Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete River Radamus had a banner day at his FIS World Alpine Ski World Championships giant slalom debut, skiing into 11th place.

Conditions were bright and sunny yet again, pushing away the memories of postponements and cancelations from early in the World Champs, but the course still presented challenges with conditions varying throughout the track. Frenchman Mathieu Favre powered through to take the gold—his second gold medal at the World Champs and his first time on the giant slalom podium in two years. Luca De Aliprandini of Italy was second for his first podium ever, thrilling the hometown Italian fans watching from their homes. Marco Schwarz of Austria took the bronze for his second medal of the World Champs. Alexis Pinturault of France, the favorite coming into the race, was leading after first run but fell and did not finish.

River shred the first run of giant slalom in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, taking ninth place and came out confidently into the second run. But he made a few errors and lost time throughout the course, which pushed him back to 11th place. “As they say, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face," said Radamus. "I felt like I was behind it up top and never really got going and attacking it the rest of the way,” he said.

River was disappointed in himself but now turns his eyes toward the future, where he knows there’s more to come for him. “It’s weird to be disappointed with a personal best, but I felt like I just had so much more in me today,” he said. “Didn’t quite execute the way I wanted to on second run and left a lot of time there, but it’s a good steppingstone I think.”

The 23-year-old Radamus, who has a decorated past as a two-time World Juniors champion and three-time Youth Olympic Games gold medal winner, has had a solid 2020-21 season so far, nailing top-20 and points-scoring results throughout the year, including an eighth place in the parallel and sixth place in team parallel at these World Championships. He knows the potential is there to perform in these big events and is hunting for more. “I’ve learned that it takes a lot to be fast,” said Radamus. “I’ve learned how bad I want to be there. I’m going to go back to work, finish the season out strong and hopefully prepare myself for the next Olympics or next World Championships to be able to execute better than I did today.”

Sadly missing in the World Champs giant slalom were talented Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes Ted Ligety, Tommy Ford and Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who all had the potential to take home medals in the event, but were back in the states due to injury, leaving Radamus as the sole U.S. man in the race.

The World Champs GS was supposed to be Ligety’s final event in his storied career, having announced his retirement at the beginning of the World Championships, but back problems made it impossible for him to race. His legacy lives on though, with an impressive five World Championships golds, seven World Champs medals, and two Olympic golds. His rivals and friends, such as Bode Miller, Marcel Hirscher, and Felix Neureuther, paid tribute to him throughout the day, congratulating him on such an impressive career and wishing him luck with his future endeavors.

Ford, who had snagged a giant slalom podium and multiple top-10 results in GS earlier this season, was injured in early January after a bad crash in Adelboden. Cochran-Siegle had a bad crash in Kitzbuehel, Austria that broke his cervical spine and he is also recovering at home.  

Only the slalom races remain in the 2021 World Championships, with the women racing on Saturday and men on Sunday.

RESULTS
Men’s World Championships giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 20
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - run 1 - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - run 2 - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 21
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men' Slalom - run 1 - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - run 1- same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - run 2 - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - next-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC

The 2021 Phillips 66 Eastern Regional Championship event was held February 12-14 at West Mountain in Queensbury, NY. The event included two SG, one GS, and one SL race. The overall regional class champions awards are scored on total world cup points in SG1,GS and SL, with a minimum of 2 starts required. Full results can be found at usalpinemasters.org/er.

Both SG races were part of the 2021 Phillips 66 National Speed Series.  The National Speed Series standings after 9 of 13 events are now posted on usalpinemasters.org/nss. There are four races remaining in April with two at Mammoth Mountain, CA and two at Mt. Bachelor, OR.

In the wrap-up message to the event participants, Mid-Atlantic Masters Division Chair, Carol Tomassetti, recapped the event: "The weather was picture perfect, the snow was beyond amazing and it was just joyful to be together racing in such great conditions.  We completed all three days of racing with no injuries which is the best part of the report.  We pulled off two SG's, one counted for the Easterns, while both counted for the speed series.  The GS and SL's both went off without a hitch. ...The racing was great, the weather was great, but the people that came were the BEST"  

Though racers were unable to gather physically for awards, racers gatherer twice via zoom the congratulate the winners with a Virtual Podium Presentation.

