Jessie Diggins turned herself inside out to win the silver medal in the women’s 30k freestyle Sunday - her second medal of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. But just as impressive as her gutsy performance, all four Team USA athletes finished in the top 18 on another extreme weather day at the Kuyangshu Nordic Center, in Zhangjiakou, China.

Rosie Brennan just missed the podium for the second time at these Games, finishing fifth; while Sophia Laukli was 15th in her Olympic debut and Novie McCabe was 18th - the best-ever cross country performance by American women at the Olympic Winter Games. Norway’s Therese Johaug won her third gold medal of the Games, finishing with a time of 1:24:45. Diggins was 1:23 back, while Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen led a strong chase in the closing kilometers to take the bronze at 2:43 back.

Despite suffering a bout of food poisoning on Saturday, Diggins came out firing on all cylinders Sunday. She matched the early pace and eventually made the front group selection on the first of four 7.5k laps. “I went from having not the race prep I had envisioned - laying in bed, force-feeding myself oatmeal and soup from a can - to here we go,” she said. “But I just wanted to race because I love to race.”

With wind gusts in excess of 50mph and temperatures in the low teens, Johaug threw down an attack on the second lap, grinding her nose into the wind and building a lead of 27 seconds over Diggins at the halfway point. Meanwhile, Diggins clawed out a 49-second advantage over Sweden’s Ebba Andersson in third, while Brennan led the charge in the chase group.

“I felt really good, but it was a frustrating race,” Brennan said. “I really wanted to bridge up that top group, but nobody was really interested in working with me, which is always hard. I really just had to do it on my own, and that was hard and I really paid the price at the end, and that was hard to swallow.”

As the final event of the Games, Diggins, Brennan, Laukli, and McCabe had a ton of support not only from their cross country teammates but members of the U.S. Biathlon Team, and other Team USA athletes, coaches, and staff. “The cheering was insane,” Diggins said. “I felt like the whole world was cheering and helping me get up those hills.”

With Johaug and Diggins off the front, the battle was on for the bronze. Andersson was eventually caught by the chase group, finishing eighth, while Brennan just missed a medal by 

5.4 seconds. Meanwhile, Laukli and McCabe - who finished fifth and eighth respectively in the final stage of the Tour de Ski last month - moved up throughout the race, proving that the next generation of USA skiers are ready to step up to the world stage. 

Diggins’ silver medal matches the best-ever American cross country performance of Bill Koch from the 1976 Olympics, also won in the 30k mass start.

Up next, Diggins and Brennan fly to Finland Monday for next weekend’s FIS Cross Country World Cup in Lahti - a freestyle sprint and a 10k classic. Laukli and McCabe head back to the U.S. Monday and will compete in upcoming NCAA races for the University of Utah.

RESULTS
Women’s 30k Mass Start Freestyle

The 'Good Vibes Crew' got the job done in the halfpipe final on Saturday, Feb.19 despite frigid and windy conditions. David Wise collected his third medal in his third Olympics, taking home silver behind New Zealand's Nico Porteous. Alex Ferreira took home bronze, his second Olympic medal in his second Olympics.

Both athletes scaled their first runs back a bit due to weather in homes a strong run with solid grabs would land them a podium position, and both were right.

Wise threw a gutsy first run to claim silver that began with a switch right 900 lead tail grab, into a switch left double cork 1080 mute, then a right 900 lead tail, a left double cork 1260 mute, and finally a massive right double cork 1260 mute that would earn him a score of 90.75. While Wise wasn't able to throw everything he wanted to in the Olympic final, adding a silver medal to gold medal collection was a feat in itself after crashing out in the last two runs.

"I'm proud to have gotten the run down that I did," said Wise. "I didn't get to crack into the bag of tricks as far as I wanted to today, but sometimes strategy plays. I really wanted to land those other two runs, I had an equipment failure on run two, switched to a different pair of skis on run three, and then something went wrong so that's just how the cookie crumbles for me today. "

 

 

 

 

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Ferreira’s 86.75-scoring first run began with a switch left 720 Japan, followed by a right double cork 1260 mute, then a left double cork 1440 safety, into a switch right double cork 1080 Japan, and finally a left double cork 1260 safety to finish things off for a score 86.75.

"Less than ideal conditions but extremely happy, extremely grateful to get the job done, and be on the podium in my second Olympics," said Ferreira. "Two medals, I mean I consider that a W if you ask me."

Birk Irving had a solid day in his Olympic halfpipe final debut, finishing fifth overall with a flat score of 80. Aaron Blunck ended the day in seventh with a score of 78.25.

