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Randall Elected IOC Athletes Representative

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 22 2018
Kikkan Randall
Gold medalists Kikkan Randall and Jessica Diggins during the medal ceremony for the cross country team sprint. Randall was elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission at the 2018 Games. (Getty Images - Clive Rose)

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – Five-time U.S. Olympian Kikkan Randall – who made Olympic history by winning the first-ever U.S. gold medal in cross country skiing – was elected by her peers to the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission. She joins Finnish ice hockey player Emma Terho as newly elected members of the 20-person commission that serves as a link between athletes and the IOC.

Randall and Terho will serve eight-year terms. The pair will be confirmed as members of the IOC on Feb. 25. As a U.S. IOC member, Randall will also become a member of the USOC board of directors. Voting took place among all competing Olympians from Feb. 1-21 in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Villages.

“Wow, what amazing news to get today,” said Randall. “I have so much passion and energy to put toward the Olympic Movement and it feels so good to have the athletes put their faith in me. I look forward to representing the athletes and making the Olympic Movement strong in the future. This is going to be a really fun ride.”

On Wednesday, Randall (Anchorage) and teammate Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) made history by winning the first Olympic medal in cross-country skiing for U.S. women (team sprint). In 2013, the duo became the first-ever U.S. world champions in cross-country skiing in the same event. Overall, Randall has skied in nine world championships, also winning silver in 2009 (sprint) and bronze in 2017 (sprint) after taking the 2015-16 season off for the birth of her child.

Randall is a three-time overall world cup sprint champion, three-time world championship medalist, 27-time world cup podium finisher and the first U.S. woman to earn a top-10 finish in cross-country skiing at the Olympic Winter Games.

“Kikkan has had a very strong impact across many sports as both a role model and a leader of athletes,” said Olympian Tiger Shaw, who is president and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “Her engagement with youth has become a hallmark, touching thousands of young girls through both her results as an athlete and a leader with Healthy Futures, and Fast and Female.”

Randall’s seat is one of two that become available when current chair Angela Ruggiero of the U.S. and member Adam Pengilly of Great Britain finish their eight-year terms on Feb. 25. Randall was one of six athletes vying for the two positions.

The goal of the IOC Athletes’ Commission is to ensure that the athletes’ viewpoint remains at the heart of Olympic Movement decisions. The majority of members of the commission are elected directly by Olympic athletes. Members of the commission are also present on the majority of other IOC commissions, and the chair serves on the IOC executive board.

“Kikkan has always represented Team USA to the highest levels,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “She’s a selfless and consummate athlete, professional, wife, mother, and advocate, and will no doubt have an extremely positive impact on the IOC Athletes’ Commission. Angela has set the bar high over the last eight years as she tirelessly advocated on behalf of athletes from all over the world, and Kikkan will no doubt further her legacy.”

Ruggiero – a four-time Olympic medalist in ice hockey – was elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission during the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010. She became vice chair in 2014 and chair in 2016.

“Congratulations to Kikkan for this well-deserved honor,” said Ruggiero. “Serving in a key leadership role on behalf of the athletes at the center of the Olympic Movement is not only a great honor, but an important responsibility. Kikkan’s a proven and dedicated advocate for athletes, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact she’ll have in this new role.”

In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Randall has served as an active ambassador for youth through leadership engagement with both Healthy Futures and Fast and Female – organizations that promote the benefits of healthy, active lifestyles to youth. She also played a key role in establishing greater leadership engagement for athletes within the International Ski Federation.

Nominated by their respective National Olympic Committees, the six candidates originated from three continents and five sports. Joining Randall and Terho as candidates were Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (Norway, cross-country skiing), Ander Mirambell (Spain, skeleton), Hong Zhang (China, speedskating) and Armin Zoeggeler (Italy, luge).