Pictures of SL
Pictures of GS

The 2021 Phillips 66 FIS Masters Cup and Western Regional Championships event was held February 5-7 in Big Sky, Montana hosted by the Big Sky Ski Education Foundation (BSSEF). The event was two SG races, two (one-run) GS races (typical for FIS Masters), and one (two-run) SL race. The Big Sky Ski Education Foundation has been a long-time supporter of Masters events and offered three days of training prior to the event through their recently expanded Masters training program.

As we were packing our bags and traveling to Big Sky, mother nature was gearing up for Big Sky’s biggest powder dumps of the season. After three days of great training with a few inches of manageable snowfall for SG training, the first race day on Friday was postponed due to heavy snowfall leaving the hill unsafe for a SG event. The organizers quickly adapted the Saturday schedule to include one SG race in addition to the originally scheduled two GS runs. With an eager field of racers, and a short period of respite from mother nature, Saturday’s schedule delivered 3 runs of action with the final run finishing up just at the next storm was moving in. All were hopeful with SL planned for the Sunday schedule, but mother nature had other plans. When all was said and done, the snowfall during the event was more than the resort had gotten the entire season up to that point. Many took advantage of the powder! In the end, the chance to have the event was a bright spot many were not sure we would get to have in 2021. With 3 races completed, age class and overall champions were awarded.

Results on FIS Website

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Results on usalpinemasters.org/wr (Western Region Champs)

National Speed Series Current Standings on usalpinemasters.org/nss

Virtual Podium Images

Photos at bigskyphotos.com - thank you Crystal Images!

After eleven cancelled weekends, the FIS Masters international community is hoping that events in Big Sky (USA) are part of eight straight weekends of events for a strong finish to the FIS Masters calendar.

Mikaela Shiffrin snagged the silver medal in the 2021 FIS World Ski Championships giant slalom—her third medal of the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and the 10th World Championships medal in her career. Nina O’Brien finished 10th.

It was a thrilling race, with the stateside U.S. fans waking up to see Shiffrin leading after the first run and fellow Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team teammate O’Brien just .02 seconds behind her in second place. Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland was in third, only .09 seconds off the lead.

The two women hugged and screamed after O’Brien’s fast first run, with Shiffrin telling reporters that this was how O’Brien usually trained—and that she’s always been one to keep an eye on in races. Visions of Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves going 1-2 in the 2005 World Champs danced through U.S. ski racing fans’ heads and Burke Mountain Academy students gathered around screens at school to watch their two famous alumna duke it out for the medals.

Running 29th in the second run, O’Brien attacked out of the gate and built on her time, continuing to show green at each split, until she made a small mistake just a couple gates from the finish and lost all of her speed. She ended up in 10th place—still the best giant slalom finish in her career.

“I didn’t quite bring it across the line on the second run, but I’m really happy,” said O’Brien. “I’m glad I went for it. I was definitely pushing the whole way down and I made some good turns. It’s actually still my best GS finish ever—a good day! It feels good to see that my speed stacks up against those girls, so that’s cool—something to hold on to.”

Then it was Shiffrin’s turn, who hammered down the turny second run, but finished just .02 seconds behind Gut-Behrami, who won her second medal of the World Championships. However, Shiffrin wasn’t disappointed in her performance, which brought her medal total to three at the 2021 World Championships—one of each color.

“It’s always like, what could I have done that was two-hundredths faster?” she said. “I’m actually pretty excited. The last two GS races, I was losing a lot more time the second run…I just kept thinking, keep pushing! Keeping a silver and being so close and hanging on to a medal when there’s a really big competition for the podium together with so many girls within three tenths or five-tenths of a second, it was really not guaranteed, so that’s pretty cool.”

