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Shiffrin Nominated for Team USA Awards - November

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
December, 9 2019
Mikaela Shiffrin Team USA Awards - November
(Getty Images - Christophe Pallot)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee today announced finalists for the Team USA Awards, Best of November, which recognize the outstanding achievements of Team USA athletes from last month. Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) has been nominated. Fans are invited to vote for their favorite athletes and teams at TeamUSA.org/Awards through midnight Monday, Dec. 9.

Mikeala earned her 41st victory at the world cup slalom opener, breaking a 33-year-old record held by Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmar and became the first skier to win four world cup races in Levi, breaking a tie with German Maria Hofl-Riesch and Austrian Marcel Hirscher.

Eight sports – including climbing, curling, cycling, fencing, ice skating, para track and field, sitting volleyball and skiing – are represented among the 13 finalists across men’s, women’s and team categories. The finalists’ collective accomplishments tell the inspiring story of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes year-round.

Fans can vote for Shiffrin through midnight on Monday, Dec. 9 at TeamUSA.org/Awards

Ford Uncorks First Podium, First Victory on Home Turf

By Megan Harrod
December, 8 2019
Tommy Ford mastered the Birds of Prey course for this first career World Cup giant slalom victory Sunday. (Getty Images - Sean M. Haffey)
Tommy Ford mastered the Birds of Prey course for this first career World Cup giant slalom victory Sunday. (Getty Images - Sean M. Haffey)

Tommy Ford wowed the home crowd and absolutely annihilated the field to win his first podium and first FIS Ski World Cup win—by a massive .80 seconds—at the Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup at Beaver Creek to lead three Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team members into the top 30. 

With snow coming in and out and visibility a challenge with thick fog wreaking havoc and causing delays on the Birds of Prey track, Tommy’s cool and calm disposition enabled him to crush his first run to take the .20 lead over two Norwegians—Henrik Kristoffersen and Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen—with teammate Ted Ligety sitting in fourth. 

The second run story was the same, with weather coming in and out, and snow falling. It was a straight-set, and the guys knew they’d have to send it. “I felt little raindrops in there, so that’s going to be interesting,” Tommy said after the second run inspection. “The weather is coming in and out so that always makes things interesting. The snow conditions still feel good and it’s pretty smooth. The Talon Crew is already pushing the snow off so it should be good.”

Rounding out the podium was the Norwegian pair of Henrik (.80 seconds back) and Leif (1.23 seconds off the pace). Tommy became the first American male to win a World Cup since teammate Travis Ganong won a downhill on Jan. 27, 2017, and the first American male podium finisher since Ted in January of 2018 in Garmisch, Germany. This result ended the longest drought for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team since the late 1990s. Tommy also joins Ted and Bode Miller as the only Americans to have won a World Cup tech (slalom/giant slalom) since Phil Mahre's last World Cup win in March of 1983. 

Beaver Creek has been a special place for Tommy, as he scored his first top-10 result on the track in 2017, and from then on kept rolling with career-best results. In 2019, Tommy had a steady stream of consistent results, with two sixth-place finishes, and a career-best fifth place at Alta Badia, Italy. He started the season off this year in Soelden, Austria finishing just off the podium (.07 seconds) in fourth—another career-best. 

Tommy missed the 2014 Olympics due to a fractured femur sustained while free skiing in France. He returned to the U.S. Ski Team but was sidelined for the 2013 World Championships and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. It’s been a long, challenging road back - but Sunday was a particularly sweet taste of victory in front of a home crowd, his girlfriend and teammate Laurenne Ross, and his family and friends. 

“Nothing beats doing it [winning] here. I’ve been working hard,” Tommy said. “There’s no secret, just kept it simple and really trusted what I was doing, with solid and clean skiing. I am happy to be here in Beaver Creek, the Talon Crew is awesome, my friends and family are here - I feel so grateful. There were nerves coming and going - they always kind of are - but just letting them go is the key. I am just fortunate to have such great coaches, family and a great supporter in Mt. Bachelor back at home - which is all coming through in the skiing that I put down."

