The 2022 U.S. Freeski Junior World Championships team earned a total of eleven medals during the six-day competition in Leysin, Switzerland, with the freeski team earning nine medals and two in snowboard.

“We’re very excited to return to Junior World Championships after a two-year break due to Covid, says U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sport Development Director Ashley Deibold, “The U.S. has a lot of very talented development athletes coming up through our pipeline and it was great to see how they stacked up against the best development athletes from around the world. We are proud of all of our Junior Worlds team athletes and it’s a bonus to be bring home eleven medals from Leysin.”

The freeski team earned nine of the 18 medals with several athletes earning multiple medals. U.S. Freeski Rookie Team athlete Troy Podmilsak earned gold in big air and slopestyle. Kate Gray, a member of the Mammoth Mountain Ski & Snowboard Club, medaled in all three disciplines earning two silvers and a bronze. While Matt Labaugh with the Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, took home a pair of silver medals in halfpipe and slopestyle. 

Congratulations to all of the skiers and snowboarders for a great week of competition. The future is bright! 

FREESKI

Men’s Freeski Halfpipe
Silver: Matt Labaugh (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, Rocky Mountain Series)
Bronze: Ben Fethke 

Women’s Freeski Halfpipe
Silver: Kate Gray (Mammoth Mountain Freeski Team, Unbound Series)
Bronze: Piper Arnold (Sierra at Tahoe Competition Team, South Tahoe Series)

Men’s Freeski Big Air
Gold: Troy Podmilsak (U.S. Freeski Rookie Slopestyle Team, Park City Ski Team, Big Mountain West Series)

Women’s Freeski Big Air
Silver: Kate Gray (Mammoth Mountain Freeski Team, Unbound Series)

Men’s Freeski Slopestyle
Gold: Troy Podmilsak (U.S. Freeski Rookie Slopestyle Team, Park City Ski Team, Big Mountain West Series)
Silver: Matt Labaugh (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, Rocky Mountain Series)

Women’s Freeski Slopestyle
Bronze: Kate Gray (Mammoth Mountain Freeski Team, Unbound Series)

SNOWBOARD

Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle
Bronze: Fynn Bullock-Womble (U.S. Snowboard Rookie Team, Rocky Mountain Series)

Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe
Silver: Bea Kim (U.S. Snowboard Halfpipe Rookie Team, Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team, Unbound Series)

Complete Freeski Results
Complete Snowboard Results 

The Leysin 2022 Park & Pipe Junior World Championships kicked off Tuesday with U.S. freeski & snowboard athletes earning five halfpipe medals.

Snowboard Halfpipe Results 

Fifteen-year-old Bea Kim, a first year U.S. Snowboard Team rookie from Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team earned silver in women’s halfpipe. This follows a stellar season where she earned four NorAm halfpipe podiums. Rounding out the U.S. riders, Lola Cowan finished in 14th, with Olivia Lisle in 17th, Skylar Koeppe in 19th and Kaylie Neal in 20th. 

In men’s snowboard halfpipe, Levko Fedorowycz earned eighth place, followed by Kade Martin in ninth, Connor Cavanagh in 11th and Noah Avallone in 12th. 

U.S. Snowboard halfpipe coach Danny Kass and Ben Wisner provided guidance to these athletes.  

Women's Halfpipe Results
Men's Halfpipe Results

Freeski Halfpipe Results

In men’s freeski halfpipe, two skiers earned podium spots, with Matt Labaugh taking silver and Ben Fethke in the bronze position. Eugene Morris earned sixth place among the field of 21 men.

The women’s division also saw U.S. freeskiers dominate with Kathryn Gray taking silver and Piper Arnold earning bronze.

U.S. Freeski halfpipe coach Ryan Carey was at the top of the pipe providing direction. 

Men's Halfpipe Results
Women's Halfpipe Results

Up Next: Slopestyle & Big Air 

The action is just getting underway as the world’s best up-and-coming freeskiers and snowboarders continue to battle it out for medals in big air and slopestyle.

Freeski Slopestyle & Big Air

Freeski big air qualifications kick off on Wednesday, March 9th, followed by finals on Thursday. Slopestyle qualifications are on Saturday, March 12, finishing the weekend with finals on Sunday.

