All eyes on the biggest stage of the FIS Ski World Cup circuit this weekend in Kitzbuehel, Austria and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. It’s difficult to explain just how special both Kitzbuehel and Cortina are on the World Cup circuit. The adrenaline rush of the Hahnenkamm and the extreme beauty and perfect snow on the Olympia delle Tofane slope are unmatched. In the final weekend of Olympic qualifying events, the athletes will be putting it all on the line to prior next week’s U.S. Ski & Snowboard's team announcements.

Veterans Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) return to competition to lead the American Downhillers down the Streif in the ski racing Mecca known as Kitzbuehel, Austria. Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah), who has also been showing great consistency, will compete in the super-G and downhill events on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Nyman was second in the first downhill training run Tuesday and Goldberg posted the fourth-fastest time on Thursday.

The weekend will culminate with slalom Sunday, where David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) and Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) will headline the roster for the Americans. Kasper led the way in his first World Cup slalom race in nearly three years, earning a top 20 result in Wengen, Switzerland last weekend.

Over in Cortina, the current overall, slalom and giant slalom leader Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) returns to the World Cup circuit this weekend for a chance to extend her already sizable 800-plus-point lead. Shiffrin joins teammates Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.), Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.), Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and more for a pair of downhills and a super-G Jan. 19-21.

Vonn, who is searching for that 79th career victory, grabbed her first podium in Cortina and has won a staggering 11 times in Cortina, and Shiffrin was just .03 seconds off the super-G podium under the sunshine in beautiful Cortina in 2017. Vonn’s first podium was in Cortina in January of 2004 – a third place in the downhill. Cortina was also the location for Mancuso’s first and second podiums – a second in the super-G followed by a second in the downhill in January of 2006.

The first downhill is scheduled for Jan. 19 and is a make-up race from the canceled event in Val d’Isere, France. Vonn won Wednesday’s and Thursday’s downhill training runs by almost a second, with Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.) third both days, Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) fourth on Wednesday and Shiffrin fifth on Thursday.

Steve Schlanger and U.S. Ski Team alumnus Steve Porino will call the action in the coming week. See who to watch and where to catch all the action below.

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Cortina, ITA

Super-G and Downhill

• Stacey Cook
• Breezy Johnson
• Julia Mancuso
• Alice McKennis
• Alice Merryweather
• Laurenne Ross
• Mikaela Shiffrin
• Lindsey Vonn
• Jackie Wiles

MEN’S STARTERS
Kitzbuehel, AUT/Schladming, AUT

Super-G and Downhill

• Bryce Bennett
• Tommy Biesemeyer
• Jared Goldberg
• Wiley Maple
• Steven Nyman
• Andrew Weibrecht

Slalom

• David Chodounsky
• Mark Engel
• AJ Ginnis
• Nolan Kasper
• Robby Kelley
• Hig Roberts

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Friday, Jan. 19
4:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina – Olympic Channel TV
5:30 a.m. - Men’s super-G; Kitzbuehel – Olympic Channel TV
4:00 p.m. - Men’s super-G; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Saturday, Jan. 20
4:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina – Olympic Channel TV
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – Olympic Channel TV
3:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – NBC (same day broadcast)
11:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
12:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Sunday, Jan. 21
5:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina – Olympic Channel TV
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – Olympic Channel TV
9:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
10:00 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Tuesday, Jan. 23
6:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom; Kronplatz – Olympic Channel TV
2:30 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – Olympic Channel TV
12:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

RESULTS
Men’s Training Run 1
Men’s Training Run 2
Women's Training Run 1
Women’s Training Run 2

START LISTS
Women’s Downhill
Men’s Super-G

Olympic Qualification Update

Some U.S. athletes have already qualified for the Olympic team based on their performances so far this season. They include:
Bryce Bennett (top 10 alpine combined) ^
Ryan Cochran-Siegle (World Cup ranking alpine combined) ^
Stacey Cook (top 10 downhill) *
Tommy Ford (World Cup ranking GS) ^
Breezy Johnson (top 10 downhill) *
Ted Ligety (top 5 giant slalom) ^
Megan McJames (World Cup ranking GS) ^
Laurenne Ross (top 10 super G) *
Mikaela Shiffrin (top 3 downhill, top 5 super G, top 3 giant slalom, top 3 slalom) ^
Resi Stiegler (World Cup ranking SL) ^
Lindsey Vonn (top 3 super G) *
Jackie Wiles (top 5 downhill) *
^ Qualified for U.S. Olympic Team
* Achieved objective qualification criteria

