Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) wrapped up her second overall FIS Ski World Cup title following her third-place finish in Friday’s giant slalom in Ofterschwang, Germany.

Shiffrin came into Friday’s race, her first since winning the gold medal in giant slalom and silver in alpine combined at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, with a 561-point lead over Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener, who finished 14th Friday.

“It’s an incredible moment right now,” Shiffrin said. “After last year when I won the overall, some people were saying it was sort of fake ‘because the other girls weren’t there and there was nobody to challenge her.’ So to have the overall this year locked in already before we go to (World Cup) Finals, it feels like a confirmation for me.”

Shiffrin now carries a 603-point lead into next week’s World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden, and mathematically clinches her second-straight overall World Cup title. Shiffrin can clinch the World Cup slalom title Saturday with a 10th-place or better result in Ofterschwang.

Olympic downhill champion Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway won her first World Cup race Friday, as Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg was second. Rebensburg leads the overall giant slalom standings by 92 points over Tessa Worley of France. Shiffrin is third, 101 points back.

Up next, the women compete in a slalom Saturday in Ofterschwang.

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games are behind us but the race for podiums and crystal globes continues with U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes competing around the globe. Read on to see where the action is this week and how to watch via NBC, NBCSN and the Olympic Channel - Home of Team USA.

FIS Women’s Ski World Cup - Offerschwang, Germany
Current overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) will compete in both the slalom and giant slalom events in Offerschwang, Germany March 9-10. Shiffrin currently has a 561-point lead over Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener in the battle for the overall crystal globe and leads the slalom standings as well. If results go Mikaela’s way she could secure the overall World Cup title this weekend. Stay tuned as history could be made!

FIS Men’s Ski World Cup - Kvitfjell, Norway
The men’s speed team, including Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.), will race downhill in Norway on Saturday, March 10 followed by a super-G on Sunday, March 11.

FIS Freestyle World Cup - Airolo, Switzerland
Coming off a winning weekend of podium performances from Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.) and Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.), the U.S. Ski Team moguls athletes are back in Europe for a dual moguls weekend in Airolo, Switzerland. Competition will take place on Saturday, March 10.

FIS Cross Country World Cup - Oslo, Norway
The cross country stars of the U.S. Ski Team, including Olympic gold medalists Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall, move on to Norway for a pair of mass-start distance races March 10-11. Saturday features the men’s 50k freestyle followed by the women’s 30k freestyle on Sunday.

FIS Men’s & Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup - Oslo, Norway
Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) and Michael Glasder (Cary, Ill.) will lead the charge for the U.S. at the men’s HS134 team and individual events March 10-11 in Oslo, Norway to kick off the Raw Air tournament. Saturday’s team event will be a night jump followed by the individual event on Sunday.

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup - Oslo, Norway
Brothers Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) are joined by Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wis.) to compete in an HS134 jump and individual Gundersen on Saturday, March 10 in Oslo, Norway.

FIS Snowboard World Cup - Scuol, Switzerland
U.S. riders Maggie Carrigan, Abby Champagne, Lynn Ott, Robert Burns, Ryan Rosencranz and Dylan Udolf will compete in parallel giant slalom in Scuol, Switzerland. Qualifying rounds and finals will take place on Saturday, March 10.

FIS Snowboard World Cup - Moscow
A strong contingent of U.S. riders, including Alex Deibold (Boulder, Colo.), Jonathan Cheever (Saugus, Mass.) and Meghan Tierney (Edwards, Colo.), will join the international field in a city race in Moscow, Russia. Individual qualification and finals will take place on Saturday, March 10 followed by a team event on Sunday, March 11.

Burton US Open - Vail, Colo.
Newly crowned Olympic gold medalists Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.), Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.) headline a roster of star-studded U.S. athletes competing at the 36th annual Burton U.S. Open in Vail, Colo. March 7-10. A full schedule and information on how to watch is available at events.burton.com.