The U.S. women’s roster includes U.S. Freeski Rookie rider Bella Bacon, plus Alex Thisted, Kathryn Gray, and Elaina Krusiewski. On the men’s side, it’s U.S. Freeski Rookie skier Troy Podmilsak, Matt Labaugh and Colby Johnson. 

Snowboard Slopestyle & Big Air

Snowboard slopestyle qualifications kick off on Wednesday, March 9th, followed by slopestyle finals on Thursday. Then it’s on to big air qualifications on Saturday and big air finals on Sunday. 

The U.S. women’s snowboard field is stacked with Kaitlyn Adams, Alyssa Moroco, Veda Hallen, Rebecca Flynn and Ella Sorensen for the girls. The deep men’s field includes U.S. Snowboard Rookie rider Fynn Bullock-Womble, Lucas Ferry, Evan Wrobel, Jaxson Moon, Hayden Tyler and Brooklyn DePriest. 

U.S. Snowboard slopestyle coach Eric Beauchemin and Nichole Mason will be on hand to help guide these riders. 

In the men's snowboard big air final on Tuesday, Feb. 15, Red Gerard earned the top finish for the U.S. men in fifth, followed by Chris Corning in seventh. The competition was heavy. and the boys managed to hold on to two top 10 finishes despite it all. China's Yiming Su took home gold, followed by Norway's Mons Roisland with silver, and Canada's Max Parrot with bronze.

Gerard, who prefers slopestyle, came into the comp knowing to fight for a podium, he'd have to throw 18s and 19s, something he wasn't feeling great about on Monday. Instead, he chose to throw something he knows, and see how they scored. He opened big air with a backside triple cork 1620, and nailed a switch backside triple cork on his third run to move him into bronze-medal position for a brief moment.

At the end of the day he'll happily take fifth, he said.

"Like I said before I really really wanted to get on the podium at slopestyle," Gerard said after the conclusion of the big air comp. "It took a few days to recover from that, and I'm probably still not fully recovered from it. But all and all I made two finals at the Olympics and came here and did what I wanted. I was consistent, I landed runs, and I had a great time with Team USA, those guys are my best friends. whether it was us hanging out in the village playing cards, or us snowboarding together, that's something that you get at the Olympics that you don't get anywhere else."

Corning, who threw a huge backside quad cork 1800 on the first jump, ended the day a bit farther down the rankings than he had hoped. His first trick earned him a score of 92, but he couldn't top it in his second and third go.

"I had a really rough practice, I wasn't able to focus and do what I wanted to do in practice. And the last time I tried to do (a back quad 18) I was 0 for 3. So to be able to put another one down at this awesome jump, I was super stoked." 

Hailey Langland finished 12th in the women's snowboard big air final. Her first two runs, she threw a cab 1080 Indy but wasn't able to land either trick.

“Ordinarily I wouldn’t have tried the cab 10, because I’m really scared of that trick, but it’s almost like it wasn’t just for me, it was for everyone on my team,” Langland said. “I’m really, really proud that I got to try it a couple times, and I really am looking forward to the next contest to try and put one down.”

Austria's Anna Gasser took gold, followed by New Zealand's Zoi Synott Sadowski with silver, and Japan's Kokomo Murase with bronze.

RESULTS
Men's big air final
Women's big air final
 

Red Gerard, Chris Corning, and Hailey Langland have officially moved on to Tuesday, Feb. 15, Big Air finals in Beijing, China. 

Langland was the only athlete to move on from the U.S. team on the women’s side, squeaking into the final in 12th with a total of 127.50 points, only 0.25 points ahead of Switzerland’s Bianca Gisler. Jamie Anderson just missed the cut, finishing 15th with 119.75 points. Courtney Rummel also did not qualify, finishing in 17th. Slopestyle silver medalist, Julia Marino, did not start her first run after taking a hard fall in practice earlier this week. 

“This was a really heavy qualifier, and I thought after Annika (Morgan) landed her cab 9, I was for sure bumped out,” said Langland. “But I’m really stoked to have held on. At the very end (of the competition), I saw the scoreboard, and I was still in 12th, which was pretty shocking, but also so relieving at the same time because that means I get a second chance.”