Ted, who was fourth after the first run, ended up 11th, while Ryan Cochran-Siegle was 23rd. River Radamus, Brian McLaughlin, and George Steffey—who made his World Cup debut on Sunday—all started but did not qualify for a second run. Sam Dupratt started but did not finish the first run. 

Up next for the men is a giant slalom and slalom in Val d’Isere, France—a venue that has been good to Tommy. He scored a sixth place finish there last season, and it’s a track that suits Tommy’s style. He'll be bringing the red leader bib with him, as he's currently leading the giant slalom standings with 150 points over Frenchman Mathieu Faivre's 120 points. 

RESULTS
Men's Giant Slalom

STANDINGS
Men's World Cup
Men's Giant Slalom

 

Shiffrin Extends Overall World Cup Lead in Lake Louise

By Courtney Harkins
December, 8 2019
Mikaela Shiffrin Super-G
Mikaela Shiffrin skis to 10th place in the Lake Louise super-G. (Getty Images - Brett Holmes)

Mikaela Shiffrin snagged another top-10 result in Lake Louise, taking 10th place in the super-G and continuing to build her seemingly insurmountable World Cup overall lead.

After days of battling heavy snowfall and tough conditions, the typical cold weather and sunshine descended on Lake Louise, Alberta, to wrap up the first World Cup speed weekend of the season. Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany took her fourth World Cup super-G win, while exciting Italian youngster Nicol Delago skied from bib 31 to second place. Corinne Suter of Switzerland was third.

Mikaela skied a solid race but made a small error in her line prior to the pitch, which cost her time. “It’s one of the trickiest events—may be the trickiest event—because you only get one run and you don’t get training,” she said of super-G. “The speeds are high, but the technique is kind of similar to GS. You have this combination of everything wrapped into one event and you have to nail it on the first run. You can’t back off—you have to go full attack, full aggression, but still precise. There’s a fine line between how much time a mistake costs versus creating speed.”

After finishing second and 10th in Saturday and Friday’s downhills, respectively, Shiffrin holds a 237-point lead in the overall World Cup standings over Rebensburg as the World Cup heads to Europe.

Rounding out the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Alice Mckennis also threw down a great result, taking 13th place to cap off a strong first weekend back from injury. Alice Merryweather finished in the points for the third time this weekend in 23rd place. Jacqueline Wiles was 32nd.

The Lake Louise races closed out the North American part of the 2019-20 FIS Alpine World Cup tour, with the women heading to St. Moritz, Switzerland for super-G and parallel slalom races.

RESULTS
Women’s super-G

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, Dec. 8
5:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC*
6:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

*Same-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.

Shiffrin Second in Lake Louise Downhill

By Courtney Harkins
December, 7 2019
Shiffrin second in Lake Louise
Mikaela Shiffrin storms to second place in the Lake Louise downhill. (Getty Images/Agence Zoom - Christophe Pallot)

The Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team women roared back to the top in Lake Louise, Alberta, on Saturday with Mikaela Shiffrin storming onto the downhill podium in second place—just .13 seconds off of first—and Alice McKennis and Alice Merryweather taking 10th and 11th respectively. Mikaela’s result also extended her overall World Cup lead to 270 points.

Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria won the downhill with Italy's Francesca Marsaglia in third. Friday’s winner Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic was just two-hundredths off the podium in fourth.

After tough conditions due to snowfall and poor visibility on Friday, the Lake Louise course crew worked hard overnight to get the track into race shape. “All of us are looking for some redemption after yesterday,” said Alice Mckennis after the morning inspection. “We’re never satisfied unless we’re up near the top. Everyone is looking forward to giving it another shot.”

And the shot rang true, with three U.S. women finding their redemption in top spots.