After a storied 18-year career, Olympic champion Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.) will hang up her tiara and take a victory lap on Friday, January 19th in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – which happens to be the first track she podiumed on in January of 2006. Mancuso will move on to the next chapter of her career in PyeongChang, South Korea – this time not on the mountain, but with the NBC Olympics team in PyeongChang.

As a junior ski racer, Mancuso came blazing on to the scene – grabbing an American record eight Junior World Championship medals. A four-event athlete from the beginning, Mancuso started World Cup racing and was a NorAm champion at 16, competed in the Olympics at 17, set a U.S. record for Junior World Championships medals before she was out of her teens, and then started her twenties by capturing two World Championships medals.

Mancuso’s first FIS Ski World Cup was in 1999, and her first World Cup podium was a super-G silver in Cortina. Known for her renegade style and her ability to perform on the big stage, Mancuso donned a tiara on the podium in 2006 and 2010 when she won Olympic gold and silver.

Julia Mancuso Career Highlights

• Most decorated big event American female athlete (nine medals: four Olympics, five World Championships)
• Most Olympic medals for an American female ski or snowboard athlete (four)
• Medals in three consecutive Olympic Games
  • Gold, giant slalom, Torino, ITA, 2006
  • Silver, downhill, Vancouver, CAN, 2010
  • Silver, super combined, Vancouver, CAN, 2010
  • Bronze, super combined, Sochi, RUS, 2014
• Four Olympic Teams
• Seven World Cup victories across four disciplines (city event, downhill, super-G, alpine combined)
• 36 World Cup podiums
• 399 World Cup starts
• First World Cup start November 20, 1999 – Copper Mountain, Colo.

Nicknamed “Super Jules” and often sporting superhero attire, Mancuso led a fun-focused, unconventional career, splitting her time between surfing in Maui and traveling the world chasing snow in the winter. In between, she captured more major event medals than any other American woman with nine – four Olympic and five World Championship medals.

For Mancuso, it wasn’t just about fun on piste, though. In 2010, Mancuso proved to the snowsports world that she was one of the most well-rounded and gifted skiers, grabbing a third in the Extreme Verbier Freeride event. Growing up in Squaw Valley, California, Mancuso was always inspired by the mountain and had a love for freeskiing too.

Mancuso’s passion for the remoteness of backcountry slopes and deep powder were a big reason she participated in friend and Austrian freeskier Sandra Lahnsteiner’s production Shades of Winter: BETWEEN. During the filming of the all-women ski film, she was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of skiing in Hawaii on Mauna Kea.

Since she was 18 years old, though, Mancuso battled issues with her hip. Hip surgery after the 2014-15 season had Mancuso sidelined from World Cup competition for two full seasons, but with an extreme fighter mentality, she made her return to competition in St. Moritz, Switzerland in December of 2017.

“It has been an epic battle with my hip injury, and the past three years I have put everything into returning to competition at the highest level and the goal to reach my fifth Olympic Games,” reflected Mancuso. “There have been really promising days during this challenging process, and I have kept my spirits up despite many who questioned or doubted me. Sadly, I haven’t found the progression to compete with the best in the world again, but I’m proud to have fought until the very end. It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to ski racing, but I do so with a full heart.”

Mancuso looks forward to the next chapter of her career, where she will join the NBC Olympics team in PyeongChang. Mancuso will contribute features on a variety of platforms including The Olympic Zone – a nightly 30-minute show that airs on NBC affiliates – and will also serve as a reporter, covering venues and locations throughout the Games. Mancuso worked for NBC in a similar capacity at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

QUOTES
Julia Mancuso
It has been an epic battle with my hip injury, and the past three years I have put everything into returning to competition at the highest level and the goal to reach my fifth Olympic Games. There have been really promising days during this challenging process, and I have kept my spirits up despite many who questioned or doubted me. Sadly, I haven’t found the progression to compete with the best in the world again, but I’m proud to have fought until the very end. It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to ski racing, but I do so with a full heart.