Red Gerard qualified in third behind Canada’s Max Parrot and Japan’s Takeru Otsuka to advance. The 21-year-old scored a 75.50 on Run 1 with a switch backside triple cork 1620, followed by an 80.00 on Run 2 with a backside 1620. Gerard improved on his first trick on Run 3 for a 78.75 to total 158.75 overall after his third and final run.

Gerard is happy with the way he rode and glad to have stomped three runs but still feels a bit apprehensive about the judging following the inconsistent scores that appeared in slopestyle and halfpipe and again in big air.

“The past three contests for snowboarding with halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air, I just have never seen judging like it,” commented Gerard. “There were some tricks where people would get a 75, then someone would do the exact same trick and get an 81. Having a six-point difference is pretty incredible. Today wasn’t as bad as the slopestyle, I’d say, but it definitely has been a bit of a bummer. You work for years to get to this point and then to come here and have the judging not be correct, it’s not on you, it’s not on any of the riders.” 

“We’re on the world’s biggest stage right now, and for them to just take an extra 30 seconds, 40 seconds to rewatch each run if there is something that flags them, is well worth it, he added. “All I’m saying is no one is ever complaining waiting for their scores. It’s always nerve-racking, but I’ll take that over a misjudged run.” 

Gerard’s teammate, Chris Corning, also made his way into the final, bumping himself up to 10th after throwing a backside triple 1620 on his third and final run. Both Sean FitzSimons and Dusty Henricksen did not qualify for the final, finishing 17th and 21st, respectively.

Big air marks the final event for snowboarding in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
 

RESULTS
Women’s Big Air qualifiers
Men’s Big Air qualifiers

START LISTS
Women’s Big Air final
Men’s Big Air final

Lindsey Jacobellis, 36, and Nick Baumgartner, 40, came out on top at the inaugural Mixed Snowboard Cross Team event, earning a gold medal for the United States.

Jacobellis battled with Italy's Michaela Moioli for the entire length of the course before taking over the lead at the final right-banked turn in Saturday's big final. Jacobellis was able to hang on to her lead through the final jump by a margin, barely finishing ahead of Moili and claiming victory for the United States.

 

 

 

 

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The gold is Baumgartner's first Olympic medal, making him the oldest snowboarder to ever win an Olympic medal. 

"I think for any athlete, getting pushed out by a younger generation really sucks," he said after the race. "So for us to go out there and put our stamp of approval on it and say "we're not done yet, we just got to work a little bit harder and we're willing to put that work in." So it's a good feeling."  

For Jacobellis, the victory is her second of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games after she won gold in the individual snowboard cross event earlier this week. In her first four Olympics, gold evaded her. Now, in her fifth, she's finally claimed the top spot, not once, but twice.

"It's a pretty incredible thing to be able to come and get a gold medal with a long-time teammate," said Jacobellis. "We've been through a lot together and we've seen each other through our ups and downs and our struggles so to be able to come together to work as a team and learn from each other on how the courses were changing with speed. I thought that we did great today with our execution and we had a lot of fun."

 

 

 

 

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Jake Vedder and Faye Guilini made it to the quarterfinal round but did not qualify for the small or big final. 

RESULTS
Mixed Snowboard Cross Team

HOW TO WATCH
*All Times EST

Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022
8:00 p.m. Snowboarding - Women's Big Air Qualifying, Secret Garden, CHN, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock

Monday, Feb. 14, 2022
12:30 a.m. Snowboarding - Men's Big Air Qualifying, Secret Garden, CHN, NBC Broadcast
1:30 a.m. Snowboarding - Women's Big Air Qualifying, Secret Garden, CHN, NBC Broadcast
1:30 a.m. Snowboarding - Men's Big Air Qualifying, Secret Garden, CHN, USA Network
4:30 a.m. Primetime Plus - Women's Slopestyle Final, Women's Big Air Qualifying (re-air), NBC Broadcast
4:00 p.m. Snowboarding - Men's Big Air Qualifying, Secret Garden, CHN, NBC Broadcast
8:30 p.m. Snowboarding - Women's Big Air Final, Secret Garden, CHN, NBC Broadcast
10:00 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
10:00 p.m. Snowboarding - Men's Big Air Qualifying, Secret Garden, CHN, USA Network