Even after a long course hold that kept her waiting in the start gate, Mikaela held her composure to take her first speed podium of the year. “I feel every year I get more experience and I get more comfortable,” Mikaela said of racing downhill. “Right now, it’s just enjoying it. My goal is to be able to succeed in speed as well, so right now I’m just making a transition and trying to have fun with it.”

In only her second race back from injury, Alice Mckennis was happy to snag a spot in the top 10. “I’m pretty stoked on my run,” she said. “It was definitely a little loose and a little ragged, but I’m really proud of the way I approached the run. I didn’t hesitate at all and I went for it. That’s a huge step for me—to feel that race-day confidence and to trust myself and believe in myself again.”

Alice Merryweather’s 11th place finish was her second-best World Cup result and the second time she has finished in the top 15, showing the world that she’s someone to keep an eye on as the speed circuit continues. 

"Having a full downhill team here is so nice; it’s really fun to have a lot of girls here," said Alice Merryweather, who was a little bit of a lone ranger on the speed team last year with so many teammates sidelined with injury. "We’ve been bouncing a lot of good energy off of each other. Mikaela on the podium is super exciting, and then to have a full downhill team is so nice. It’s awesome to see four of us in the points and to really feel like we have a speed team again."

Rounding out the U.S. women, Jacqueline Wiles finished in the points for the second day in a row, taking 29th. Alix Wilkinson was 33rd, Isabella Wright was 36th and Keely Cashman was 37th.

Mikaela now has seven speed event podiums under her belt—four in downhill and three in super-G—and will be looking for another in Sunday’s super-G. “My super-G is pretty good right now, but it’s also a little tricky to switch from downhill skis to super-G skis and to change the timing a little bit,” said Mikaela, who won last year’s super-G in Lake Louise. “I’m going to have fun tomorrow and do my best and see what’s possible.”

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, Dec. 8
11:40 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.comNBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.comNBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.comNBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC
6:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

*Same-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.

Cochran-Siegle Career-Best Sixth in Birds of Prey Downhill

By Megan Harrod
December, 7 2019
RCS Sixth
Ryan Cochran-Siegle scored a career-best sixth place result at Beaver Creek in Saturday's downhill. (Alexis Boichard)

Anticipation was mounting all week for Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who put down the fastest training time in Wednesday's first and only downhill training run at Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup. Despite the increased pressure, the 2012 Junior World Downhill Champion held his composure and finished a career-best sixth-place - a blink of an eye (.08 seconds) - off the podium in a shortened downhill.

It's been a season full of ties on the men's speed circuit, and today was no exception. It's not a big surprise that Swiss Beat Feuz was the fastest man down the mountain today, as he was also last year's Birds of Prey downhill race victor. What was a surprise, however, was France's Johan Clarey tying Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr, .41 seconds off Beat's pace. 

In a day with the weather a little bit like the east coast with flat light and some gusty winds at the start, Vermonter Ryan laid it down and trusted his skiing. "I was a little emotional...happiness and joy," Ryan said after his run. "You don't get that often, so I'll take it. I wasn't planning on being fast in the first training run and after winning that it felt like there might have been a little bit more of a spotlight, so just trying to handle it and show that I could perform on race day was huge." High winds at the start forced the men to start from the reserve start, so it was a bit more of a sprint.

Ryan made a brilliant recovery, pushing the line and holding his composure all the way down. "That's just skiing. In my training run, I had a couple of turns where one ski got up in the air, but I think just trying to keep moving forward and going with what I have is what makes me fast here. In my head, I thought I was in complete control. I haven't seen it yet - I'm sure it looked cool...but that's skiing, you gotta be on the limit." 

Both Steven Nyman and Jared Goldberg put down solid skiing, and finished in the points, in 17th and 22nd respectively. Sam Morse just missed the points by a few hundredths, finishing in 32nd. Bryce Bennett (39th), Travis Ganong (40th), Kyle Negomir (51), Wiley Maple (58), and Tommy Biesemeyer (59) also started but did not finish in the points. 