The men's freeski halfpipe wraps the freeski portion of competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

RESULTS
Men's halfpipe final

On a cold, blustery day at the Kuyangshu Nordic Center, in Zhangjiakou, China, Team USA’s Scott Patterson turned up the heat, finishing eighth in the shortened Freestyle mass start. Patterson’s finish was the second-best ever Olympic result for an American man behind Bill Koch’s silver medal at the 1976 Games.

Originally slated as a 50k race, the race jury made the decision to cut the race distance to 30k to reduce the time of exposure for the athletes due to the extreme conditions, which saw temperature in the single digits and winds gusting to 40+mph.

“I certainly could have used that extra 20k today,” said Patterson, who thrives in challenging conditions and longer races. “I would have liked it if they would have run us a 50k, even with these conditions. I wanted the grinding instead of the punches. But I am psyched with how it went. Eighth is pretty special.”

Patterson was in the mix throughout the race, protecting himself from the wind and going with the early surges to find himself among an elite lead group of 10 midway into the race. With one lap to go on the four-lap 7.5k circuit, he moved into the third position. 

 “With 5k to go, those guys started punching pretty hard,” Patterson said. “I didn’t have a ton of response for that.” 

The Russian Olympic Committee’s Alexander Bolshunov won his second gold medal - and his fifth medal of the 2022 Games - with a time of 1:11:32. Countryman Ivan Yakimushkin took the silver at 5.5 seconds back, with Norway’s Simen Krueger winning the bronze at 7 seconds off the winning time. Patterson was 33.9 seconds back from the Russian winner. 

“In the end, this worked out pretty well,” Patterson said of the shortened race distance. “The 50(k) is kind of iconic and it feels like a half measure to run a 30k, but…I’m not exactly sure it would have changed the results a ton. Those top guys were strong and they probably would have been strong with another 20k.”

Patterson walks away from the 2022 Games with three top-11 results, including 11th in the 30k Skiathlon, and ninth in the 4x10k men’s relay with JC Schoonmaker, Gus Schumacher, and Luke Jager.

The women’s 30k Freestyle, the final cross country event of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, has been moved up to 11:00 a.m. Sunday (10 p.m. EST Saturday). Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, and Novie McCabe will be joined by Sophia Laukli, who will be making her Olympic debut. Laukli finished fifth in the final stage of the 2022 FIS Tour de Ski in Italy last month.

The race will stream live on Peacock at 10 p.m. EST Saturday, with same-day broadcasts offered on both USA Network and NBC at 2:30 p.m. EST Sunday. The medals ceremony for the women’s 30k will take place at the Closing Ceremonies in Beijing Sunday night.

RESULTS
Men’s 30k Freestyle Mass Start

In a heavy women's halfpipe final on Friday, Feb. 18, 17-year-old Hanna Faulhaber led the way for Team USA, finishing in sixth overall. China's Eileen Gu walked away with her third Olympic medal and second Olympic gold after posting a score of 95.25 in her second run. Canadians Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker followed suit with silver and bronze. 

Team veteran and three-time Olympian Brita Sigourney finished 10th overall. Carly Margulies finished 11th.

The women experienced a significant shift in weather from qualifiers to finals, transitioning from a perfect bluebird day to a windy, snowy one. 

"The wind today really affected my training before the contest and kind of my mind state," said Sigourney. "I did what I could, and you can't always be on. It's hard when you can't display what you want to when it matters, so I'm a little frustrated. But I'm also a little relieved. It's been a crazy week and I'm happy that it's over."

Faulhaber also said she felt the pressure in practice when the high winds slowed down her hits, and she wasn't putting down the tricks she wanted to. 

"In practice, it was really tough, probably the biggest mental battle that I've ever faced," Faulhaber said about her emotions headed into the final in her Olympic debut. "I was crying throughout practice, just really trying to find myself and find why I'm doing this sport and trying to have fun again."

"I think I put quite a bit of pressure on myself going in, and being able to put something down in finals made me so happy and made me have fun again," she added.

The women's halfpipe final marks the conclusion of women's freeski events at the Olympic Games. 

The men's team will have their final shot at a medal on Saturday, Feb. 18. 

RESULTS 
Women's halfpipe finals

In Thursday's alpine combined, Tricia Mangan followed through on a solid downhill run with a speedy slalom earning 11th in her second Olympic Games. Her teammates, Mikaela Shiffrin, Keely Cashman, and Bella Wright, posted strong times in the downhill, finishing fifth, seventh, and 15th. Unfortunately, the trio was not able to capitalize on their strong speed run. Each woman skied out of the slalom in approximately the same spot, ending their medal dreams with DNF's. 