I am so grateful for all the incredible opportunities I’ve been provided and the amazing friendships I’ve made along the way. I’d like to thank the U.S. Ski Team, GoPro, KT Tape, POC, Spyder, Squaw Valley, Stoeckli, and Swix for their unwavering support during the past few seasons. I’d also like to thank my family, sponsors, and my team for believing in me, my doctors and fans, and especially my husband who has supported me through these difficult times. I am happy that I get to ski my last race here in Cortina – one of my favorite stops on the tour. I had my first podium here, and now I get to say farewell. I’m excited to see where skiing and life’s adventure will take me next!
 

It’s the final weekend of Olympic qualifying events and athletes will be putting it all on the line to prior next week’s U.S. Ski & Snowboard's team announcements.

FIS Ski Women’s World Cup - Cortina, ITA
Current overall, slalom and giant slalom leader Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) returns to the World Cup circuit this weekend for a chance to extend her already sizable 800-plus-point lead. Shiffrin joins teammates Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.), Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.), Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and more for a pair of downhills and a super-G Jan. 19-21. Vonn has won a staggering 11 times in Cortina, and Shiffrin was just .03 seconds off of the super-G podium under the sunshine in beautiful Cortina in 2017. The first downhill is scheduled for Jan. 19 and is a make-up race from the canceled event in Val d’Isere, France. Vonn won Wednesday’s downhill training run, with Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.) third and Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) fourth. Shiffrin was 13th.

FIS Ski Men’s World Cup - Kitzbuehel, AUT
Veterans Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) return to competition to lead the American Downhillers down the Streif in the ski racing Mecca known as Kitzbuehel, Austria. Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah), who have also been showing great consistency, will also compete in the super-G and downhill events on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The weekend will culminate with slalom Sunday, where David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) and Nolan Kasper (Warren, VT) will headline the roster for the Americans. Nyman was second in the first downhill training run Tuesday. Wednesday’s training run was canceled due to snow.

Toyota U.S. Grand Prix - Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
The Toyota U.S. Grand Prix moves to Mammoth Mountain, Calif., for the final Grand Prix event of the season with the remaining Olympic Team selections on the line in freeski and snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle. Who’s in the hunt? Check out the Mammoth Mountain preview to find out.

FIS Freeski World Cup - Nakiska, CAN
A pair of World Cup skicross events are on tap for Jan. 19-20 with four athletes representing the U.S., including Tania Prymak (Goshen, N.Y.) Tyler Wallasch (Acton, Calif.), Brant Crossan (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Mazie Hayden (Pittsfield, Vt.).

Putnam Investments Freestyle Cup - Lake Placid, New York
The U.S. Ski Team aerialists compete in their final two Olympic qualification contests this week at the Olympic Jumping Complex Jan. 19-20. Kiley McKinnon (Madison, Conn.) is the only U.S. athlete who has clinched her Olympic spot, so all eyes will be on Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn. Va.), Mac Bohonnon (Madison, Conn.), Jon Lillis (Rochester, N.Y.) and others as they look to land those coveted podium spots.

FIS Freestyle World Cup - Mont Tremblant, CAN
The FIS Freestyle moguls World Cup visits Mont Tremblant, Quebec this weekend for its final pre-Olympic event. The U.S. team will be laying it all on the line as athletes including Troy Murphy (Bethel, Maine), Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.), Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.) and Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.) look to get themselves in the best position to be named to the Olympic team next week. Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) and Morgan Schild (Rochester, N.Y.) clinched their Olympic spots last week with two podium results each at Deer Valley Resort, Utah.

