This weekend, the FIS Ski World Cup heads to Adelboden, Switzerland for the Land Rover U.S. Ski Team men with a tech series, while the women head to Altenmarkt-Zauchensee for a downhill and super-G alpine combined. 

Last season, Tommy Ford was sixth in Adelboden—his best result at the venue in his career. After a tough series with challenging conditions in Alta Badia, Italy, where he ended up 20th, Tommy will look to capitalize on the stellar conditions at Adelboden. Ryan Cochran-Siegle—who has scored in 11 of 12 World Cup starts this season, across five disciplines—will look to build upon his already strong and consistent season. 

Luke Winters, who has scored in two of four World Cup slaloms this season, will look forward to having a full men’s slalom squad join him on Sunday. After a tough night at Madonna di Campiglio, slalom coach Ryan Wilson made it clear that there has been a purposeful progression for the men’s slalom team, and it’s just the start of a long month of slalom racing. On the same day, Ben Ritchie won a NorAm in Stowe, Vt. by .77 seconds, stamping his ticket to Europe to join Luke, along with teammates Kyle Negomir and River Radamus to field a men’s slalom team of four on Sunday. 

On the women’s side, downhiller Breezy Johnson will be returning to World Cup action in Saturday’s downhill for the first time in 667 days, following back-to-back knee injuries sustained during training camps. On March 14, 2018, in the World Cup Finals’ downhill in Åre, Sweden, teammates Lindsey Vonn and Alice McKennis went 1-3 and Breezy was eighth. During the 2017-18 season, the women’s speed team was the fastest downhill team in the world. 

The next season, the women’s speed team was plagued with injury, with Lindsey, Alice McKennis, Jackie Wiles and Breezy out with injury for the start of the 2018-19 season. Later that season, Laurenne Ross sustained an injury at World Championships. The team has been building and working hard to return to snow, and now—apart from Laurenne—the team is back together on the mountain again. And, they couldn’t be more excited. When Breezy came through the finish in after the second and final downhill training run, she looked into the camera with a big smile and said, “I’M BAAAAACK!” 

Though current World Cup overall and slalom leader Mikaela Shiffrin has not skied an alpine combined since the PyeongChang Olympics, where she earned a silver medal, she comes into Sunday’s alpine combined as a clear favorite. In an ongoing effort to find balance in her six-discipline schedule, Mikaela has opted out of Saturday’s downhill to focus on the alpine combined—which features one run of super-G and one run of slalom—as well as Tuesday’s night slalom in Flachau. 

"I don't really have any expectations for Sunday's alpine combined," Mikaela said with a laugh on Friday. "Mostly because I haven't been on this hill before, and I haven't trained much super-G since St. Moritz. So, it's really just going in and having some fun. I feel good on my skis, and I did get one day of super-G training recently—just gliding turns and got up to speed a little bit, so that felt good. Obviously, my slalom is always fairly solid, so I am excited for Sunday but I don't really have expectations. I didn't get downhill training runs in, but I don't think that will make a huge difference for the super-G because I think the super-G will feel a lot different than the downhill is looking." 

Mikaela was able to get some good super-G training under her belt with the Norwegian Attacking Vikings—Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. These guys are two of the best skiers in the world. What was that like? "It was so cool to see those guys in action in training. Especially watching Alex in speed was incredible—obviously because he's one of the best in the world, but he's also the most powerful skier on the men's circuit—even just his starts. I feel so klutzy in the start, with the speed skis on, I feel like I'm tangling my legs together and I'm about to fall on my face. And I'm like, 'Geez—do you have any tips for me?!'"

Not only did Mikaela learn a ton from them, but she was also impressed with the respect they showed her in return. "The coolest thing for me is that they were both talking to me about the track and how I felt too. They weren't just like, 'Oh, you're just a girl skiing with us...they were asking, what do you feel? I have so much respect for them, but I felt the respect from them as well—which made it a really cool environment."

Stats for the weekend:

• Tommy Ford can become the fifth skier from the United States to win multiple men's World Cup giant slalom events, after Ted Ligety (24), Bode Miller (9), Phil Mahre (7) and Steven Mahre (2). 

• Three US men have claimed a World Cup podium in the Adelboden giant slalom: Ted Ligety (1st) in 2013, Bode Miller (2nd) in 2005 and Phil Mahre (2nd) in 1982. 

• Ted has won 24 giant slalom events in the World Cup, third-most among men behind Ingemar Stenmark (46) and Marcel Hirscher (31). His last win came in Sölden, Austria on 25 October 2015, while his last podium in this discipline was a third place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on 28 January 2018. 

• Ted (35 years and 133 days on 11 January) can become the oldest man to win a World Cup giant slalom race, breaking the record set by Didier Cucher (35 years, 70 days) in Sölden on 25 October 2009.