HOW TO WATCH
*All Times EST

ALPINE 
March 9
5:00 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 1, Ofterschwang - OlympicChannel.com
7:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom, Ofterschwang - Olympic Channel TV - LIVE

March 10
3:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1, Ofterschwang - OlympicChannel.com
5:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Kvitfjell - Olympic Channel TV - LIVE
6:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom, Ofterschwang - Olympic Channel TV - LIVE
11:00 p.m. - Women’s slalom, Ofterschwang - NBCSN - Same Day Broadcast

March 11
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Kvitfjell - Olympic Channel TV - LIVE

FREESTYLE
March 10
8:45 a.m. - Dual moguls, Scuol - OlympicChannel.com 

CROSS COUNTRY
March 10
8:30 a.m. - Men’s 50k mass start freestyle, Oslo - OlympicChannel.com
12:00 p.m. - Men’s 50k mass start freestyle, Oslo - Olympic Channel TV - Same Day Broadcast

March 11
5:45 a.m. - Women’s 30k mass start freestyle, Oslo - OlympicChannel.com
11:30 a.m. - Women’s 30k mass start freestyle, Oslo - Olympic Channel TV - Same Day Broadcast

SKI JUMPING 
March 9
1:30 p.m. - Men’s HS 130 qualifying, Oslo - OlympicChannel.com

March 10
11:00 a.m. - Men’s HS 130 Team, Oslo - OlympicChannel.com

March 11
4:15 a.m. - Women’s HS 130, Oslo - OlympicChannel.com
8:30 a.m. - Men’s HS 130 qualifying, Oslo - OlympicChannel.com
12:30 p.m. - Raw Air Tournament, Oslo - Olympic Channel TV - Same Day Broadcast

NORDIC COMBINED
March 10
4:00 a.m. - Men’s HS 134 - Olympic Challen TV -OlympicChannel.com
7:30 a.m. - Men’s individual, Oslo - Olympic Challen TV - OlympicChannel.com
11:00 a.m. - Men’s individual, Oslo - Olympic Challen TV - Same Day Broadcast

SNOWBOARD
March 10
7:30 a.m. - Parallel giant slalom, Scuol - OlympicChannel.com
10:00 a.m. - Snowboardcross sprint, Moscow - OlympicChannel.com
1:00 p.m. - Snowboardcross sprint, Moscow - Olympic Channel TV - Same Day Broadcast

March 11
3:30 a.m. - Snowboardcross team event, Moscow -OlympicChannel.com

Olympic champion Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) returned to the FIS World Cup tour Wednesday, finishing third in a grueling city sprint in Drammen, Norway. It was her first ever podium in a classic sprint. Diggins remained third in the overall World Cup standings and moved up to fifth in the sprint standings. Norway swept titles with Johannes Klæbo and Maikken Kaspersen Falla taking wins.

"I’m really happy I could finally make the podium in the classic sprint," Diggins said. "My coaches and I have been working a lot on my classic. But still, I’m a bit surprised I got third today. I had again amazing skis, the technicians did a great job!"

It was a hard-fought battle for Diggins on a course that featured tight 180-degree corners and an uphill finish that played a role in nearly every heat. Diggins won her first heat to advance to semifinals. In a grueling semifinal heat, she finished strong on the uphill to advance as a lucky loser to the finals. In the championship round, Diggins found herself in a group that was gapped by the three leaders. She persevered, closing the gap on Stina Nilsson of Sweden in the final 200 meters then won a sprint to the finish for third with Russian Natalia Nepryaeva to take third.

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was 21st with Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) 27th. Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was the only American man in the heats, finishing 18th – a career-best sprint.

The World Cup tour now heads to Oslo for a men’s 50k mass start freestyle on Saturday with women’s 30k on Sunday. Diggins holds a 35 point lead over Finland’s Krista Parmakoski for third in the overall heading into the weekend with only the World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden to follow.

RESULTS
Women's classic sprint
Men's classic sprint 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard will provide a live stream broadcast for its upcoming Junior Cross Country Championships on the Olympic venues at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah March 6-10. Each event over the four days of competition will stream live on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Facebook channel.