FIS Cross Country World Cup - Planica, SLO
It’s a full-on classic weekend in Planica, Slovenia as the entire U.S. Ski Team comes back together. A host of athletes, including Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) and Sadie Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska), took last weekend off but will be back in the lineup for final Olympic preparation. World Cup selection for the Olympics has concluded with the full team announcement to come next week. A classic sprint is set for Saturday, followed by a 15k for men and 10k for women on Sunday. Each event will live streamed on OlympicChannel.com. Diggins is ranked third in the FIS World Cup overall rankings with Bjornsen seventh.

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup - Oberstdorf, GER and Zao, JPN
The men’s ski jumping team heads to Oberstdorf, Germany for the World Ski Flying Championships where Kevin Bickner will look to challenge the U.S. record of 244.5 meters he set last season. Olympic selection via the World Cup has concluded. The women’s World Cup heads to Zao, Japan for two events. Olympic selection is tight with only Sarah Hendrickson, the Olympic Trials winner, having secured a spot. Abby Ringquist’s 23rd-place finish boosted her to become the U.S. leader in World Cup rankings. Both the men’s and women’s Olympic Teams will be announced next week.

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup - Chaux-Neuve, FRA
The Olympic selection process for nordic combined will come right down to the wire. There is just one individual World Cup event remaining, this Saturday in Chaux-Neuve, France. Olympic Trials champion Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat, Colo.), the only athlete to secure a spot so far, has headed home to prepare for the Olympics in Utah. Brother Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) is skipping the World Cup to challenge for an Olympic spot through the Continental Cup with a pair of events in Rena, Norway. The final Olympic Team lineup will be announced next week. The World Cup team this weekend will include Ben Loomis, Jasper Good, Ben Berend and Stephen Schumann. The Continental Cup lineup will include Taylor Fletcher, Grant Andrews, Adam Loomis and Jared Schumate.

FIS Snowboardcross World Cup - Erzurum, TUR
With just one individual World Cup remaining, competition for spots on the men’s Olympic Team will be intense as the first races of the New Year will take place in Erzurum, which therefore becomes the first ever Turkish ski resort to host a SBX World Cup. Only one U.S. man, Jonathan Cheever, has achieved a podium in an Olympic selection event. A half dozen American men will be vying for one of the team spots in Saturday’s World Cup in Turkey. The women’s top spots have already been claimed by Lindsey Jacobellis and Faye Gulini. The snowboardcross squad will be announced with the full snowboard team next week.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*subject to change

ALPINE
Jan. 19
4:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina – Olympic Channel TV
5:30 a.m. - Men’s super-G; Kitzbuehel – Olympic Channel TV
4:00 p.m. - Men’s super-G; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Jan. 20
4:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina  – Olympic Channel TV
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel  – Olympic Channel TV
3:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel  – NBC (same day broadcast)
11:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina  – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
12:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Jan. 21
5:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina  – Olympic Channel TV
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – Olympic Channel TV  
9:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
10:00 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Jan. 23
6:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom; Kronplatz – Olympic Channel TV
2:30 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – Olympic Channel TV
12:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

FREESTYLE
Jan. 17
4:00 p.m. Men and women’s slopestyle; Snowmass - NBCSN (re-broadcast)

Jan. 20
3:30 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls; Mont Tremblant - Olympic Channel TV

Jan. 21
8:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials; Lake Placid -  Olympic Channel TV (Next day delay)

FREESKI & SNOWBOARD
Toyota U.S. Grand Prix
Jan. 19
12:15 p.m – Halfpipe skiing finals; Mammoth – nbcsports.com
5:00 p.m. – Halfpipe skiing finals; Mammoth – NBCSN (same day coverage)

Jan. 20
1:00 a.m. – Halfpipe skiing finals; Mammoth – NBCSN (next day coverage)
4:00 p.m. – Slopestyle skiing + snowboarding finals; Mammoth – NBC (same day coverage)

Jan. 21
5:00 p.m. – Halfpipe snowboarding finals, Mammoth – NBC (next day coverage)

CROSS COUNTRY
Jan. 20
5:30 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint; Planica - Olympic Channel TV

Jan. 21
3:30 a.m. - Women’s 10k; Planica - Olympic Channel TV

SKI JUMPING
Jan. 21
9:30 a.m. - Women's Individual; Zao - Olympic Channel TV

Nolan Kasper’s long road of recovery is finally over, and just in time to give the men’s U.S. Ski Team tech squad, and his own Olympic aspirations, a much-needed boost.