IOC Athletes' Commission (as of Feb. 26)

  • Kirsty Coventry, Chair
  • Danka Bartekova, Vice Chair
  • Nadin Dawani
  • Tony Estanguet
  • Chelsey Gotell
  • Daniel Gyurta
  • Britta Heidemann
  • Stefan Holm
  • Yelena Isinbaeva
  • Aya Medany
  • Saina Nehwal
  • Kikkan Randall
  • Seung-Min Ryu
  • Luis Scola
  • Patrick Singleton
  • Emma Terho
  • James Tomkins
  • Sarah Walker
  • Hayley Wickenheiser

Previous U.S. IOC Athletes' Commission Members

  • Bob Ctvrtlik, Volleyball
  • Edwin Moses, Track and Field
  • Angela Ruggiero, Ice Hockey

Olympic Update: Fletcher Leads USA In Final Olympic Event

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 22 2018
Competing in his final Olympic event, Bryan Fletcher led his young teammates in the large hill team event Thursday. (Getty Images - Clive Mason)
Competing in his final Olympic event, Bryan Fletcher led his young teammates in the large hill team event Thursday. (Getty Images - Clive Mason)

ALPINE
Shiffrin Adds Combined Silver
Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) added another Olympic medal to her collection, taking silver in the alpine combined Thursday at the Jeongseon Alpine Center. Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) racing in her final Olympic event, won the first run downhill, but straddled a gate in the slalom and did not finish.
“To come away from this Olympics with two medals is insane – especially after the schedule changes on both ends of the event,” said Shiffrin, who opted to sit out the downhill to focus on the combined after the event was rescheduled to Thursday. “It was like someone was playing a game of ping-pong in my brain.”
Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) finished 15th in her first Olympic event. Shiffrin closes out the 2018 Games with a gold medal in giant slalom, fourth in slalom and now a silver medal in the alpine combined. Vonn closes out her Olympic career with three medals – bronze in Wednesday’s downhill; bronze in super-G and gold in downhill at the 2010 Games in Vancouver. … READ MORE /RESULTS

Chodounsky 18th In Slalom
David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) was the top American in 18th in slalom Thursday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Mark Engel (Truckee, Calif.) was 31st.
Sweden’s Andre Myhrer won the gold, as Ramon Zenhaeusern took the silver and Austria’s Michael Matt took the bronze. Pre-race favorite Marcel Hirscher of Austria did not finish the first run.
Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) did not finish the second run.

RESULTS
Men’s slalom

 

FREESKI
Wise Defends Gold, Ferreira Takes Silver
After spills on his first two runs, it appeared that David Wise's chance to defend his Olympic gold medal in halfpipe was fading away Thursday afternoon at the Phoenix Snow Park.
Appearances can be deceiving. Wise (Reno, Nev.) validated that cliche by laying down a flawless final run and scored 97.20 to jump to the top of the leaderboard and win his second-consecutive Olympic halfpipe title. Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.) won the silver.
“I was hoping to have three runs to kind of work things in; sometimes you have a little bit of a bad landing or whatever - you get a little bit better run by run,” Wise said. “But I had to put it all on the line on run three, and I’m stoked I put it down.” … READ MORE / RESULTS

 

NORDIC COMBINED
USA 10th in Team Event

Skiing in his final Olympic event, Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) led brother Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Ben Berend (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wisc.) to close out the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, finishing 10th in the large hill team event Thursday at the Alpensia Cross Country Centre.
“This experience, in general, was just an awesome experience,” Fletcher said of his final Olympic Games. “The venues were awesome, the courses were awesome, the jumps were great. Team USA was awesome as well. It was a really memorable Games … and a really great way to close out an Olympic chapter for me.”
As he steps aside from Olympic competition, Fletcher is excited to see the sport continue to flourish in the U.S. as a solid group of young athletes have a chance to step up.
“They are a great group of guys and I’m really excited to be turning over the reigns to them,” the three-time Olympian added. “They are going to learn a lot and it will be nice for them to have some fresh perspective. I taught them as much as I know and will continue to teach them and help guide them in any way possible.
“They are full of energy, full of passion for the sport, definitely more than even I had at that age,” Fletcher added. “I’m excited to see where it will take them and I know that if they keep working hard like they have been, they are going to take it a long way.”

RESULTS
Team Gundersen LH/4x5km


SNOWBOARD
Anderson Christens Big Air With Silver

Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) won her second medal of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, picking up the silver medal in the inaugural snowboard big air event at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center.
With the top two scores out of three jumps used to determine the final rankings, Anderson led the field early with a pair of clean jumps for a total of 177.25. Challengers were lurking close behind, with Austria's Anna Gasser hitting two clean runs for a 174.50, as well as New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski Synnott, the only other rider besides Anderson to post a 90-plus score in the first two runs with her 92.00 second run and a 157.50 total after two trips off the kicker.
Entering the final jump with two solid scores in the bank, Anderson sat down on the landing of her final run – a double 1080 - leaving the door open for Gasser. The last rider down the hill, Gasser nailed her run to pick up a 96.00 and surpass Anderson to take the gold, scoring 185.00 to Anderson's 177.25. Synnott's two-run score gave her the bronze medal. … READ MORE / RESULTS

 

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST.