• Mikaela Shiffrin won one World Cup alpine combined (super-G slalom combo) event, in Crans Montana, Switzerland on 26 February 2017. Outside of the alpine combined (downhill/slalom combo) at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018 (where she was sandwiched between Swiss combo Michelle Gisin and Wendy Holdener), that was her last alpine combined start. 

• The last time Breezy Johnson stood in a World Cup start gate was 666 days ago, on March 14, 2018, in Åre, Sweden. On that day, teammates Lindsey Vonn and Alice McKennis went 1-3 and Breezy was eighth. During the 2017-18 season, the women’s speed team was the fastest downhill team in the world. 

Check out all the details about who and how to watch below. 

MEN’S STARTERS
Ryan Cochran-Siegle - GS
Tommy Ford - GS
Brian McLaughlin - GS
Ted Ligety - GS
Kyle Negomir - SL
Ben Ritchie - SL
River Radamus - GS, SL
Luke Winters - SL

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Breezy Johnson - DH
Alice McKennis - DH
Alice Merryweather - DH, AC
Mikaela Shiffrin - AC
Jackie Wiles - DH
Isabella Wright - DH 

RESULTS
Women’s Downhill Training Run 1
Women’s Downhill Training Run 2 

START LISTS
Men's Giant Slalom
​​​​​​​Women's Downhill

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Official event hashtags: #worldcupadelboden, #zauchensee

HOW TO WATCH
All Times EST

Saturday, Jan. 11
4:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s downhill, Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 12
3:15 a.m. - Women’s combined super-G, Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
4:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1, Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s combined slalom, Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2, Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. 

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow. 

Why isn’t Altenmarkt-Zauchensee available on NBCSN or Olympic Channel?
The reason Altenmarkt-Zauchensee is available via Gold Pass rather than NBCSN or Olympic Channel is that World Cup events held in Austria are not part of the TV agreement that NBC Sports has with FIS. They are controlled and sold by a different rights holder and were purchased by NBC Sports Gold for exclusive use within “Snow Pass.” If you have any further questions, please reach out to NBC Sports Gold's help desk at support@nbcsports.com. 

Why doesn’t “Snow Pass” have commentary?
In order to provide 900+ hours of content at an affordable price, we rely on the world feed (a video feed provided by the rights holder), which often does not include English commentary. Commentary is available on all television coverage provided by NBC, NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, and live streaming via authentication at NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

It was a beautiful night for slalom in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy with Daniel Yule of Switzerland taking his second-ever FIS Ski World Cup win on his evidently favorite track, having also won his first World Cup on the same track last season. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway was second, and young Frenchman Clément Noël continued his excellent season with a third-place finish.

The Americans did not have a notable evening, with Luke Winters and River Radamus failing to qualify for the second run. However, the men are using the event as a learning tool as they continue through ‘slalom month’ and beyond on the World Cup tour.

“Luke overskied it,” said Ryan Wilson, the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team World Cup slalom coach. “He was rewarded for having a more conservative line at Levi and Val d’Isere, but today the snow was grippier and easier. It looked tough, but ended up running easy. That plan for Luke didn’t work.”

And even though there was a tactical error, it can all be looked at as progress toward the overall goal: being competitive in World Cup slalom once again.

“Yeah, I’m a little frustrated we didn’t score points today,” said Ryan. “But as a unit, we’ve been pretty well-grounded in the future, in the culture, in hopefully exciting people and inspiring a little bit of change. These guys have a very long-term goal. It’s great if we’re scoring points right now and that’s a good road, but we’re continuously focused on taking advantage of the situation and learning.”

The slalom team continues to grow, as well. With a NorAm win in Stowe, Vermont on Wednesday, Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Ben Ritchie secured himself a start on the World Cup this coming weekend in Adelboden, Switzerland. He started one World Cup last year and has been working to hone his craft and get faster. “To speak on the stableness and maturity in Luke and Ben—these guys are wise beyond their years and motivated and focused on what we’re doing,” said Ryan. “They know the team is making a long-term change.”

“It’s all about progression,” continued Ryan. “All offseason, we started with a major reworking of what we believed to be the truths in our current modern world of slalom. We looked at what the fundamentals were that we weren’t accomplishing that other nations were. We really went back to very basic fundamentals—ground zero.”

Building on those fundamentals has clearly worked this season—out of the four slalom World Cups, the men’s team has scored twice. Luke has even threatened the podium. The U.S. fans are starting to notice the men’s slalom team again.

“The guys are fired up about it,” said Ryan. “The coaching staff is fired up about it. I hope the country is starting to get fired up about it. It’s a learning process and we’re psyched on it.”

The men’s tech team continues on to Adelboden, Switzerland for a giant slalom Saturday and slalom Sunday.