Kasper (Warren, Vt.), competing in his first FIS Ski World Cup race in two years following a host of knee and hip surgeries, came from the 52nd start position on a rutted, icy slalom track to finish 20th in Wengen, Switzerland Sunday.

“I'm psyched to be back and having a second run again,” Kasper said. “This is a good as I could have hoped for. I knew I was skiing well, but we’re at the World Cup and these are the best guys.”

Skiing balanced and solid, Kasper took control in the first run, mastering the steep sections that took out numerous competitors before him, including teammates David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) and AJ Ginnis (Vouliagmeni, Greece), and skied into the top 30, just ahead of Mark Engel (Truckee, Calif.) in 28th position.

“They injected the course yesterday and it held up pretty well, but you definitely get some grooves and bumps,” Kasper said. “They didn’t (groom) it after the combined (Friday), so there are some ruts in there from that slalom. But you just have to fight through it.”

Starting third in the second run, Kasper kept fighting and skied to his best World Cup result in three years. Austria’s Marcel Hirscher extended is overall World Cup lead with yet another slalom victory – his fifth of the season – as Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen finished second and Sweden’s Andre Myhrer was third.

In addition to surgeries and recovery over the past two years, Kasper returned to Dartmouth College to complete his degree in economics. He also interned for U.S. Ski & Snowboard, assisting with the Athlete Career & Education department and redesigning the new U.S. Ski & Snowboard website.

Up next, the men’s World Cup circuit returns to Kitzbuehel, Austria Jan. 19-21 with super-G, downhill and slalom races where Kasper will once again have the opportunity to state his case for becoming a member of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team.

“Its always in the back of my mind,” Kasper said of the prospects of making his third Olympic team. “But it’s not for me to decide. I’m just going to go out and try and ski and have fun. My goals this year don’t change, I’m trying to go and prove to myself that I can be competitive and try and ski well. I just want to go out and have some fun and enjoy this year.”

RESULTS
Men’s slalom
 

Laurenne Ross (Bend. Ore.) competed in her first FIS Ski World Cup downhill after recovering from a severe knee injury suffered at the U.S. Alpine Championships last season and led the U.S. Ski Team, finishing 11th, in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria Sunday. Italy swept the podium with Sofia Goggia, Federica Brignone and Nadia Franchini going 1-2-3.

Weather issues hampered downhill training all week and continued into Sunday as light mist and fog forced FIS officials to move the downhill start down to the super-G start. The ladies also completed and abbreviated downhill training run prior to Sunday morning race. The race start was then delayed as course crews worked to smooth out the rough, icy track.

However, none of that seemed to faze Ross during her run as she charged down the course. But the sigh of relief after crossing the finish line told another story.

“Today was an extremely tough race,” Ross said. “These are the most difficult conditions I’ve skied in since I’ve been injured and to have to race in them was a really big challenge for me.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to race or not, but when I decided to go for it … I tried to charge and tried to be solid on the front of my skis,” she added. “It didn’t feel good, but I suppose nobody’s run felt that great. It’s a difficult hill and the conditions are kind of ridiculous.”

Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) provided another bright spot for the Americans as she posted her second top-20 result of the season in 16th. Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) was 18th; Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) 20th; and Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) 22nd.

“I knew it was going to be a struggle this morning from the training run,” Vonn said. “Really poor visibility, pretty icy and bumpy conditions. I really had no grip on the ice and I felt like I was skiing on marbles.”

Up next, the women’s FIS World Cup circuit continues with super-G and downhill Jan. 20-21 in Cortina, Italy, where overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) is expected to compete.

RESULTS
Women’s Downhill

For the second-straight day, Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) led the way for the U.S. Ski Team, finishing 17th on the famed Lauberhorn downhill course at Wengen, Switzerland Saturday.