THURSDAY, FEB. 22
NBC
3:00-5:00 p.m. Nordic combined relay jump

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
12:00-12:30 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

FRIDAY, FEB. 23
NBC
8:00-11:00 p.m. - Alpine team event, big air snowboarding (live), men's parallel GS snowboarding.

NBCSN
12:30-4:00 p.m. - Medal Ceremony, men's 50k classic mass start (live)

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Medal Ceremony (live)
12:30-1:00 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
8:00-9:45 p.m. - Men's big air snowboarding (Saturday)
9:00-10:55 p.m. - Alpine team event (Saturday)
10:00-11:30 p.m. - Parallel giant slalom snowboarding (Saturday)

SATURDAY, FEB. 24
NBC
3:00-6:00 p.m. - Men's 50k classic mass start

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Medal Ceremony (live)

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
11:00 p.m.-3:05 a.m. - Men's 50k classic mass start

SUNDAY, FEB. 25
NBC
3:15-5:20 p.m. - Women's 30k classic mass start
7:00-8:00 p.m. - Olympic Gold recaps the PyeongChang Winter Games
8:00-10:30 p.m. - Closing Ceremony

NBCSN
2:00-4:00 a.m. - Women's 30k classic mass start

Live Streaming
1:15-3:20 a.m. - Women's 30k classic mass start
6:00-8:30 a.m. - Closing Ceremony
 

Chodounsky 18th In Slalom

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 22 2018
David Chodounsky finished 18th in the slalom Thursday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (Getty Images/AFP – Fabrice Coffrini)
David Chodounsky finished 18th in the slalom Thursday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (Getty Images/AFP – Fabrice Coffrini)

David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) was the top American in 18th in slalom Thursday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Mark Engel (Truckee, Calif.) was 31st.

Sweden’s Andre Myhrer won the gold, as Ramon Zenhaeusern took the silver and Austria’s Michael Matt took the bronze. Pre-race favorite Marcel Hirscher of Austria did not finish the first run.

Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) did not finish the second run.

RESULTS
Men’s slalom

Shiffrin Adds Combined Silver

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 22 2018
Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates her silver medal in alpine combined Thursday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (Getty Images - Dan Istitene)
Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates her silver medal in alpine combined Thursday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (Getty Images - Dan Istitene)

Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) added another Olympic medal to her collection, taking the silver medal in the alpine combined Thursday at the Jeongseon Alpine Center. Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) racing in her final Olympic event, won the first run downhill, but straddled a gate in the slalom and did not finish.

“To come away from this Olympics with two medals is insane – especially after the schedule changes on both ends of the event,” said Shiffrin, who opted to sit out the downhill to focus on the combined after the event was rescheduled to Thursday. “It was like someone was playing a game of ping-pong in my brain.”Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin won the gold, as her countrywomen Wendy Holdener took the bronze."

Shiffrin finished sixth in the downhill, then posted the third-fastest time in the slalom. However, Gisin finished third in the downhill - 1.21-seconds ahead of Shiffrin – and her advantage in the slalom for the victory.

“With my downhill today, I had a bit too much of a bobble at the top on the traverse to really feel comfortable sending it like crazy,” Shiffrin said. “After I made that mistake, I tried to be solid on my skis and not take too many risks, because for me, it doesn’t make sense to take a lot of risk on the downhill – for what? – I am not at that level yet. I knew I wasn’t going to win the race on the downhill today. Knowing it was a two-run race, I did what I could with the downhill and then switched my focus to the slalom.”

Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) finished 15th in her first Olympic event. Shiffrin closes out the 2018 Games with a gold medal in giant slalom, fourth in slalom and now a silver medal in the alpine combined. Vonn closes out her Olympic career with three medals – bronze in Wednesday’s downhill; bronze in super-G and gold in downhill at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

RESULTS
Women’s alpine combined

Wise Defends Gold, Ferreira Takes Silver

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 21 2018
David Wise nailed his third run to win back-to-back Olympic halfpipe gold medals at Phoenix Snow Park. (Getty Images - Cameron Spencer)
David Wise nailed his third run to win back-to-back Olympic halfpipe gold medals at Phoenix Snow Park. (Getty Images - Cameron Spencer)

After spills on his first two runs, it appeared that David Wise's chance to defend his Olympic gold medal in halfpipe was fading away Thursday afternoon at the Phoenix Snow Park.

Appearances can be deceiving. Wise (Reno, Nev.) validated that cliche by laying down a flawless final run and scored 97.20 to jump to the top of the leaderboard and win his second-consecutive Olympic halfpipe title. Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.) won the silver.

“I was hoping to have three runs to kind of work things in; sometimes you have a little bit of a bad landing or whatever - you get a little bit better run by run,” Wise said. “But I had to put it all on the line on run three, and I’m stoked I put it down.”

Ferreira set the bar early with his first run score of 92.60. Then upped the ante with a 96.00 on his second trip into the pipe. He finished with a flourish, earning 96.40 points on his third run to secure the silver medal. Nico Porteous of New Zealand won the bronze with 94.80 points on his second run.

“I worked really hard to be here and I’m just extremely happy to be part of the event,” Ferreira said. “We watched (Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall) get gold last night and I was screaming in front of the TV, I was like ‘ GO! GO!’ It was so cool to watch and that kind fired me up!”

Aaron Blunck finished seventh with a best run of 84.80, while Torin Yater-Wallace was ninth with his first-run score of 65.20. Ferreira was the only skier to post three clean runs.

RESULTS
Men’s Halfpipe

Anderson Christens Big Air With Silver

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 21 2018
Jamie Anderson jumped to a silver medal in the first Olympic snowboard big air competition at Phoenix Snow Park. (Getty Images - Lars Baron)
Jamie Anderson jumped to a silver medal in the first Olympic snowboard big air competition at Phoenix Snow Park. (Getty Images - Lars Baron)

Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) won her second medal of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, picking up the silver medal in the inaugural snowboard big air event at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center.

With the top two scores out of three jumps used to determine the final rankings, Anderson led the field early with a pair of clean jumps for a total of 177.25. Challengers were lurking close behind, with Austria's Anna Gasser hitting two clean runs for a 174.50, as well as New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski Synnott, the only other rider besides Anderson to post a 90-plus score in the first two runs with her 92.00 second run and a 157.50 total after two trips off the kicker.

Entering the final jump with two solid scores in the bank, Anderson sat down on the landing of her final run – a double 1080 - leaving the door open for Gasser. The last rider down the hill, Gasser nailed her run to pick up a 96.00 and surpass Anderson to take the gold, scoring 185.00 to Anderson's 177.25. Synnott's two-run score gave her the bronze medal.

Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) was 10th and Jessika Jenson (Rigby, Idaho) 11th as both struggled to land their first jumps.

RESULTS
Women’s big air
 

Olympic Update: Mack, Corning, Gerard Advance to Big Air Medal Round

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 21 2018
Kyle Mack advanced to the big air medal round out of the first qualifying heat Tuesday. (Getty Images - Al Bello)
Kyle Mack advanced to the big air medal round out of the first qualifying heat Tuesday. (Getty Images - Al Bello)

ALPINE
Downhill Bronze for Vonn

Racing in her final Olympic downhill race, four-time Olympian Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) won the bronze medal, leading three Americans into the top-seven Wednesday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre.
"This is hard for me – I have so many emotions – this is my last Olympic downhill race in my career," Vonn said. "I am sad this is my last Olympics, I want to keep racing and I would love to be in the next Olympics, but I don’t think my body can take it.
"I wanted to win for my grandfather, but I think he would still be happy with bronze," Vonn added. "That is what counts. My family is proud of me – I am proud of me – and today, bronze feels like gold."
Vonn will compete in one more Olympic event, the alpine combined, which includes one run of downhill and one run of slalom Thursday. Joining her will be Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.), who will be competing in her first Olympic race. The downhill is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. KT / 9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday. The second run slalom starts at 3:00 p.m. KT / 1:00 a.m. EST … READ MORE / RESULTS / START LIST