RESULTS
Men's Slalom

STANDINGS
Men's Overall
Men's Slalom

Luke Winters led the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in the Zagreb, Croatia night slalom on Sunday, finishing in 28th place.

Clément Noël of France took his fourth FIS Ski World Cup win and the esteemed Snow Queen Trophy. Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland was second and young Alex Vinatzer of Italy stepped on his first World Cup podium, in third.

Proving that he has a place in the top 30, Luke put down two solid runs in his first attempt on the grippy Zagreb track to add to his collection of World Cup points. “My goal for the season was to just be in the mix—be in the top 30 as much as I can be,” said Luke, who is doing his first full World Cup season. “I’m happy with where I’m at right now. You can’t always be up in the top five.”

Just 22-year-olds, Luke exploded onto the circuit earlier this season when he finished second in the first run of the Val d’Isere slalom and threatened in the Levi slalom, showing that he’s someone to keep an eye on throughout the season and that the American men are in the slalom hunt, putting slalom back on the map in the United States once again.

“I know I have the speed to be up there,” said Luke. “But I know it takes a lot of experience to ski that consistently and that’s what I’m going to keep working on and working towards.”

River Radamus also started the Zagreb slalom but did not finish the first run.

Luke and River also represented the American men today as the ski racing world remembers Bryce Astle and Ronnie Berlack, the two U.S. skiers that passed away in an avalanche in Soelden, Austria on this day five years ago. Both Luke and River had BA+RB scribed on the back of their helmets today.

Next up, the men head to Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, for another night slalom on Wednesday before moving on to Adelboden, Switzerland, for a giant slalom and slalom over the weekend.

RESULTS
Men’s Slalom

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HOW TO WATCH 
All Times EST

Monday, Jan. 6
1:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom, Zagreb, CRO - NBCSN**
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow 

Under a vibrant setting sun in the capital city of Croatia, Mikaela Shiffrin took yet another FIS Ski World Cup podium, finishing second in the Zagreb night slalom.

Petra Vlhova of Slovakia had a banner day, winning her sixth World Cup slalom and the Zagreb Snow Queen Trophy. Katharina Liensberger of Austria took third, 3.49 seconds off the pace. 

The day started off with a challenge for Mikaela, who had a bobble on her first run that set her back more than a second behind Petra. But Mikaela put the hammer down second run and came out over two seconds ahead to take the lead. During Mikaela's second run, the crowd was silent in the finish area...sustained silence with each split, as the crowd watched in awe and sheer wonderment. Would it be enough? As she crossed the finish line, the crowd erupted into cheers. Mikaela wondered too—she wondered if it could be enough to secure the win, but Petra's strength, aggression and perfect timing triumphed, as she built on her first-run advantage and smoked the field, taking the overall win by 1.31 seconds.

While Petra's victory broke Mikaela’s nearly year-long slalom win streak, Mikaela could only praise Petra’s performance and talked of her excitement about the competition. “She’s been building and building and getting better and stronger and her discipline is amazing,” said Mikaela. “I’ve said from the beginning that if she’s really on, I have to be skiing my best, perfect, fastest skiing in order to stay ahead of her. Today I was as strong as I could be—especially in the second run—but it wasn’t strong enough. I could see the difference.”

While the crowd often expects Mikaela to win all slalom World Cups, Mikaela reminded her fans that she never presumes first place. “I’m never going to a race expecting that I’m going to win—especially when I have competitors like Petra,” she said. “She doesn’t win these races from luck. She wins because she’s working really hard.”

Mikaela and Petra have combined to win the last 24 World Cup slaloms—19 for Mikaela and five for Petra. And although she was bummed to not take the win, Mikaela was excited about how she and Petra are elevating slalom skiing. “This is how competition is supposed to be,” said Mikaela. “She’s pushing the limits, so then I’m pushing the limits and it’s raising the level of slalom skiing. That’s really cool to be a part of.”

Paula Moltzan also started on Saturday, but she hit a rut off-balanced and got thrown off, DNFing. She is OK, and was able to get up and ski away. Mikaela still holds on to the overall World Cup with a 313-point lead over Petra and she also holds a 120-point lead over Petra in the race to the slalom title.

Next up, the men race the Zagreb night slalom on Sunday. The women head to Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria for a downhill and alpine combined beginning Saturday. Mikaela has yet to confirm whether or not she will participate in Altenmarkt-Zuachensee. 

RESULTS
Women’s Slalom

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Women’s Overall

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HOW TO WATCH 
All Times EST

Sunday, Jan. 5
7:45 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1, Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
11:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2, Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Monday, Jan. 6
1:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom, Zagreb, CRO - NBCSN**

*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow 

The FIS Ski World Cup race in Zagreb, Croatia is known as the “Snow Queen Trophy”—for both Saturday’s women’s slalom race and Sunday’s men’s edition. It is a favorite stop of the women and men on the tour, where both tours collide in the unlikely, eclectic and bustling capital city of Croatia. 