Shiffrin wasn’t exaggerating about how close the race was: It was the closest World Championships victory in history. Just .09 seconds separated the medals, with Katharina Liensberger of Austria taking third place with the fastest second run—even after going down on her hip near the finish.

This brings Shiffrin’s medal total to 10 during her World Championships career, placing her third on the all-time list of World Champs medal winners of the modern era, and was her third time medaling in giant slalom. She claimed silver in 2017 and bronze in 2019.

AJ Hurt and Paula Moltzan also started for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in the giant slalom. Neither finished first run and are OK.

Next, the men race giant slalom on Friday before slalom wraps up the World Championships over the weekend. “I’m looking forward to it,” said Shiffrin on defending her slalom title. “Just gotta get a little bit of recovery before that and then go for it one more time at this World Champs.”

RESULTS
Women’s World Championship giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Thursday, Feb 18
4:30 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 19
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 20
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 21
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men' Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC

The Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team took sixth in the 2021 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships team event with Paula Moltzan, Nina O’Brien, AJ Hurt, River Radamus, and Luke Winters making up the American team.

It was a Scandinavian showdown for the gold in sunny Cortina d’Ampezzo, with Norway pulling out the victory over Sweden after Swede Kristoffer Jakobsen almost collided with Norwegian Sebastian Foss Solevaag while they were racing and Norway asked for a re-run. Foss Solevaag turned on the gas in his re-run to take the win, which earned Norway the gold and Sweden the silver. Germany won bronze in the small final, beating out defending team event World Champion Switzerland.

Sweden has won the most amount of medals in the mixed team event than any other nation, missing the podium only twice since 2005.

After Moltzan’s near-miss of the medals in Tuesday’s individual parallel race, the team was fired up to avenge her fourth-place finish. They beat Russia and continued to the quarterfinal where they faced Norway and lost to the eventual winners. However, spirits were high all around in the fun event and the athletes and coaches are excited about the future in the newer discipline, which had its Olympic debut in PyeongChang and will be contested again in Beijing next year. “With the women's squad, they’re really strong. We have a chance in any of them,” said Men’s World Cup Tech Head Coach Forest Carey. “We have some younger guys that have been embracing the parallel and training it. Today wasn’t the day obviously, but we do have a younger crew that’s engaged and psyched about the parallel. Hopefully, we can catch up to the women and put together a strong team by China.”

Moltzan, a two-time NCAA First Team All-American for the University of Vermont, loved that the race’s team mentality reminded her of racing in the NCAA system. “It really brings me back to my college days,” she said. "When you race college, you’re always racing for a team as well as an individual. Pushing out of the start gate, I was more nervous today than I was all day yesterday. It’s a lot more pressure when you’re carrying a team or working with a team because it’s not just you you’re going to let down, you’re letting down the whole team. I had a lot of fun doing it today though.”

The team event wrapped the parallel segment of the World Championships, with all eyes turning towards the traditional tech events. Women’s giant slalom gets started first on Thursday.

RESULTS
World Championships team event

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Thursday, Feb 18
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
4:30 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 19
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 20
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 21
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men' Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC

For the first time ever, athletes had the chance to compete for a World Championship medal in the notoriously exciting parallel event. Paula Moltzan led the way for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team on Tuesday in Cortina, finishing just off the podium in fourth—a career-best for the University of Vermont alumni at World Championships.

“It definitely was a really long day, but it was filled with lots of good turns and lots of good times and I’m happy with how I performed,” reflected Moltzan. “Obviously you’re always hoping for a medal, but this is my best result ever at World Champs.”

Moltzan made two significant comebacks in the round of eight and quarter-finals to eventually meet France’s Tessa Worley in the small final, eliminating Austria’s Stephanie Brunner and favorite Wendy Holdener of Switzerland along the way.

In her competition for the bronze, Moltzan capitalized on the red, fast track on skiers left in her first run, creating a half a second deficit between her and Worley. However, a small mistake in her second run combined with the disadvantage of the slower, blue course put what would be her first World Championship medal just out of reach. At the end of the day, Worley would take the bronze, behind Austria’s Katharina Liensberger and Italy’s Marta Bassino—tied for first. 