Action begins Tuesday, March 6 with individual start classic distance races at 9:00 a.m. MST. Action continues Wednesday, March 7 with freestyle sprint. Qualifying rounds begin at 9:00 a.m. MST with heats starting at 12:00 p.m. Friday, March 9 will feature freestyle mass start races starting at 9:00 a.m. MST. The event wraps up Saturday, March 10 with classic relays beginning at 9:00 a.m. MST.

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Junior Championships attract the top cross country athletes 20 years of age and under from clubs around the nation.

"The Junior Championships are an important stepping stone for young athletes," said U.S. Ski & Snowboard's Nordic Domestic Director Robert Lazzaroni. "With the success of our national team the last few years, and especially now with Olympic gold, we're seeing a growing interest at clubs from all parts of our country. Athletes are motivated to come to an Olympic venue like Soldier Hollow for their own national championship."

The live streaming is a part of a season-long initiative from U.S. Ski & Snowboard which has included the L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships, SuperTour and Slumberland American Birkebeiner. Coverage will include three to four cameras in the stadium, plus one to two additional cameras on course depending on the race. An overview camera on top of the competition center is also planned. There will be live commentary.

Fans can also follow live scoring and obtain start lists from Summit Timing. Additional event information is available at: www.xcjuniornationals2018.com or usskiandsnowboard.org/events/2018-junior-national-cross-country-championships.
 

U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD JUNIOR CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Tuesday, March 6, 2018
9:00 a.m. MST - Classic individual start
U16 women 5k
U16 men 5k
U18 women 5k
U18 men 10k
U20 women 5k
U20 men 10k

Wednesday, March 7, 2018
9:00 a.m. MST - Freestyle sprint qualification rounds
U16 women
U16 men
U18 women
U18 men
U20 women
U20 men

12:00 p.m. MST - Quarter final/semi final/final
U16 women/men
U18 women/men
U20 women/men

Thursday, March 8, 2018
Training day - no competitions

Friday, March 9, 2018
9:00 a.m. MST - Freestyle mass start
U16 women 5k
U16 men 5k
U18 women 10k
U18 men 10k
U20 women 10k
U20 men 15k

Saturday, March 10, 2018
9:00 a.m. MST - Classic relays
U16 women 3x3k
U16 men 3x3k
U18 women 3x3k
U18 men 3x3k
U20 women 3x3k
U20 women 3x3k

Junior Cross Country Championships LIVE Stream

Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.), the youngest member of the U.S. moguls team at 17 years old, made it through five runs down the Tazawako moguls course on Sunday to claim her first World Cup victory in dual moguls. The win was also Johnson’s first podium of her career and came just a few weeks after she made her Olympic debut.

Johnson was one of four U.S. women who made it out of the qualifying rounds. She skied consistently throughout the day leading into her final dual against last year’s overall World Cup winner Britteny Cox of Australia. Johnson took the win with a score of 22 against Cox’s 13. Germany’s Laura Grasemann was third.

"Today was unreal," said Johnson. "I'm overwhelmed by it all. I think the key to my success was just focusing on skiing my very best and taking it one run at a time. I was able to ski faster and better than every girl out there when it really counted and that was something that I've dreamed about for a long time. The other girls skied so fast and challenged me to ski my best. It was definitely a fun competition to ski in and I'm honored to have been a part of it and come out on top!"

Olivia Giaccio (Redding, Conn.), Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.) and Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) rounded out the top finishes for the U.S. women in 10th, 12th and 15th respectively.

On the men’s side, Emerson Smith (Dover, Vt.) and Troy Murphy (Bethel, Maine) represented the U.S. men in the round of 16, but were unable to advance and finishined 11th and 13th. Japan’s Ikuma Horishima once again upset Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury to take home his second win of the weekend on home soil. Kazakstan’s Dmitriy Reikhard repeated his result from Saturday’s moguls event with another third place finish.

After this weekend’s results, the U.S. has four women ranked in the top 10 in the World Cup standings; Kauf is third, Johnson is seventh, McCargo eighth and Morgan Schild (Pittsford, N.Y.) 10th. The World Cup tour continues next weekend with men’s and women’s dual moguls in Airolo, Switzerland.