All four (of the six) times Reigning Snow Queen Mikaela Shiffrin finished, she’s won on this Sljeme track in Zagreb. In fact, of those four wins—which came in in 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2019—Mikaela’s average margin of victory is 1.43 seconds. Take that in for a second. ONE POINT FOUR THREE SECONDS!! That’s an eternity in ski racing. She loves the typically icy conditions, and it’s these conditions—as ice like that is rarely seen on the women’s circuit outside of Killington, Vt.—where she excels and separates herself from the field (for example, the 2.29-second margin of victory in Killington). Ice is nice for this Snow Queen! 

Coming off a big, statement-making Lienz, Austria, series sweep, Mikaela (and teammate Paula Moltzan) got some training in at Obdach, Austria, over the new year. And just when Mikaela said, “Blame it on the BOOGIE” she meant it, with a fall in slalom training followed by a post on Instagram that said, “Boogie got me good today 🙄🙄 #2020ComingInHot”. Thankfully, apart from a bit of a sore hip, Mikaela is OK and will be starting in Saturday’s slalom. All hail the Snow Queen!! 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boogie got me good today 🙄🙄 #2020ComingInHot

A post shared by Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷💨 (@mikaelashiffrin) on Jan 2, 2020 at 10:16am PST

A lot has been said of the dominance of Mikaela—extremely rare in a sport where winners and non-podium finishers are separated by hundredths, rife with variables (wind, sun, snow, visibility, etc.). Here's a fun stat: since the start of the 2017-18 season, there have been 21 slalom races. Mikaela has won 18, gotten second twice, and DNFed just once. That's an 86% rate over a massive 2 1/2 season timespan. Take that in for a minute or two. With her slalom victory over Slovakia's Petra Vlhova in Lienz, Mikaela became the first alpine skier to claim 14 straight World Cup slalom podiums. 

Here’s the rundown of stats for the weekend:

• Mikaela Shiffrin has won an all-time record 43 World Cup slalom races. Only Ingemar Stenmark (46 in giant slalom) has won more than 43 World Cup races in a single discipline (Lindsey Vonn has also 43 wins in the downhill).  

• Mikaela has won 64 World Cup races, second place on the all-time women's list. Lindsey Vonn holds the women's record of 82 race wins.  

• The last 23 women's World Cup slalom races were either won by Mikaela (19) or Petra Vlhová (4), since retired Frida Hansdotter won in Flachau on 10 January 2017.  

• Mikaela has recorded a top-two finish in 22 of the last 23 women's World Cup slalom races, including in each of the last 14 since a 'DNF' in Lenzerheide on 28 January 2018.

• Mikaela has won the women's Zagreb slalom a joint-record four times in the World Cup, alongside childhood hero Marlies Schild. On the men's side, Marcel Hirscher has won the honor (yes, of "Snow Queen Trophy") five times. 

• Mikaela’s four wins in Zagreb came in the last five editions, with the exception of Veronika Velez-Zuzulová's win on 3 January 2017. Mikaela could win five World Cup slalom races in a single ski resort for the first time. She has now won four times in Zagreb, Levi, Åre, and Killington.

• Wendy Holdener has collected 23 World Cup podium finishes in the slalom but has yet to claim her first victory. This is currently the record for most World Cup podiums in a single discipline without winning, five more than the previous record by Hubert Strolz (18) in the men's giant slalom.

• Only three women have finished second in a World Cup slalom race more often than Wendy (12): Frida Hansdotter (17), Pernilla Wiberg (14) and Veronika Velez-Zuzulová (13). Three of these women—Wendy, Frida, and Veronika—all have raced in the era of Mikaela Shiffrin. 

Rounding out the women's roster for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team is slalom specialist Paula Moltzan, who was 12th in the first run in Zagreb last year before DNFing second run. She likes this track, and the usual hard-packed icy surface suits her aggressive style. It reminds her of her midwest upbringing at Buck Hill, Minn. and her east coast college days at the University of Vermont, where she skied for the Catamounts. Remember, ice is nice! Paula struggled in Lienz, Austria, DNFing in the top section of the course, but now that she’s got that out of her system she’s ready to rock on the Sljeme track. The rest of the team, including Nina O’Brien, are back stateside getting some NorAm starts—and confidence—in their arsenal for when they return to Europe soon. 

On the men’s side, Luke Winters, who was second behind eventual race winner Alexis Pinturault in the first run of the Val d’Isere, France slalom, and ended up grabbing his career-first World Cup points in 19th, will return to action. He and teammate River Radamus have been skiing fast in training, and they're looking forward to taking on this busy month of racing, possibly being joined by another team member, as Luke’s result in Val d’Isere scored the U.S. slalom men another start spot. Watch France's Clément Noël this weekend...think he's got some redemption up his sleeves this weekend. 