For any fans that arrived, or tuned in late, they missed the show as Switzerland’s Beat Fuez came out of the No. 1 start position and took home the victory. Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal was second, followed by Austria’s Matthias Mayer in third.

Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah), competing in only his second downhill since returning from a knee injury, had some blazing top fast splits and made a miraculous recovery off the final jump and finished 28th. Kipling Weisel (San Francisco, Calif.) made his World Cup downhill debut and finished 52nd. Jared Goldberg crashed midway down the course, but is OK.

Bennett secured his Olympic Team selection Friday after finishing ninth in the alpine combined. However, he still has a shot to make the downhill team for the Games with a solid result next weekend in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

“The pressure is still on to throw some results down in downhill,” Bennett said. “I want to compete in downhill (at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games). I think I’m skiing well, and I could have a good chance there if I keep skiing the way I am.”

Up next, the men compete in slalom Sunday in Wengen, where Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) will return after being sidelined from competition for two entire seasons. His last World Cup start was Schladming, Austria on January 27, 2015. Kasper has one career podium from 2011 and has worked extremely hard to come back from injuries.

RESULTS
Men’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 13
10:00 p.m. – Women’s Super-G; Bad Kleinkirchheim – NBCSN (same day coverage)
11:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Wengen – NBCSN (same day coverage)

Sunday, Jan. 14
4:15 a.m. – Men’s slalom, run 1; Wengen –olympicchannel.com
5:00 a.m. – Women’s downhill; Bad Kleinkirchheim – Olympic Channel TV
6:30 a.m. – Men’s slalom, run 2; Wengen – Olympic Channel TV
 

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) returned to the FIS Ski World Cup circuit following a three-week break and cracked the top 10 on a rough super-G track in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria.

Italy’s Federica Brignone took the victory Saturday, as Lara Gut of Switzerland was second, followed by Austria’s Cornelia Huetter in third.

“This course, you really have to be pushing the line, and ski more like Lara Gut skied,” Vonn said. “Going straighter, maybe feathering a little bit more. I think did well on the top with that - I went a pretty direct line. But on the bottom, I think I was round and feathering, so probably not the fastest way.”

Vonn, who has been nursing a sore knee suffered in a crash at Lake Louise last month, started second on Saturday and was pleased with the course conditions after a week of challenging weather in which officials switched the race program, running super-G on Saturday and downhill on Sunday.

“As soon as I saw the course this morning in inspection, I knew I was going to run,” Vonn said. “In the downhill training runs, the snow was sugary, there was no surface, and for me, that’s a dangerous situation because then I don’t have any stability on my knee. If it’s bumpy, it’s not a problem, so long as the surface is holding and solid, it’s fine.”

Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) was 26th; Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) 29th; Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) 31st; Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.) 33rd; and Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) 34th.

Up next, the ladies plan to ski the downhill training run prior to the downhill race in Bad Kleinkirchheim Sunday.

RESULTS
Women’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 13
10:00 p.m. – Women’s Super-G; Bad Kleinkirchheim – NBCSN (same day coverage)
11:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Wengen – NBCSN (same day coverage)

Sunday, Jan. 14
4:15 a.m. – Men’s slalom, run 1; Wengen –olympicchannel.com
5:00 a.m. – Women’s downhill; Bad Kleinkirchheim – Olympic Channel TV
6:30 a.m. – Men’s slalom, run 2; Wengen – Olympic Channel TV

With each event, more athletes are clinching spots on the Olympic Team. Full teams will be announced the week of January 22.

In moguls events Wednesday and Thursday, Jaelin Kauf and Morgan Schild earned spots. 

At the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix Friday, U.S. Freeski Team member David Wise punch his ticket to South Korea for the 2018 Olympics, while U.S. Snowboard Team rider Red Gerard was officially nominated to the U.S. Olympic Team for snowboard slopestyle and big air. 

Friday in Wengen, Bryce Bennett and Ryan Cochran-Siegle clinched spots by their finishes in the final alpine combined. Earlier in the week, Resi Stiegler earned her third Olympic Team berth after the final slalom of the qualifying period.