RESULTS
Men’s Dual Moguls
Women’s Dual Moguls

Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) posted a career-best World Cup finish in ninth, and Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) posted a career-best giant slalom result in 10th as the FIS Ski World Cup circuit resumed in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Saturday.

“It was a fight,” said Ford. “Two big mistakes, one from each run, but the skiing was there. It’s been a battle throughout the season, but I’m glad to have this race today on this kind of snow.”

Ford, who finished 10th in a World Cup giant slalom at Beaver Creek last season, led three U.S. Ski Team athletes into the points as Tim Jitloff (Reno, Nev.) finished 14th. Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) did not finish the first run.

“That second run, I couldn’t be happier with it,” said Cochran-Siegle, who posted the third fastest second run time on a hard, fast course. “I got to sit down in that (leader’s chair) for a while, which is always fun too.”

“It was cool watching Tommy,” Cochran-Siegle added. “He had that little mistake and I think he could’ve really moved up, but he skied great as well.”

Marcel Hirscher of Austria won the race by a massive 1.66 seconds over Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen. Alexis Pinturault of France was third. Hirscher extended his overall World Cup lead to 249 points over Kristoffersen.

Up next, the men race slalom Sunday in Kranjska Gora.

McKennis Top American in Super-G

Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) was the only member of the U.S. Ski Team to finish in the points in Saturday’s World Cup super-G, finishing 23rd in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) finished 34th, Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore) was 45th and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) was 50th. Both Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) and Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) are sitting out this weekend’s events.

Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein won the race, followed by Austria’s Anna Veith in second and Wendy Holdener of Switzerland in third. Shiffrin continues to lead the overall World Cup standings by 611 points over Holdener.

Up next, the women compete in alpine combined Sunday with one run of super-G, followed by one run of slalom.

RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom
Women’s super-G

Fresh off of her first Olympic appearance, Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.) led four U.S. women into finals and landed her second career moguls World Cup podium with a third-place finish on day one of competition in Tazawako, Japan.

McCargo skied strong all day, qualifying first into finals and then posting the highest score, an 81.26, heading into the super finals. A small mistake on her final run bumped her down to third place, matching her best finish from a World Cup in Ruka, Finland in 2016.

"I was really just thinking about having fun today," said McCargo. "The pressure from before the Olympics was off and I was able to really be aggressive and ski the way I wanted to. I qualified first in the beginning two runs and felt really confident going into the final. I had one mistake in the middle section that cost me the win but I am happy with were I am. I had a blast skiing and that's the only thing that really matters to me."

France’s newly crowned Olympic gold medalist Perinne Laffont took home the win with Canada’s Justine Dufour-LaPointe in second. Olivia Giaccio (Redding, Conn.) just missed the podium in fourth place. Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.) was eighth and Morgan Schild (Pittsford, N.Y.) 16th.

On the men’s side, Joel Hedrick (Winter Park, Colo.) was the top U.S. finisher in sixth place. Troy Murphy (Bethel, Maine), Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) and Emerson Smith (Dover, Vt.) also advanced into the final rounds, finishing 10th, 12th, and 16th respectively. Japan’s Ikuma Horishima upset Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury to take the win, with Kazakstan’s Dmitriy Reikhard finishing third.

Action continues in Tazawako on Sunday with the first dual moguls competition of the season. Qualification rounds begin at 12:15 p.m. followed by finals at 1:30 p.m JST.

RESULTS
Men’s Moguls
Women’s Moguls

After bringing home 16 medals from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, including eight gold, many athletes on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team are back on their respective World Cup circuits to finish out the 2018 season.

Read on to see where U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes will be in action this week and how to watch via NBC, NBCSN and the Olympic Channel - Home of Team USA.

FIS Women’s Ski World Cup - Crans-Montana, SUI
The fight for crystal globes continue with a super-G and alpine combined weekend March 3-4 in Crans-Montana. Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.), Stacey Cook (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho), Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) and Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) are expected to race.