Check out all the details about who and how to watch below. 

STARTERS
Paula Moltzan
River Radamus
Mikaela Shiffrin
Luke Winters

START LIST
Women’s Slalom

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Official event hashtag: #SQT

HOW TO WATCH 
All Times EST

Saturday, Jan. 4
6:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1, Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2, Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Women’s slalom, Zagreb, CRO - NBCSN*

Sunday, Jan. 5
7:45 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1, Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
11:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2, Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Monday, Jan. 6
1:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom, Zagreb, CRO - NBCSN**

*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) today announced finalists for the Team USA Awards, Best of December, which recognize the outstanding achievements of Team USA athletes from last month. Four U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes are nominated: Tommy Ford, Chris Corning, Aaron Blunck and Mikaela Shiffrin. In addition, the women's cross country 4x5 kilometer relay team of Sophie Caldwell, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen, Rosie Brennan and Jessie Diggins, was nominated.

Fans are invited to vote for their favorite athletes and teams at TeamUSA.org/Awards through midnight Tuesday, Jan. 7.  

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Nominations

Male Athlete of the Month

Aaron Blunck, Freestyle Skiing

Clinched the gold medal in halfpipe for the second straight year at the U.S. Grand Prix world cup in Copper Mountain, Colorado, and earned silver at the world cup in Secret Garden, China.

Chris Corning, Snowboarding

Clinched his seventh career season title by taking bronze in big air at the world cup in Beijing and additionally won gold at the world cup in Atlanta, delivering the first-ever quad cork 1800 on a scaffold big air jump.

Tommy Ford, Alpine Skiing

Won gold in giant slalom at the world cup in Beaver Creek, Colorado, clinching the first win by an American man in nearly three years.

Female Athlete of the Month

Mikaela Shiffrin, Alpine Skiing

Won her fourth straight world cup on U.S. snow in slalom in Killington, Vt., by a margin of 2.29 seconds—her biggest victory gap in three years—and capped the month by sweeping two world cup races in Lienz, Austria, to bring her career total to 64 wins, matching Lindsey Vonn’s record for most women’s world cup victories in one discipline with 43 slalom wins.

Team of the Month

U.S. Women’s 4x5-kilometer Relay, Cross-Country Skiing
The relay squad of Sophie Caldwell, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen, Rosie Brennan and Jessie Diggins took silver at the world cup in Lillehammer, Norway, matching the best world cup podium finish for Team USA in the event.

Selection Process
Each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per sport discipline. An internal nominating committee selects finalists to advance to the voting round. Votes received from NGB representatives and select members of the media account for 50% of the final tally, with the other half determined by online fan voting via TeamUSA.org/Awards.

VOTE NOW
 

Ryan Cochran-Siegle skied to a career-best fifth place in Sunday's alpine combined, drawing from his Cochran's Ski Area skills and posting the seventh-fastest slalom time, to lead the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in Bormio, Italy, once again. 

France's Alexis Pinturault out down a respectable 12th-fastest super-G run, and won the slalom portion of the alpine combined, to seal his victory, .51 seconds ahead of Attacking Viking Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, and .56 ahead of the young Swiss Loic Meillard. 

Ryan was 15th in a tough super-G portion of the alpine combined. "The super-G inspection looked like you had to come out with good race intensity with icy snow and bumpy terrain, which was not easy to do after the past 3 days of full on World Cup downhill. I actually liked the way I came out of the gate, skiing more aggressively than my last couple super-G starts, but got bumped off line because of it before the traverse. I kept it going the rest of the way, but knew I didn’t carry as much speed out of that section as the top guys would have. I thought I took good necessary risk, but it just didn’t quite pay off to be more competitive on the run.

His slalom, on the other hand, was surprisingly (to himself) strong, as he skied a solid seventh-fastest slalom run. Following the race, Ryan—who comes out of Starksboro, Vt. and skied for Mount Mansfield Ski & Snowboard Club and Cochran's Ski Area—jokingly said, "Really don't know where that came from...felt pretty good in warm-ups and was coming hot off a second-place finish at Cochran's TGFS [Thank God for Snow Making] Race last March. All the confidence you need." 

"In slalom I had no expectations and kept my focus simple, trying to keep the arc short on the pitch and then getting to the new ski fast and early coming off the pitch with a good race mentality," he continued. "Knowing I had to ski to my limit in order to be in there helped me silence any internal thoughts aside from just my skiing. It felt to me very much in my zone and a state of flow from the top to bottom."

Ryan has scored in 11 of 12 races this season, across five disciplines—parallel giant slalom, giant slalom, alpine combined, super-G and downhill—highlighted by a career best fifth place on Sunday at Bormio. 