Up next for the men is giant slalom on Sunday, which will air live on the Olympic Channel and a replay on NBC. 

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Official event hashtags: #bcworldcup

RESULTS 
Men's Downhill

STANDINGS
Men's World Cup

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Dec. 7
11:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 8
11:40 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.comNBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.comNBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.comNBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC
6:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

*Same-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.

 

Shiffrin 10th in Lake Louise DH, Extends World Cup Lead

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
December, 6 2019
Shiffrin LL
Mikaela Shiffrin led the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, finishing 10th, in Lake Louise Friday. (Getty Image/Agence Zoom - Christophe Pallot)

Mikaela Shiffrin extended her overall World Cup lead to 206 points after leading the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team with a 10th place finish in the first of two downhills at Lake Louise, Alberta.

Due to snow and poor visibility, the start of the race was delayed more than an hour, and the course was shortened, starting at the reserve start. Mikaela, starting bib 6, came across the finish line third, eventually dropping in the standings as track conditions improved. On and off snowfall throughout the race presented challenging conditions for the athletes, including AJ Hurt, who took a hard fall after catching her edge in the soft snow and was airlifted off the course. 

Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic won Friday’s downhill and became the first athlete to win both a World Cup alpine and snowboard event. Ester, the 2018 Olympic super-G champion, has 17 World Cup snowboard parallel slalom and giant slalom victories. Corinne Suter of Switzerland was second and Austria's Stephanie Venier was third. 

Alice Merryweather posted a solid start to the season, finishing 21st. Alice McKennis is back, finishing 27th, and Jacqueline Wiles just missed the points in her first race back from injury, finishing 31st. AJ Hurt posted the fastest first split time before crashing hard. She is OK but she will be sitting out in Saturday's downhill, pending further evaluation of a knee injury. 

Up next, the women compete in a second downhill at Lake Louise Saturday and super-G Sunday.

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

STANDINGS
Women's World Cup

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

ALPINE
Friday, Dec. 6

11:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

Saturday, Dec. 7
1:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel,  Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
11:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 8
11:40 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC
6:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

*Same-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.

 

Ganong Sixth To Lead Four Americans into Points at Xfinity Birds of Prey

By Megan Harrod
December, 6 2019
Travis Ganong
With perfect conditions, sunshine and hero snow prepared superbly once again by the legendary Talon Crew, Travis Ganong led four Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes into the points at the Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup. (Tom Pennington - Getty Images)

With perfect conditions, sunshine and hero snow prepared superbly once again by the legendary Talon Crew, Travis Ganong led four Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes into the points at the Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup in Beaver Creek, Colo. 

In what was an incredible run, the young Swiss Marco Odermatt skied what Travis called a “1 out of 100 run” - pushing the line all the way down. At one point, it resulted in a near-crash as Marco took the pizza-rather-than-french-fry-approach, but he miraculously pulled it off and skied confidently into first place. Norway’s Attacking Viking Aleksander Aamodt Kilde skied into second, just a tenth off of Marco’s time, with Austrian Matthias Mayer rounding out the podium in third. 

The course set today was a classic, more technical super-G set. For that reason, it favored the more technical super-G skiers, while the classic downhillers who excel on more downhill-like super-G sets, like Italy’s Dominik Paris, Switzerland’s Beat Feuz and Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud struggled with today’s super-G set - “too technical,” Dominik said in the finish area, followed by  some expletives. On the flip side, the technical set benefited guys like Marco, as well as France’s Alexis Pinturault, who finished just off the podium in fourth. 

Travis was the lone American to finish in the top-10, though he led four athletes into the top 30 on Friday. Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished tied for 18th, Steven Nyman was 24th, and Ted Ligety finished 28th from bib 64 - in what appeared would be a top-five run before Ted made a mistake into the flats and lost time. 