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022
12:00 a.m. Snowboarding - Men’s Big Air Final, Secret Garden, CHN, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
12:05 a.m. Primetime - Men’s Snowboarding Big Air Final & Freeski Slopestyle Final, NBC Broadcast
2:35 a.m. West Coast Encore - Women’s Aerials Final (freestyle), Women’s Big Air Final (snowboarding), Women’s Downhill (alpine)

After his fifth Olympic appearance, Shaun White has decided to call it quits. The 35-year-old has led a storied career and will go down in snowboarding history as a pioneer of the sport. White is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a five-time Olympian. He's a 20-time X Games medalist and the only athlete to ever score a perfect 100 in the superpipe. He also has five Summer X Games medals in skateboarding, becoming the first athlete to compete and medal in both the Summer and Winter X Games. He's spent the entirety of his career pushing the boundaries of the sport. Now it's time for him to pass the torch. 

“Everyone was asking me what my legacy in this sport has been and I’m like, you’re watching it," exclaimed White. "These younger riders, I mean they’ve been on my heels every step of the way and to see them finally surpass me is, I think deep down what I always wanted you know. To be beaten, to finally walk away without feeling like I could have done this or.”

White finished fourth in his final Olympic run, a symbolic moment of legend morphing into legacy. Of course, he wanted one last medal and he wanted it to be gold. He wanted that "Kelly Slater pull into the barrel moment", in his own words.

"The best of us - Tom Brady, Mikaela (Shiffrin) - know it's hard to step into the spotlight and own it time and time again," he said. "To be at the top of the sport for so long, that's a true highlight of my career and that's the thing I'm going to hang my hat on."

White has been at the top for so long, but he knows it's time for the next adventure. He wants to have a family of his own, build his brand Whitespace, and support up-and-coming snowboarders in pursuing their own Olympic dreams. 

"Shaun White has made an indelible mark on snowboarding, helping to put the sport on the map globally and advancing its popularity," said U.S. Ski & Snowboard CEO, Sophie Goldschmidt. "Winning three gold medals across five Olympics, Shaun is the ultimate competitor and set the standard for which snowboard athletes are measured. As he finishes his Olympic career, we celebrate Shaun as the most influential athlete in competitive snowboard history and an American sports icon. His legacy as a titan of snowboarding will forever inspire athletes and fans of the sport. We are proud of all his accomplishments and wish him the best of luck as he enters the next stage of his career."

His teammates, Taylor Gold and Chase Josey finished fifth and seventh. Gold medalist Ayumu Hirano topped out at 96 points, followed by Scotty James with silver.  The next-gen of snowboarders are ready to step into the spotlight.

RESULTS
Men's halfpipe final

Thursday, Feb. 10, Chloe Kim repeated Olympic gold in women’s snowboard halfpipe ahead of Spain’s Queralt Castellet and Japan’s Sena Tomita.

Kim quickly reminded the rest of the women's field why she's the one to beat, throwing down a high-scoring 94 right out of the gate in the first run. All 12 women in the finals gave their best, showing their progression and throwing down 1080s that haven’t been seen in previous women’s Olympic halfpipe finals, but still, no one could touch Kim’s initial statement. So in her final two runs, Kim decided to up her degree of difficulty, and go for a cab 1260. She’s landed them in practice before but had yet to attempt the trick in competition or in a 22-foot pipe. She took a couple of spills in her final two runs, but it didn’t take away from the glory of the moment.

“My butt hurts,” Kim laughed after the awards ceremony. “But it was worth it to try, 1000%, that’s what keeps me going. I’m really excited I did it. Wish I landed it but, next time.”

Before the final, Kim had struggled in practice. She only landed her run twice, which rattled her a bit, since she’s used to consistently putting it down, at least eight times before a competition she said. It was “the worst practice ever”, she said, but Kim put faith in her experience. The 21-year-old has been competing professionally since she was 13, and knew what it would take to go out and send it on the big stage. When Kim stomped her first run, she was overcome with emotion. There were still two runs left but she felt like she had already won. 

“That kind of put me in a weird headspace because it felt so inconsistent,” Kim said.  “So I was just overflowed with emotion when I was able to land it on the first go and it opened up a whole opportunity for me to try something new.”

Kim has gone out of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics with a bang, and will head back to the United States as a freshly minted two-time Olympic gold medalist. 

RESULTS
Women's halfpipe