Bryce Bennett landed in 18th, while Sam Morse did not finish the slalom portion of the combined on Sunday. 

Up next for the men is a short break before the White Circus picks up again on Jan. 5 with a men's slalom in Zagreb, Croatia. 

RESULTS
Men’s Alpine Combined

STANDINGS
Men’s Alpine Combined
Men’s Overall  

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Official event hashtags: #bormioskiworldcup

On December 29, 2011, Mikaela Shiffrin earned her first World Cup podium in Lienz, Austria. Fast forward eight years to the exact day—December 29, 2019—in Lienz, where Mikaela won her 64th victory and her 43rd slalom victory on Sunday.

Wow. Just WOW. 

Slovakia's Petra Vlhova skied two strong runs on Sunday, but despite giving it her all, she just couldn't best Mikaela—who was on a mission and skiing out of her mind, after a disappointing result in Courchevel, France a week ago. Switzerland's Michelle Gisin rounded out the podium in third with her first-career World Cup slalom podium. Michelle has been struggling of late, posting on Instagram after Saturday's race, "Going through kind of a rough time right now...but you know, this too shall pass." And pass it did.

Mikaela and Petra have a friendly rivalry, and in this rivalry both competitors push each other, learn from each other, and—as a result—elevate the sport of alpine ski racing together. “Petra has been one of the girls who has been able to beat me when I’ve been skiing really well,” Mikaela spoke of their rivalry. “Her skiing is super strong, and she’s motivated and she has this fire. I have a lot of respect for her and what her team does to be able to push her level, because that pushes my level too.”

The conditions on Sunday were great, and the surface was fast. Both courses were quick sets, and there were some tricky combinations the athletes don’t normally see. Mikaela was watching Petra from the start, “When I saw Petra go on the second run, I was watching from the start and I was thinking, ‘Oh no, I can’t ski it that fast, well...I guess all I can do is try.’ When I have that mindset just to go for it, and I can feel the good skiing, then it’s always really, really satisfying to come into the finish and see it worked out.”

Petra was building on her already over nine tenths lead throughout the entire course, crossing the finish line with a 1.11 lead over Michelle. All indications were pointing towards a victory with the run Petra laid down. But Mikaela had other plans. Skiing clean and strong to cross the finish line with a .61 margin of victory, Mikaela screamed and threw her hands up in celebration while Petra stood, seemingly stunned and confused, like a deer in the headlights. In the post-victory press conference, Petra said she thought after her run, “Wow, maybe today I could beat Miki.” 

After what Mikaela describes as a “heartbreaking” day in Courchevel, Mikaela came to Lienz rested and well-prepared with some solid giant slalom and slalom training under her belt. The realization that she “wasn’t really strong enough to go to Val d’Isere and race the way that I wanted to and I had to pull back,” was a tough pill for Mikaela to swallow.

Throughout the week, fans and media posted both words of encouragement as well doubt on social media. “Has she lost her touch?” “Maybe she won’t actually ever reach Stenmark’s record!” and “It’s lame that she skipped the races—ski racing is her job!” were just a few of the comments that were shared on social. Mikaela tried to maintain her focus during her training block, as well as spend some “soul-healing” time with family and her team over Christmas to drown out the noise. And then she did what Mikaela does when the noise gets loud...she skied faster. Not only did she win...she won in a BIG way.

Not only did Mikaela sweep the Lienz series, but she won all four runs—a level of dominance so rare in a sport that comes down to hundredths—and she won by a collective margin of almost two seconds. Again, a rarity in a sport where the winner and fourth place can be decided in the time span of a blink of the eye.

To say that Mikaela made a statement in Lienz, would be an understatement. Mikaela laid down some of the best skiing in the history of the sport, to walk away with back-to-back victories and prove to the world that, yes—ski racing is her job, and she does a better job at her job than anyone else. “I don’t really have words,” reflected Mikaela. “Last week the training was really good. I think that the work my team did—what we all did together—was really strong and I think it’s just special to come here and show that. Today was, again, a really special day and I knew that nothing less than 110% was going to be fast enough for this race and I know how strong Petra is skiing, so I was trying to keep myself focused and not get nervous.” But, as we know, Mikaela has learned to manage her nerves. 

Mikaela has extended her lead in the overall standings to 295 points over Italy’s Federica Brignone and sits first in the slalom standings, with 300 points—140 points ahead of Petra. Sunday’s Stats: Mikaela Shiffrin has won an all-time record 43 World Cup slalom races, tied with Lindsey Vonn (43 in downhill). Only Ingemar Stenmark (46 in giant slalom) has won more than 42 World Cup races in a single discipline. On 29 December 2011, Shiffrin claimed her first World Cup podium in any discipline as she finished third in the Lienz slalom at age 16.  