It was a smooth run with solid and error-free skiing for Travis, who normally makes up a ton of time on the bottom, but today he was fast on the top. “The top section was normally my nemesis, but today the flow was amazing up there and the snow was really easy, reflected Travis. “I had a really good feelings on the top, then lost a little time on the bottom, but I’m super fired up to land in sixth.”

Once again the Talon Crew did an incredible job, making the track “a joy to ski,” as many guys said in the finish. “I just really had a fun and enjoyable run,” Travis said after his run. “The snow was perfect - it was money, the Talon Crew did an awesome job preparing the track as always! Anyone can win a super-G, it’s about who is willing to take the most risk and pull it off, watching Odermatt - he took way too much risk, but somehow it worked out for him and that’s tough to beat. That’s on the limit super-G, and that’s what’s fast.” Travis will bring the confidence from today’s run into tomorrow’s downhill. 

Kyle Negomir, Sam Dupratt, and River Radamus also started for the American squad but did not land in the top-30, while Tommy Ford and Thomas Biesemeyer started but did not finish. 

Up next for the men will be the “real event” (as Ryan - who is skiing in all three events this weekend at Beaver Creek - joked in the finish area with Steven) - downhill on Saturday at the Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup.  

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
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Official event hashtags: #bcworldcup

RESULTS
Men’s Super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Dec. 7
1:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel,  Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
11:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 8
11:40 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC
6:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

*Same-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.

Hunting for More than Fools Gold at Birds of Prey, Lake Louise

By Megan Harrod
December, 5 2019
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Ryan Cochran-Siegle was fastest in Wednesday's downhill training run on the Beaver Creek Birds of Prey course. (Getty Images - Sean M. Haffey)

Attention has shifted from the HomeLight Killington Cup over to speed week at the Xfinity Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek, and the anticipation is high for three days of racing, including Friday’s super-G, Saturday’s downhill, and Sunday’s giant slalom. 

Up in Lake Louise, the women will tackle two downhills and a super-G Friday through Sunday. After successful training runs that saw two Americans - both male and female - with the fastest times on the day Wednesday, the quest will now be to search for more than just “fools gold” and get it done on race day. 

Coming from bib 25, Ryan Cochran-Siegle was able to get a solid and informative course report from his teammates about the terrain on this year’s downhill track. The jumps - including Harrier, Golden Eagle, and Talon - were all flying big this year. So much so, in fact, that the race organizer decided to shave them prior to what would have been the second training run on Thursday. Eventually, snow and fog came in, forcing the organizers to cancel the second and final training run, leaving the guys with just one look going into the weekend. “I know you’re all good with the terrain, and you’re bummed,” said Head Coach Randy Pelkey in the team meeting with a laugh.” It’s true that the American boys like to fly. 

“The terrain does kick in places, a lot...especially with the jumps too - big air, that I wasn’t expecting,” Ryan reflected, “so hearing the course report gave me some time to change my approach and I think that’s why it was fast today. It’s a little bit of fool’s gold, so just trying to focus on the skiing and not focus on anything else.”

Switching your mindset from training day to race day and amping up the intensity is what separates the men from the boys, and that'll be the trick this weekend. It takes a lot of mental fortitude in order to have the ability and confidence to hurl yourself down a mountain at nearly 100mph. When asked what downhill feels like, legend Bode Miller has said, "It's like sticking your head outside when you're driving down the highway." It's true. Imagine that, and now imagine it on a vertical ice rink wearing nothing but a tight suit. The intensity level will go up more than a few notches, and the Europeans will be ready to throw down. The Americans are happy with their start, but they'll be hunting for more than just fool's gold at Birds of Prey. 

“I’m definitely satisfied with my skiing in Lake Louise," said Ryan, who was 21st and 30th in super-G and downhill in Lake Louise, respectively. "You can’t complain when you score twice, but I think you always want more as a ski racer too, so I think taking it as it is and not trying to get overly confident or down on it either. I can trust it right now, and that’s all I need to be doing. The guy's intensities are incredibly high and there are guys that are going to be performing incredibly well on race day, so I think carrying good skiing and trusting that you’ll be able to build speed."