FIS Men’s Ski World Cup - Kranjska Gora, SLO
The men’s tech team will take to the slopes in Kranjska Gora with giant slalom on March 3 and slalom on March 4. Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) and Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) are among the athletes expected to compete.

FIS Freeski World Cup - Silvaplana, SUI
U.S. Freeski Team members Julia Krass (Hanover, N.H.), Willie Borm (Chaska, Minn.) and Cody LaPlante (Truckee, Calif.), along with U.S. athletes Quinn Wolferman, Tim Ryan and Ryan McElmon, will compete in the second to last slopestyle world cup of the season at Silvaplana. Qualifications will take place on Friday, March 2 followed by finals on Saturday, March 3.

FIS Freestyle World Cup - Tazawako, JPN
Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) will continue her quest for the overall moguls World Cup title this weekend with single moguls and dual moguls World Cup events March 3-4 in Tazawako. Olympic team members Morgan Schild (Pittsford, N.Y.), Troy Murphy (Bethel, Maine), Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.), Emerson Smith (Dover, Vt.), Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.), Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.) and Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) will also be competing.

FIS Freestyle World Cup - Sunny Valley, RUS
Tania Prymak (Goshen, N.Y.), Brant Crossan (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Tyler Wallasch (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) will represent the U.S. at the ski cross World Cup in Sunny Valley. Qualifications will take place Friday, March 2 followed by two finals competitions March 3-4.

FIS Cross Country World Cup - Lahti, FIN
The FIS Nordic Ski World Cup continues March 3-4 with freestyle sprint, women's 10k and men's 15k classic events.​

​​​​​​FIS Men’s Ski Jumping World Cup - Lahti, FIN
Fresh off some strong performances at the Games, Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.), Michael Glasder (Cary, Ill.), Will Rhoads (Park City, Utah) and Casey Larson (Barrington, Ill.) are back on the World Cup circuit for two events in Lahti, Finland. HS130 qualifications will take place on Friday, March 2 followed by a team event on March 3 and an individual jump on March 4.

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup - Lahti, FIN
Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Ben Berend (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wis.) will compete in a team event on March 3 and an individual event on March 4 in Lahti, Finland.

FIS Snowboard World Cup - La Molina, ESP
U.S. Snowboard Team members Jonathan Cheever (Park City, Utah) and Alex Deibold (Boulder, Colo.) will lead the way for the U.S. at this weekend’s snowboardcross World Cup in La Molina, Spain. Qualifications will take place on Friday, March 2 followed by finals on Saturday, March 3.

FIS Snowboard World Cup - Kayseri, TUR
Americans Steve Maccutcheon and Ryan Rosencranz will represent the U.S. at the parallel giant slalom World Cup in Kayseri, Turkey. Qualifiers and finals will take place on Saturday, March 3.

HOW TO WATCH
*All Times EST

ALPINE
March 3
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Kranjska Gora - OlympicChannel.com
4:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Crans-Montana -  OlympicChannel.com
6:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Kranjska Gora - OlympicChannel.com
8:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Crans-Montana - Olympic Channel TV
9:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Kranjska Gora - Olympic Channel TV
10:30 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Crans-Montana -  NBCSN

March 4
3:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1, Kranjska Gora - OlympicChannel.com
4:30 a.m. - Women’s combined run 1, Crans-Montana -  OlympicChannel.com
8:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom - Kranjska Gora - Olympic Channel TV
9:30 a.m. - Women’s combined, Crans-Montana - Olympic Channel TV

FREESKI
March 3
8:30 a.m. - Slopestyle, Silvaplana - OlympicChannel.com
8:00 p.m. - Slopestyle, Silvaplana - Olympic Channel TV

FREESTYLE
March 2
11:30 p.m. - Moguls, Tazawako - Olympic Channel TV

March 3
3:30 a.m. - Ski Cross, Sunny Valley - OlympicChannel.com
8:30 a.m. - Slopestyle, Silvaplana - OlympicChannel.com
10:30 a.m. - Ski Cross, Sunny Valley - Olympic Channel TV
8:00 p.m. - Slopestyle, Silvaplana - Olympic Channel TV
11:30 p.m. - Dual Moguls, Tazawako - Olympic Channel TV