"The one thing I didn't want to do was ski safe to protect any sort of an advantage I had from the downhill run against some of the more slalom specialist skiers," Shiffrin said in a post-race interview. "I didn't want to ski safe in order to make it to the finish. I wanted to ski a good, solid run of slalom. It was not actually that much to ask for from myself, and I was starting to do it, and then I was out anyway."

"I don't really understand it, and I'm not sure when I'm going to have much of an explanation. I can't explain to you how frustrated I am to not know what I can learn from today."

Shiffrin will make one last play for a Beijing 2022 Olympic medal alongside teammates Paula Moltzan, Tommy Ford, and River Radamus on Saturday, Feb. 18. 

RESULTS
Women's alpine combined

Seven Team USA athletes are headed into halpipe finals after Thursday's qualifiers at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China. 

Aaron Blunck led the men's qualifying standings in first. Followed by Birk Irving in third, David Wise in fourth, and Alex Ferreira in seventh. With the entire U.S. men's team through to the final, the boys hold a strong chance to earn one last individual medal for the U.S. Freeski Team, or three. 

"I felt really really nervous coming into that second run," Blunck said after the conclusion of qualifiers. "I felt good going up the T-Bar but then once I got back up to the top I couldn't stop shaking, couldn't stop moving. Very stressful, but none the less, "I just told myself, dude just chill, you got this thing man' and sure enough, dropped in and I feel like everything went black. I don't even really remember riding through the pipe. That's the most nerve-racking part, but now that it's on to finals we get to go ski and have fun, and that's what it's all about."

Brita Sigourney put down two technical runs to solidify her spot in the final, posting an eighth place finish. 17-year-old Hanna Faulhaber finished in ninth in her Olympic debut, showing off her amplitude but keeping it mellow before bringing her more technical tricks to the final. Carly Margulies followed suit in 10th, throwing down two solid runs with more to come in her final show. 

"This is a lot of weight off of my shoulders," said 32-year-old team veteran and Olympic bronze medalist, Sigourney. "You would think I would be able to calm the nerves a little bit more at my third Olympics but I do not remember being this stressed in PyeongChang or Sochi."

"But that's part of competing, that's part of our sport," she added. "You have a lot of adrenaline, a lot of self doubt, constant building yourself up, and reminding yourself you can do it. But that's why it feels so good when you do do it."

Sigourney, who earned a bronze at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, has been feeling a bit more nervous coming into the Beijing Games. Having medaled at the last Olympics puts a bit more pressure on the team veteran from all corners of the country. The sport has progressed over the past for years, and Sigourney expects the women's final to be quite teh show. At the end of it all, she hopes to make herself and the people closet to her proud.

"I expect (Friday) to be the best contest we've ever seen in women's halfpipe," said Sigourney. "Just the first eight scores before I dropped were really impressive. I've never really seen a final where everyone is in the 80s or high 70s. I'm happy everyone is putting down their best skiing and progression is through the roof."

Devin Logan finished just outside of the top 12 in 13th, missing the last spot by half a point in her final Olympic appearance.

Women's finals are up first in the line up, scheduled to take place Friday, Feb. 18 in Beijing, and Thursday evening in North America. 

RESULTS
Women's halfpipe qualifiers
Men's halfpipe qualifiers

START LISTS
Women's halfpipe final
Men's halfpipe final 

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022
8:30 p.m. Freeski – Women's Halfpipe Final, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, USA Network

Friday, Feb. 18, 2022
6:00 a.m. Freestyle Skiing - Women's Halfpipe Final, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, NBC Broadcast

8:30 p.m. Freestyle Skiing - Men's Halfpipe Final, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, NBC Broadcast, USA Network, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

Men’s Nordic Combined wrapped up their final event at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Thursday, placing 6th overall in the Men’s Team Large Hill/4x5km competition. This was USA Nordic’s best finish in the Men’s Team Large Hill/4x5km since Sochi 2014, where they also finished in 6th.

On the Large Hill, Jasper Good started things off with a 114.5-meter jump, followed by Taylor Fletcher at 113.0 meters, Jared Shumate at 128.0 meters, and Ben Loomis at 129.0 meters. These four jumps combined for a total score of 387.1, putting them in 7th place and +1:58 behind the leader to start the 4x5km.

