellence (COE). This designation means U.S. Ski & Snowboard will install its COE system and processes into the certified site, as well as hire a new high-performance staff member to act as a liaison among U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the three new COE locations. 

These sites will implement a multidisciplinary approach to athlete intake and will provide high-quality, high-performance services, including Sports Medicine, Nutrition, Psychology, and Strength and Conditioning, to U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes at the national and club levels, as well as general recreational skiers and snowboarders. 

The three Intermountain COE locations will be: Intermountain Park City Hospital; Intermountain TOSH – The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Murray; and Intermountain McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden. 

Intermountain Healthcare will play an integral role in elite snow sport athletes’ journeys to podium as a key sponsor during the 2019 FIS World Championship events in Utah in February. 

As the title sponsor of the freestyle events at Deer Valley Resort, athletes will don the Intermountain bib during the aerials, team aerials, mogul and dual mogul events. Intermountain Healthcare will also be an associate sponsor for snowboard events held at Park City Resort in halfpipe, slopestyle and big air, engaging with fans during the Championships in the Park City Village. 

As part of the multi-year agreement, Intermountain Healthcare will also serve as the title sponsor for the Freestyle World Cup in Deer Valley Resort during the 2019-2020 season, and beyond annually. This is the most anticipated event of the FIS Freestyle World Cup circuit, during which tens of thousands of fans watch the world’s best freestyle athletes compete under the lights across three nights. 

“Intermountain Healthcare has had the privilege of providing for and working with U.S. Ski & Snowboard for many years, and we are so excited for the opportunity to expand and deepen the relationship between our organizations,” said, Adam Chandio, Administrator of TOSH and Executive Leader of Intermountain Sports Medicine. “This partnership will allow Intermountain Healthcare and U.S. Ski & Snowboard to collaborate and share expertise that we feel will support both organizations’ goals of being models within their respective industries.  It also furthers Intermountain’s commitment to provide extraordinary care for our communities, many of which are home to members of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard teams.”