It's been a rough couple of years for the Americans, with injuries across speed and tech, and veteran Steven Nyman - who was ninth in Wednesdays first and only training run - is excited for the squad to dive in to the new season. He'll be bringing his secret weapon - dad strength (he's the father to a 2 1/2-year-old little girl named Nell) - into the weekend. 

“This is the healthiest the team has been in a while. We had a rough couple of years," Steven said after his training run. "I’ve done well here and had three podiums, but I’ve never won here - that’s obviously highly motivating to me. Just being here is motivating - that energy and desire to push for more, that heightened focus, it’s a place where I tend to switch things on. This year was the best I’ve ever done at Lake Louise in 10th, and I hope to switch it on here. It’s a fun hill, I see it, I understand it, it’s just a joy to ski - it’s one of the most well-rounded downhills on tour. It has the steeps, it has the flats, it has the terrain, long flights...especially off of Harrier. I wish they build up Red Tail and that thing’s big.”

On the men's tech side, Olympic champion Ted Ligety and Tommy Ford - who was a career-best fourth place at Soelden, Austria - will lead the charge. Teammate Ryan Cochran-Siegle will start in all three events this weekend at Beaver Creek. George Steffey, who is returning from injury and has been working tirelessly in the gym and on snow to come back, will be starting in his career-first World Cup on Sunday in giant slalom. 

The women will kick off their speed season up in Lake Louise, led by veteran Alice McKennis and 2019 super-G world champion and 2019 super-G titleholder Mikaela Shiffrin. Alice Mckennis and Jackie Wiles will both be returning to competition after gnarly leg injuries had them each sidelined for the entire 2018-19 season. In the first of two training runs on Wednesday, Alice tied for first to lead the charge, with Mikaela on her heels by just .17 seconds back. Lake Louise has been a special venue for Mikaela Shiffrin, who won her career-first downhill on the track in 2017, and followed that up with a career-first super-G win in 2018 - cementing herself in history as the first athlete ever - male or female - to win in all six currently contested FIS Alpine Ski World Cup disciplines. Keep an eye on these ladies as they hunt for the podium. 

Additionally, Alix Wilkinson and Isabella Wright will each start in their first World Cup - in the downhill. Keely Cashman and AJ Hurt each have World Cup tech starts under their belts, but they will be starting in their first World Cup speed events as well. 

See below for all of the details on who and how to watch. 

MEN’S STARTERS
Tommy Biesemeyer - SG, DH
Bryce Bennett - DH
Ryan Cochran-Siegle - SG, DH, GS
Sam Dupratt - SG
Tommy Ford - SG, GS
Travis Ganong - SG, DH
Jared Goldberg - DH
Ted Ligety - SG, GS
Brian McLaughlin - GS
Sam Morse - DH
Wiley Maple - DH
Kyle Negomir - SG, DH
Steven Nyman - SG, DH
River Radamus - SG, GS
George Steffey* - GS 

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Keely Cashman - DH
AJ Hurt - DH, SG
Alice McKennis - DH, SG
Alice Merryweather - DH, SG
Mikaela Shiffrin - DH, SG
Jackie Wiles - DH, SG
Alix Wilkinson* - DH
Isabella Wright* - DH

*Denotes first World Cup start

MEN’S DH TRAINING
Run 1

Men's DH Start List
 

WOMEN’S DH TRAINING
Run 1
Run 2

Women's DH Start List

WATCH 
Check out the Xfinity Birds of Prey Opening Press Conference, brought to you by Land Rover.

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Official event hashtags: #bcworldcup, #worldcuplakelouise

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Friday, Dec. 6
12:30 p.m. - Men’s super-G, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBCSN, NBCSN.comNBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
11:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

Saturday, Dec. 7
1:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel,  Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
11:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 8
11:40 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC
6:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

*Same-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.