Kasper To Lead Team USA in Slalom
Three-time Olympian Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) will lead Team USA in the men’s slalom Thursday, first run scheduled for 10:00 a.m. KT / 8:00 p.m. EST Wednesday. Joining Kasper on Team USA will be David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) and Mark Engel (Truckee, Calif.). The second run is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. KT / 11:30 p.m. EST Wednesday.
START LIST
Men’s slalom

 

FREESKI
Men’s Halfpipe Finals Thursday

Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.), Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.), Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, Colo.) and David Wise (Reno. Nev.), the defending halfpipe gold medalist, compete in the medal round Thursday, 11:30 a.m. KT / 9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday at Phoenix Snow Park.
START LIST
Men’s Halfpipe

 

CROSS COUNTRY
Diggins, Randall Win Historic Gold

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) and Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) won the team sprint to give the United States its first-ever Olympic gold medal in cross country skiing.
“It’s a dream come true,” Randall said. “When Jessie and I won the World Championship together in 2013, I got to see that a team medal is worth far more than any individual accolade. What really kept me going over the last four years was trying to contribute towards a team medal, and to do it here and get to go with Jessie one more time, it's amazing.”
“This team brings out the absolute best in me and we had so many people working so hard to give us this opportunity,” Diggins said. “Kikkan and I both knew our jobs, and we both did them well today. That feeling of being able to cross the line and have Kikkan tackle me was the coolest thing ever.”
In the chaos of the finish, Diggins laughed when admitting she had to ask Kikkan what had just happened. Kikkan told her they had won!
In the men’s team sprint, Team USA of Erik Bjornsen (Anchorage) and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) finished sixth, the best Olympic result ever for the United States in men’s cross country skiing. … READ MORE / RESULTS

 

SNOWBOARD
Mack, Corning, Gerard Advance to Big Air Medal Round

Kyle Mack (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) and Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.) advanced to the medal round in big air competition at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center.  Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) finished 13th in qualifying heat 2 and did not advance to the finals.
The medal round is scheduled for Saturday, 10:00 a.m. KT / 8:00 p.m. EST Friday.
RESULTS
Qualifying heat 1
Qualifying heat 2

START LIST
Men’s big air finals

Women’s Big Air Finals Thursday
Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.), Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) and Jessika Jenson (Rigby, Idaho) will represent Team USA in the big air finals Thursday, 9:30 a.m. KT / 7:30 p.m. EST Wednesday.
START LIST
Women’s big air finals

 

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21
NBC
3:00-5:00 p.m. - Team sprint qualifying
8:00-11:00 p.m. - Men's slalom first run (live), men's halfpipe skiing finals (live), team sprint finals.
11:35 p.m.-12:30 a.m. - Men's slalom second run (live)

NBCSN
1:30-5:00 p.m. - Medal Ceremony

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
12:00-12:30 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
7:30-9:15 p.m. - Women's big air snowboarding finals (Thursday)
8:00-10:20 p.m. - Men's slalom first run (Thursday)
9:00-10:25 p.m. - Women's alpine combined downhill (Thursday)
9:30-11:00 p.m. - Men's halfpipe skiing finals (Thursday)
11:45 p.m.-1:40 a.m. - Men's slalom second run (Thursday)

THURSDAY, FEB. 22
NBC
3:00-5:00 p.m. Nordic combined relay jump
8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. - Women's alpine combined downhill (live), women's big air snowboarding (live)
12:35-2:00 a.m. - Women's alpine combined slalom

NBCSN
5:20 -7:45 a.m. - Nordic combined relay
7:45-10:45 a.m. - Medal Ceremony

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Medal Ceremony (live)
12:00-12:30 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
12:30-1:45 a.m. - Women's alpine combined slalom
2:30-3:10 a.m. - Nordic combined team large hill jump
5:20-6:20 a.m. - Nordic combined 4x5k team event

FRIDAY, FEB. 23
NBC
8:00-11:00 p.m. - Alpine team event, big air snowboarding (live), men's parallel GS snowboarding.