Sunday’s Stats: 

• 50 years ago, in the debut of the Lienz World Cup race on the Hochstein as Lienz, a little-known American by the name of Judy Nagel, now Judy Johnson, swept the Lienz World Cup tech series. Nagel remains the youngest American to win a World Cup (17 years, five months, 13 days) – about three months younger than Shiffrin when she won her first in Åre, Sweden in 2012.
• Mikaela Shiffrin has won an all-time record 43 World Cup slalom races, tied with Lindsey Vonn (43 in downhill) for most wins among women in a single discipline. Only Ingemar Stenmark (46 in giant slalom) has won more in a single discipline.  
• On 29 December 2011, Shiffrin claimed her first World Cup podium in any discipline as she finished third in the Lienz slalom at age 16.  
• Mikaela has won 64 World Cup races, in outright second place on the all-time women's list. Lindsey Vonn holds the women's record of 82 race wins. On the men's side, only Ingemar Stenmark (86) and Marcel Hirscher (67) have won more World Cup races.  
• The last 23 women's World Cup slalom races were either won by Mikaela (19) or Petra Vlhová (4), since retired Frida Hansdotter won in Flachau on 10 January 2017.  
• Mikaela has recorded a top-two finish in 22 of the last 23 women's World Cup slalom races, including in each of the last 14 since a 'DNF' in Lenzerheide on 28 January 2018.
• Mikaela became the first alpine skier, male or female, to record 14 successive slalom podiums in the World Cup, surpassing Erika Hess who had 13 (1980-1982).  
• Mikaela has claimed four World Cup podiums in the Lienz slalom. She won on 28 December 2017, finished second on 29 December 2013 and claimed third place on 29 December 2011, and now—eight years to the day after her first-ever podium—a victory on 29 December 2019.  
• Mikaela has now won 12 World Cup events in Austria, surpassing the women's record held by Renate Götschl, Annemarie MoserPröll, Marlies Schild and Lindsey Vonn.

Nina O'Brien also started for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, but did not qualify for a second run, while Paula Moltzan returned to World Cup action, but leaned in a bit on the top section of the course and DNFed. 

Up next, the women will have a few days before they head to the always highly anticipated Snow Queen Trophy race on Jan. 4 in Zagreb, Croatia, where Mikaela has won the last two years and four of the last five races at the venue. With the coming new year, Mikaela says “I’m excited for the new challenges, in so many ways this season is so different than last season and I’m starting to accept that and look forward to the new challenges.”

AUDIO
Mikaela Victory Press Conference

RESULTS
Women’s Slalom

STANDINGS
Slalom
Overall

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Official event hashtag: #worldcuplienz

Why isn’t Lienz available on NBCSN or Olympic Channel?
The reason Lienz is available via Gold Pass rather than NBCSN or Olympic Channel is that World Cup events held in Austria are not part of the TV agreement that NBC Sports has with FIS. They are controlled and sold by a different rights holder and were purchased by NBC Sports Gold for exclusive use within “Snow Pass.” If you have any further questions, please reach out to NBC Sports Gold's help desk at support@nbcsports.com. 

Why doesn’t “Snow Pass” have commentary?
In order to provide 900+ hours of content at an affordable price, we rely on the world feed (a video feed provided by the rights holder), which often does not include English commentary. Commentary is available on all television coverage provided by NBC, NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, and live streaming via authentication at NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

Reigning FIS Ski World Cup overall and giant slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin certainly lets her skiing speak for itself, and today she spoke loudly— winning by a massive margin of 1.36 seconds. She earned her 63rd World Cup victory, surpassing Austrian Annemarie Moser-Pröll into fourth on the all-time win list behind Marcel Hirscher (67), Lindsey Vonn (82) and Ingemar Stenmark (86).

Italy’s Marta Bassino was second, 1.36 off Mikaela’s pace, while Austrian Katharina Liensberger put on a great show for the home crowd, grabbing her first World Cup giant slalom podium in the 50th edition of the Lienz World Cup on the Hochstein track, 1.82 seconds back. 

Mikaela put a challenging day in Courchevel, France in the rear-view mirror and out of her mind, showing the world that she is indeed one of the best giant slalom skiers in the world, with her 11th career giant slalom victory. Ever a practitioner of the sport, Mikaela was back on giant slalom skis the day after Courchevel. She hit the “reset” button and opted to sit out of the Val d’Isere, France downhill and alpine combined—proving to be a smart decision taking into consideration the weather—much to the chagrin of many naysayers (including media and fans). However, when Mikaela makes a decision, it’s always a calculated one, and in this case, it proved to work out in her favor. 