March 4
2:00 a.m. - Ski Cross, Sunny Valley - OlympicChannel.com
9:00 a.m. - Ski Cross, Sunny Valley - Olympic Channel TV

CROSS COUNTRY
March 3
7:15 a.m. - Men and women sprint - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com
7:00 p.m. - Men and women sprint - Lahti - Olympic Channel TV

March 4
5:15 a.m. - Women’s 10k- Lahti - OlympicChannel.com
8:45 a.m. - Men’s 10k- Lahti - OlympicChannel.com
4:00 p.m. - Women’s 10k- Lahti - Olympic Channel TV

SKI JUMPING
March 2
12:00 p.m. - Men’s individual qualifying - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com

March 3
10:30 a.m. - Men’s team - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com
9:00 p.m. - Men’s team - Lahti - Olympic Channel TV

March 4
9:30 a.m. - Men’s individual - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com
6:00 p.m. - Men’s individual - Lahti - Olympic Channel TV

NORDIC COMBINED
March 3
6:15 a.m. - HS130 - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com
9:30 a.m. - Team sprint - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com

March 4
4:00 a.m. - HS130 - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com
8:45 a.m. - Individual 10k - Lahti - OlympicChannel.com

SNOWBOARD
March 3
5:00 a.m. - Snowboardcross - La Molina - OlympicChannel.com
7:30 a.m. Parallel giant slalom - Kayseri - OlympicChannel.com
6:00 p.m. - Snowboardcross - La Molina - Olympic Channel TV

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) wrapped up the 2018 Olympic Winter Games finishing seventh in the 30k mass start classic race Sunday at the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre.

“It was a tough race for sure,” said Diggins, who finished with a time of 1:25:54.8 after suffering a first-lap crash. “Any time you do 30k it is really hard and it takes a lot of guts. For me, it was my worst race of the games, but I was seventh in the world today and I am really proud of that.”

Norway's Marit Bjoergen won the gold with a time of 1:22:17.6. Finland's Krista Parmakoski claimed the silver medal, while Stina Nilsson of Sweden won the bronze.

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) finished 17th with a time of 1:28:50.2, Rosie Frankowski (Anchorage, Alaska) was 21st in 1:31:11.4, and Caitlin Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) was 26th, crossing the line in 1:32:43.6.

“It was really fun the last 15K, nothing felt really good out there but it was really fun to dig deep,” Bjornsen said. “It was a fun 30K suffer-fest.”

Following the event, Diggins led Team USA into PyeongChang Olympic Stadium as flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony.

RESULTS
Women’s 30k classic
 

Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) led Team USA, finishing 11th, in the 50k classic cross country race at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games Saturday at the Alpensia Cross Country Ski Centre.

“I had a great race,” said Patterson, who posted the best-ever finish by a U.S. athlete in the 50k. “It was exciting and for that last 5k people were starting to dangle in front of me. It was really fun picking off some of the big names, I really wanted another couple of K’s to get into the top 10, but still, 11th is awesome for a result.”

Finland’s Iivo Niskanen won the gold with a time of 2:08:22. Athletes from Russia took the silver and bronze with Alexander Bolshunov and Andrey Larkov finishing second and third respectively. Canada’s Alex Harvey just missed a medal, finishing in fourth, in a two-up sprint for bronze with Larkov.

Noah Hoffman (Aspen, Colo.) was 33rd, and Taylor Kornfield (Anchorage, Alaska) was 48th.

“Every race has gotten better for me in these Olympics and I would have loved to get a top 30,” Hoffman said. “I thought it was possible with 8k to go, but I had used my two ski exchanges and towards the end, I couldn’t quite hang. It was a brutal race - a 50k classic at the Olympics on a hard course.”

“The first two laps were a little rough for me,” Kornfield said. “At the first ski exchange my new skis were great, and I started to pick people off. You have to put yourself in position to do well and ignore how your body feels. I did that for the first 5k and then when you go off the back like I did, you need to compose yourself and ski your own race.”

RESULTS
Men’s 50k classic