Taylor Fletcher started the first leg of the 4x5km, as he recorded the fastest course time of the day out of all competitors, notching a time of 12:16.3. Ben Loomis then took the second leg, as he finished the course in a total time of 12:52.3, followed by Jasper Good on the third leg with a time of 13:07.4. Jared Shumate finished up the race for the team, as he was able to card a 6th place finish for the team, with a total time of 12:53.1. The team recorded a total course time of 51.09.1, which was the second-fastest behind Norway’s gold medal team.

As Men’s Nordic Combined prepares to depart from Beijing, they are looking forward to the competitions that are still to come this season. There were many positives to take away from the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and a lot to look forward to for the Games in 2026.

RESULTS
Team Large Hill/4x5km

Athlete Quotes

Taylor Fletcher

On performance…

“I think that the team stepped up in a way that was very cool to see. It was not the easiest jumping round, but Jared and Ben have been jumping on a very high level the entire Olympic Games. Jasper had a very solid jump as well, but I wish that I could have done a little bit more on my jump. Everyone skied their hearts out today as well, it was really cool to see.”

On Beijing being his final Olympic Winter Games…

“This is really tough. I started in 2010 with Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane winning medals, and that was really cool to see. It sucks not coming away with a medal, but I can honestly say that I gave it my all, every single race. I have nothing to be ashamed of, it has been an honor to be able to represent the USA. It has been a fun year, and I’m excited to see what the guys are going to do in the future. It’s crazy to think that this will be the last time I will be putting on an Olympic bib, unless I get some stupid idea to come back in four years.”

On the people he would like to thank…

“I would like to thank my family, especially my brother, Bryan. I would like to thank all of my coaches and USA Nordic, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and the town of Steamboat. The support I’ve gotten the last couple of weeks has been huge.”

Ben Loomis

On performance…

“Overall, I thought that we had a really good day. Sixth place is really solid and one of our better results. Watching Taylor go out and crush the first leg was very inspirational. I think that we put our best foot forward and did all that we could, and I’m very happy with how we performed.”

On looking forward to 2026 Olympic Winter Games…

“I think we are really going to continue to continue to grow as a team, and we are still very young. We’ve got really great coaches and staff at USA Nordic, and I feel like every year everything is getting better. I believe we’re going to continue to get better as a team, and we will be up for some medals in 2026.”

Jasper Good

On performance…

“I think that I had a solid day. I didn’t get to ski in the team event at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, I was super excited and this was an event I was looking forward to all year. I’m really excited about how the team did, and I think that this was a big step for us. I also think it was a solid finish for us, as a young team, and it was pretty special to go out with Taylor like this.”

On looking forward to 2026 Olympic Winter Games…

“I think that next time, we are trying to take another step and be fighting with those lead groups and contend for a medal.”

Jared Shumate

On performance…

“Overall, I’m very happy with both my performance and the team’s as well. I had another competition jump that I was happy with, it also seemed like everybody had a better day on the jump as well. Then, with each leg on the course, we skied our absolute hardest and Taylor covered a bunch of time for us. On my leg, I was luckily able to win a sprint finish, which was the first one of the games that I won.”

On looking forward to 2026 Olympic Winter Games…

“I definitely think as a team, that we can be in the medal fight in 2026. With this being mine and Stephen’s first Olympics, and then Ben and Jasper’s second, we have the experience and I think we are going to be in a really great spot. We have the next four years to work towards our goal, and we are going to use our time in Beijing as motivation.”

The men's freestyle aerials team came up just short of an Olympic medal in Wednesday's final at the Genting Snow Park. Lillis and Schoenefeld had hoped to add to their gold's collected at the Mixed Team Aerials event earlier in the week and broke through to the super-final to compete for a podium position. 

At the end of the day, Schoenefeld finished fifth, and Lillis sixth, behind gold medalist, Guangpu Qi of China, silver medalist Oleksandr Abramenko of Ukraine, and bronze medalist Ilia Burov of Russia. The super finals saw all but one athlete throw a Double Full Full Double Full, a quintuple twisting triple backflip - two twists in the first and third flip, and one twist in the second, making it incredibly hard for the athletes to punch their way onto the podium, a display of aerials in its highest form.

"I knew it was going to be a hell of a competition, that was something that was never in doubt," said Lillis. "It ended up being a 120s quad twist that was needed to make the super final, that was no surprise. I'm happy I was able to execute those jumps. It's also no surprise to me that it was a beautiful, quint-twisting triple that won the competition."

Eric Loughran also represented the United States in the men's aerial final, making it the largest representation the U.S. has had in an Olympic final in the sport since the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. Loughran finished 12th overall.