Instead, Mikaela got a great block of tech training under her belt at our European training base in Folgaria with our partner Alpe Cimbra, Trentino. Joined by her mother Eileen and father Jeff—who came over for the holidays and plan to go to both Lienz and the upcoming slalom at Zagreb, Croatia—Mikaela enjoyed the holiday. She spent Christmas where she feels most comfortable—in gates, on the mountain. Hard work pays off. And on Saturday it paid off in the form of a massive 1.36 margin win and some beautiful, connected skiing by the quickly emerging greatest of all time. Mikaela described her time with her family over the holidays as “soul-healing.” 

“The last week was actually great,” reflected Mikaela. “My mom and dad are here, and the training was amazing and I was so much more prepared for this weekend than I have been. I am really excited...really excited for today. Courchevel made me doubt a lot about what I’m able to do with my giant slalom skiing, so to be able to come back here today after a lot of training the last week and a little bit of rest too, is great. You go through these moments as an athlete where you have to look at your skiing and reflect and say ‘I’m not doing a good enough job.’”

“To me,” she continued, “that happens quite often when I’m trying to race in every event because there’s never enough time to train in every event, so then I have to take a step back. We skipped Val d’Isere because I felt like I wasn’t doing my job. It wasn’t because of the weather, we skipped it because I wasn’t skiing well and I had work to do. We did a lot of work—my team, my coaches—and that paid off in today, and that’s one really big step in the right direction.”

Coming through the finish line, Mikaela was stunned when she looked at the clock. With a look of disbelief, she crouched down similarly to the way she did in Andorra when she held her first career giant slalom globe and hung out there for a moment as she took it all in. You saw that correctly, Mikaela...1.36 seconds. She won both runs, and the second run, in particular, was something special. In the third split alone, Mikaela made up one second of time. ONE SECOND.

She expressed how hard it was to just let the Courchevel result go, and that she was heartbroken after Courchevel. “You can’t go into a race thinking you can deserve something or expect something at all, but it’s hard not to compare what’s going on this season with what went on last season,” she explained. “Everyone is thinking ‘what is she doing this season compared to what she did last season’ and that’s hard because I am thinking that too. I still can’t believe I won 17 races last year, and so I have to reset and think that might never happen again, and just focus on my skiing.”

Mikaela leads the overall standings by 215 points over Italy’s Federica Brignone and has moved back up in the giant slalom standings, from fourth to second, by a mere 21 points behind Federica, who has 275 points to Mikaela’s 254. 

Saturday's Stats: 

• Mikaela Shiffrin has won 63 World Cup races, in outright second place on the all-time women's list. Lindsey Vonn holds the women's record of 82 race wins. On the men's side, only Ingemar Stenmark (86) and Marcel Hirscher (67) have won more World Cup races. 

• Mikaela has more World Cup victories in all disciplines on Austrian soil (11) than in any other country (9, United States).  

• Mikaela is the fifth woman to claim a record 11 World Cup wins in Austria, after Renate Götschl, Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Marlies Schild and Lindsey Vonn. On the men's side, only Ingemar Stenmark and Hermann Maier (both 15) have won more than 10 World Cup races in Austria.  

• Prior to Saturday's victory, Mikaela finished on the podium in giant slalom World Cup races in Lienz on two occasions: third places on December 28, 2013, and December 29, 2017.

Nina O’Brien also started for the Americans, but she did not qualify for a second run. The rest of the women’s tech team is taking some time to focus on the NorAm circuit. 

Up next for the women is a slalom on Sunday—exactly eight years to the date Mikaela earned her first-career podium in 2011, where she was third and her childhood idols Marlies Schild (AUT) and Tina Maze (SLO) were first and second, respectively. Slalom specialist Paula Moltzan will return to action after a short break to focus on some nagging back pain, and Nina will start as well. 

AUDIO
Mikaela Victory Press Conference 

RESULTS
Women’s Giant Slalom

STANDINGS
Giant Slalom
Overall

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Official event hashtag: #worldcuplienz

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, Dec. 29
4:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1, Leinz, Austria - NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2, Leinz, Austria - NBC Sports Gold
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow

Why isn’t Lienz available on NBCSN or Olympic Channel?
The reason Lienz is available via Gold Pass rather than NBCSN or Olympic Channel is that World Cup events held in Austria are not part of the TV agreement that NBC Sports has with FIS. They are controlled and sold by a different rights holder and were purchased by NBC Sports Gold for exclusive use within “Snow Pass.” If you have any further questions, please reach out to NBC Sports Gold's help desk at support@nbcsports.com. 

Why doesn’t “Snow Pass” have commentary?
In order to provide 900+ hours of content at an affordable price, we rely on the world feed (a video feed provided by the rights holder), which often does not include English commentary. Commentary is available on all television coverage provided by NBC, NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, and live streaming via authentication at NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.