NBCSN
12:30-4:00 p.m. - Medals Ceremony, men's 50k classic mass start (live)

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Medal Ceremony (live)
12:30-1:00 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
8:00-9:45 p.m. - Men's big air snowboarding (Saturday)
9:00-10:55 p.m. - Alpine team event (Saturday)
10:00-11:30 p.m. - Parallel giant slalom snowboarding (Saturday)

Diggins, Randall Win Historic Olympic Gold

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 21 2018
Kikkan Randall and Diggins Jessica celebrate winning gold during the women's Cross Country team sprint at Alpensia Cross-Country Centre Wednesday. (Getty Images - Nils Petter Nilsson)
Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall celebrate winning gold during the women's cross country team sprint at Alpensia Cross-Country Centre Wednesday. (Getty Images - Nils Petter Nilsson)

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) and Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) won the team sprint to give the United States its first-ever women's Olympic gold medal in cross country skiing.

“It’s a dream come true,” Randall said. “I got to see in 2013 when we won the World Championships that a team gold is worth far more than any individual accolade. What really kept me going over the last four year was trying to contribute towards a team medal here, and to do it here and get to go with Jessie one more time, it's amazing.”

“This team brings out the absolute best in me and we had so many people working so hard to give us this opportunity,” Diggins said. “Kikkan and I both knew our jobs, and we both did them well today. That feeling of being able to cross the line and have Kikkan tackle me was the coolest thing ever.”

In the chaos of the finish, Diggins laughed when admitting she had to ask Kikkan what had just happened. Kikkan told her they had won!

Team USA easily advanced through the early rounds, and after winning the semifinal, Randall and Diggins only seemed to get faster.

“I actually felt better every round today,” Randall said. “I felt strong in the semifinal, I was actually trying to conserve some energy, so in the final, I felt strong and stronger.”

Coming into the finals, both knew they had a job to do, and were determined to not only win a medal but win the race outright.

“Being so close to the medals this week so many times this week, I knew I was in good shape and I knew it could happen,” Diggins said. “I just felt unstoppable. I’m in the best shape of my life.

“A medal is not enough anymore, I wanted to win this stuff,” Diggins added. “I’m going to give this absolutely everything I can and play a tactical, smart race and see how it pans out. At that point, you’ve got nothing to lose.”

In the six-lap final, Randall set the early pace with Team Norway and Team Olympic Athletes from Russia right with her, tagging off to Diggins in fourth position, who then moved into third on the second exchange.

“Lap one I was skiing a little more conservative … so lap two I really started pushing the pace and trying to tire out some of the more pure sprinters,” said Diggins, who set a blistering pace matched only by Norway and Sweden. Following the final exchange, Diggins pushed the pace even further before playing a supreme tactical game down the stretch.

“Then on lap three I just went for it, and then purposely hung back a little bit because I wanted to come into the downhill third to be able to get the draft and get a slingshot into a really good position,” added Diggins, who out-sprinted Sweden’s Stina Nilsson for the gold by 0.19 seconds. “Then around that final corner, I felt kind of like I was coiling a spring and letting it go, giving it everything that I had and digging as deep as I could and leaving it all out there.”

In the men’s team sprint, Team USA of Erik Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska) and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) finished sixth, the best Olympic result ever for the United States in men’s cross country skiing.

“We’re proud of what we accomplished,” Hamilton said. “Obviously it’s always our goal to be on the podium. We both know that we can be up there and maybe someday we will.”

RESULTS
Women’s team sprint
Men’s team sprint
 

Downhill Bronze For Vonn

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 20 2018
Lindsey Vonn took the downhill bronze medal Wednesday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (Getty Images - Alexander Hassenstein)
Lindsey Vonn took the downhill bronze medal Wednesday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (Getty Images - Alexander Hassenstein)

Racing in her final Olympic downhill race, four-time Olympian Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) won the bronze medal, leading three Americans into the top-seven Wednesday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre.

"This is hard for me – I have so many emotions – this is my last Olympic downhill race in my career," said Vonn after winning her third career Olympic medal. "I am sad this is my last Olympics, I want to keep racing and I would love to be in the next Olympics, but I don’t think my body can take it.

"I wanted to win for my grandfather, but I think he would still be happy with bronze," Vonn added. "That is what counts. My family is proud of me – I am proud of me – and today, bronze feels like gold."

Competing in her second Olympic Winter Games, Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) came out of the 14th start position to finish fifth, while Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho), who was competing in her first Olympics, finished seventh. Two-time Olympian Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) was 15th.

"Lindsey is one of the greatest of all time, it’s an honor to have competed alongside her and been her teammate for the last nine years," McKennis said. "I’ve seen everything she’s gone through and her perseverance has been inspiring. That perseverance has helped me through my own struggles. She is going to leave a huge legacy behind."

Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who along with Vonn was one of the pre-race favorites after winning both the super-G and downhill test events on the Jeongseon Downhill course last season, laid down the gold medal run coming out of the fifth start position. Vonn, starting seventh, picked up time on the lower portion of the course, but came up almost a half-second short of Goggia’s gold-medal time, slotting in second at 0.49-seconds back.

Vonn held onto the silver-medal position until Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel, starting bib 19, took a shot at Goggia’s winning time, coming up just 0.09 second short to take the silver and knock Vonn into the bronze medal position. For Mowinckel, it was her second silver medal of the PyeongChang Games after finishing second to Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) in the giant slalom.

Vonn will compete in one more Olympic event, the alpine combined, which includes one run of downhill and one run of slalom Thursday. Joining her will be Shiffrin and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.), who will be competing in her first Olympic race. The downhill is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. KT / 9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday. The second run slalom starts at 3:00 p.m. KT / 1:00 a.m. EST

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

START LIST
Women's alpine combined

Olympic Update: ‘All or nothing’ For Vonn in Downhill

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
February, 20 2018
Lindsey Vonn and Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway fist bump after the third training downhill training run Tuesday at Jeongseon Alpine Centre. (Getty Images - Alexander Hassenstein)
Lindsey Vonn and Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway fist bump after the third training downhill training run Tuesday at Jeongseon Alpine Centre. (Getty Images - Alexander Hassenstein)

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) finished fourth and Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) was fifth in the third and final downhill training run at at Jeongseon Alpine Centre.

“I feel confident, I feel good and I’m going to give it my all tomorrow and we’ll see what happens,” Vonn told NBC following her final training run. “It’s all or nothing - same as super-G. I’m just going to give it all I have.”

Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist, starts with bib 7 in Wednesday’s downhill, scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. KT / 9:00 p.m. EST Tuesday.

Joining Vonn for Team USA will be Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho), Laurenne Ross (Bend. Ore.) and Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.). Shiffrin will not start the downhill in order to focus on Thursday’s alpine combined.

RESULTS
Women’s downhill training run 3

START LIST
Women’s downhill

 

FREESKI
Sigourney Grabs Halfpipe Bronze
Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) nailed her final run to grab the halfpipe bronze medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games Tuesday morning at Phoenix Snow Park.

Sigourney put down solid scores in her first two runs to rank third going into the final run. Fellow American Annalisa Drew (Andover, Mass.) briefly overtook Sigourney with a strong final run score of 90.80, but Sigourney responded, earning 91.60 to cement her bronze medal finish.
Cassie Sharpe of Canada won the gold medal with 95.80 points, as Marie Martinod of France, who took silver with 92.60 points. Drew finished fourth.

"I just feel to proud and honored to are a part of this group of girls," said Sigourney. "It was such an inspiring competition. They put down the greatest runs I’ve ever seen in a halfpipe." … READ MORE

All Four Team USA Skiers Advance to Medal Round
Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.), Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.), Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, Colo.) and David Wise (Reno. Nev.), the defending ski halfpipe gold medalist,  all qualified for the medal round Wednesday, 11:00 a.m. KT / 9:00 p.m. EST Tuesday at Phoenix Snow Park.

Blunck led the way in qualifying with a score of 94.40 on his second run, which surpassed Ferreira, whose 92.60 was the best first-run score. Torin Yater-Wallace scored 89.60 on his first run to place third. Wise rallied to a 79.60 on his second run to finish eighth.

RESULTS
Men's halfpipe qualifying

START LIST
Men’s Halfpipe

 

CROSS COUNTRY
Randall, Diggins and Bjornsen, Hamilton Ready for Team Sprint

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) and Jessie Diggins (Aton, Minn) will represent Team USA in the team sprint on Wednesday 5:00 p.m. KT / 3:00 a.m. EST. Representing Team USA on the men’s side will be Erik Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska) and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.), starting at 5:50 p.m. KT / 3:50 a.m. EST.

“We are very excited to be starting two experienced teams that will be fighting for medals,” head coach Chris Grover said. “Kikkan and Jessie haven’t raced a skate team sprint together perhaps since they win gold together in Val di Fiemme (World Championships) in 2013. Both women are in top shape and are recovered from the relay and ready to go.