"This sport has progressed incredibly in the past four years. It's incredible to see, I don't even know how much more their really is," said Loughran. "People are flirting with more twists and this and that to me it's like, 'really? Can you keep on going?' It's cool to watch."

The men's aerial final concludes competition for the U.S. Freestyle team at the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022.

RESULTS
Men's aerials finals

Alex Hall and Nick Goepper ended their Olympic run with a bang, going one, two in the men's slopestyle final. 

Hall threw down his gold medal run right out of the gate, scoring a 90.01 that went untouched by the competition throughout the remainder of the event. 

Hall's gold in Olympic slopestyle adds up. Not only does he compete in big air and slopestyle events around the world, but he's also an avid street skier, and loves messing around in the backcountry with his friends. His capacity to bring a creative perspective to every course he touches helps push his skiing to new heights, and on Wednesday, earned him a gold medal.

"You ski whatever is in front of you, and you've got to visualize how you might be able to ski on something that's completely random," he said. "Being able to translate that into a slopestyle course allows me, especially on the rails but also for the jumps, to think outside the box and bring some of that in there. That's why I love skiing, because of the creativity and self-expression. If I only competed, I would have a lot less fun."

Hall competed in his first Games in Pyeongchang but finished 16th. He still remembers the moment when he watched his teammate, slopestyle silver-medalist, Nick Goepper stand on the podium at the Sochi Games in 2014 with a bronze medal around his neck. At the time, Hall was just 16. That was the time when he felt like freestyle skiing for his age group really kicked off. 

"I think that inspired a new, young generation and the Olympics is obviously really special. It only happens every four years, which amplifies the whole experience," he said.  

Goepper has been going for gold at the Olympic games since he was 20, having collected a silver and bronze in his previous two. Wednesday, gold evaded him, but his pride in his skiing still shone through. This comp just felt different than the rest.

"I feel like...I feel like I deserve this," Goepper said. "Alex said it best. He was excited to win, but he won in his way. On the second jump, he did this crazy butter trick that is very unique to Alex's style. I think getting up on the house and doing the things that I did are unique to my style and the way that I like to ski. So sometimes, these contests are just business as usual and you just gonna slough together a run, but this...this felt good, to do it how we wanted to.

Colby Stevenson also had a shot to follow up his big air silver with a medal in slopestyle, but came up short and finished in seventh. "I had fun trying it, and I'm really proud that I stuck with the vision I had."

RESULTS
Men's slopestyle final

Four Team USA athletes came into Wednesday’s classic team sprint ready to go full-throttle. All four walked away with empty tanks knowing they had left everything out on the course at the Kuyangshu Nordic Center in Zhangjiakou, China.

Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennan finished fifth in the women’s final. At the same time, JC Schoonmaker and Ben Ogden were ninth in the men’s final - along the way, gaining a ton of experience that will carry them forward in international competition for many years to come. 

Diggins and Brennan easily advanced to the women’s final, finishing second in the semi-final heat, while Schoonmaker and Ogden battled in the second men’s semi-final, finishing sixth, but advancing to the finals as one of two lucky losers.

“It was fast,” Ogden said of the semifinal heat. “It felt pretty good the first couple of laps. I think that was where I wasted some energy too because I thought the pace was easy when it was actually faster than it was. So I took the lead a little on my first lap, and then the last one coming into the stadium, then it hit me like a wall. But fortunately, it ended up being pretty fast.

“If we were a little smarter, and with a little bit of experience, we can be a lot better,” he added.

In the women’s race, Germany surprised everyone by winning the gold medal, with Sweden taking the silver and the Russian Olympic Committee taking the bronze. In the men’s race, Norway skied to another gold medal, with Finland taking the silver and the Russian Olympic Committee taking the bronze.

“It was good…a solid day,” Brennan said. “I think it was one of my better classic races this week, so I’m really happy to have put it together by the end of the Olympics. I did what I could to stay in contact to give Jessie her best shot.”

“It was really cool seeing Rosie crushing, and I went as hard as I could and there was no doubt in my mind that I could not have tried harder,” Diggins added. “I finished with zero sugars left, and I was dizzy and sick, and I’m currently wearing all the clothes of Team USA (to stay warm).”

Up next, the men’s 50k freestyle takes place Saturday with Scott Patterson representing Team USA. On Sunday, the women’s 30k freestyle takes place with Diggins, Brenna, Movie McCabe, and Sophia Laukli making her Olympic debut.

RESULTS
Women’s Classic Team Sprint
Men’s Classic Team Sprint