“Erik and Simi finished fifth in this event in Lahti (World Championships) last season, and have been targeting this race since last spring,” Grover added. “We have long known that this event is our best chance at a medal in PyeongChang and our service team will be pushing hard to ensure that we have great skis.”

START LISTS
Women’s team sprint
Men’s team sprint

 

NORDIC COMBINED
Fletcher 17th in Final Individual Olympic Event
Skiing in his final individual Olympic event, Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) put in another strong performance to finish 17th in the large hill nordic combined event. Germany swept the podium in a race that came right down to the wire with Johannes Rydzek leading the charge to take gold.

Fletcher soared 120.5 meters to finish 23rd in the jump, starting two minutes, four seconds behind jump leader Akito Watabe, who ended up fifth.

“I put together a pretty decent jump,” said Fletcher. “It wasn’t the dream jump I had been hoping for but a solid performance. It put me into the chase group to give me a chance for a top 10 if I had a really good race.” … READ MORE

 

SNOWBOARD
Men’s Big Air Qualifying

The inaugural Olympic Winter Games men’s snowboard big air competition gets underway Wednesday with two qualifying heats.

Men’s slopestyle gold medalist Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.), Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) and Kyle Mack (West Bloomfield, Mich) will compete in heat 1, 9:30 a.m. KT / 7:30 p.m. EST Tuesday. Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) will start in heat 2 at 11:45 a.m. KT / 9:45 p.m. EST Tuesday.

START LISTS
Men’s qualifying heat 1
Men’s qualifying heat 2

Women’s Big Air Finals Rescheduled
Due to predicted strong winds Friday, the women's snowboard big air finals have been rescheduled to Thursday, February 22, beginning at 9:30 a.m. KT / 7:30 p.m. EST Wednesday.

Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.), Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) and Jessika Jenson (Rigby, Idaho) will represent Team USA.

START LIST
Women’s big air finals

 

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST.

TUESDAY, FEB. 20
NBC
3:00-5:00 p.m. - Nordic combined 10k
8:00 p.m.-12:30 a.m. - Women's downhill (live), men's big air snowboarding qualifying (live)


NBCSN
12:00-5:00 p.m. - Nordic combined 10k cross country


Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
12:00-12:30 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts


NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
7:30-10:45 p.m. - Men's big air snowboarding qualifying (Wednesday)
9:00-10:50 p.m. - Women's downhill (Wednesday)

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21
NBC
3:00-5:00 p.m. - Team sprint qualifying
8:00-11:00 p.m. - Men's slalom first run (live), men's halfpipe skiing finals (live), team sprint finals.
11:35 p.m.-12:30 a.m. - Men's slalom second run (live)

NBCSN
10:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. - Men's and women's cross country freestyle team sprint finals
1:30-5:00 p.m. - Medal Ceremony

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Medal Ceremony (live)
12:00-12:30 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
3:00-4:30 a.m - Cross country freestyle team sprint qualifying
5:00-6:20 a.m. - Cross country freestyle team sprint finals
7:30-9:15 p.m. - Women's big air snowboarding finals (Thursday)
8:00-10:20 p.m. - Men's slalom first run (Thursday)
9:00-10:25 p.m. - Women's alpine combined downhill (Thursday)
9:30-11:00 p.m. - Men's halfpipe skiing finals (Thursday)
10:00-11:50 p.m. - Parallel giant slalom snowboarding qualifying (Thursday)
11:45 p.m.-1:40 a.m. - Men's slalom second run (Thursday)

THURSDAY, FEB. 22
NBC
3:00-5:00 p.m. Nordic combined relay jump
8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. - Women's alpine combined downhill (live), women's big air snowboarding (live)
12:35-2:00 a.m. - Women's alpine combined slalom

NBCSN
2:00-5:20 a.m. - Men's parallel giant slalom qualifying
5:20 -7:45 a.m. - Nordic combined relay
7:45-10:45 a.m. - Medal Ceremony

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Medal Ceremony (live)
12:00-12:30 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

Olympic Channel: Home Of Team USA
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Medal Ceremony (live)
12:00-12:30 p.m. - Winter Olympics Daily with Jimmy Roberts

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
12:30-1:45 a.m. - Women's alpine combined slalom
2:30-3:10 a.m. - Nordic combined team large hill jump
5:20-6:20 a.m. - Nordic combined 4x5k team event