“Today definitely is a great starting spot for the rest of World Champs I’m just going to hope to build and make good turns for myself and have the whole team build with me,” said Moltzan.

Earlier in the finals, Nina O’Brien had a tough match-up against Holdener, who eliminated the 23-year-old American in the round of eight. Despite not advancing to the quarter-final round, O’Brien still enjoyed the day. Her 10th place finish in Tuesday’s parallel event is, thus far, the best World Championship result for O’Brien in her career.

“I would have loved to keep skiing,” explained O’Brien. “[Parallel is] really fun and I love this event, it’s exciting and you never really know what’s gonna happen when you’re going head to head. So I’m bummed, but I think I skied pretty well, it was a tough match-up against Wendy [Holdener].

In season’s past, much debate has taken place over the fairness of the parallel event, given the impossible feat of setting two perfectly identical courses. To eliminate as many disadvantages as possible, the format has been updated to take on the nature of parallel giant slalom, which requires athletes to complete each turn around the gate rather than busting through them as is standard in parallel slalom. To accommodate for different course sets, each athlete takes a run on both the red and the blue course, battling it out against their opponent to overcome any time deficits created from their first run in their second run.

The sheer amount of head-to-head runs is what makes parallel an absolute battle for all athletes involved, both mentally and physically. By the end of the event, the top two competitors will have completed eight runs in the finals alone before gold is decided. 

River Radamus found a way to overcome these challenges more than once, capitalizing on the speed of the red course to overtake his half-second deficit behind Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec in the round of eight. In the quarter-finals, Radamus lost out in a match-up with Croatia’s Filip Zubcic, who would go on to earn a silver medal after losing the big final to France’s Mathieu Faivre. Switzerland’s Loic Meillard finished with the bronze.

“We can tell that the red course is faster, but you gotta ski both courses, and you’ve gotta take the positives of each course,” commented teammate Radamus, who had the best finish of the day on the men’s side in eighth overall. “The goal is to try and build up the deficit as much as you can on the red course and survive it in the blue course and I just couldn’t do it that time.”

“[The courses] affect everybody’s performance, it’s just the reality though, you can’t set a perfect dual,” Radamus added. “You have to beat the person on the combined two courses; whoever does that wins.”

AJ Hurt, Kaite Hensien, and Luke Winters also pushed out of the start gate for the United States on Tuesday morning in the qualifier but did not qualify for the final race.

Up next on the docket for the tech athletes competing in the 2021 FIS Alpine World Championships is the team event to take place on Wednesday, Feb. 17, where Tuesday’s competitors in parallel will take on the other nations for a chance to win a medal as a collective.

RESULTS
Women’s World Championships parallel
Men’s World Championships parallel

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Wednesday, Feb. 17
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock

Thursday, Feb 18
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
4:30 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 19
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 20
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 21
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men' Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named eight athletes to the 2021 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships Team to represent the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in Bansko, Bulgaria, in six events, from March 3-10.

The 2021 squad is derived from the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team B, C, D teams, and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard National Development Group, as well as top U.S. Ski & Snowboard club program athletes from across the nation. Headlining this year's team are 2019 Junior Worlds' silver medalists and FIS Ski World Cup mainstays, Ben Ritchie and AJ Hurt. Due to COVID, quotas have been halved from a normal year.

Though 2020 World Juniors at Narvik, Norway, were cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak, Keely Cashman led the way with three top-10 results, including bronze in the alpine combined. Hurt finished in sixth just behind Cashman in the super-G at Worlds and has skied consistently strong on the World Cup, scoring points across four disciplines during the 2020-21 season (parallel, slalom, giant slalom, and super-G). Additionally, Nicola Rountree-Williams was the second-fastest U18 last year in the giant slalom, and Bradshaw Underhill had a top-10 super-G result, in ninth. 

"We are sending a strong team to the World Junior Championships this year, with multiple medal contenders and a goal of being on the podium in the overall Hodler Cup team competition," said Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. "Many of our athletes have been racing at the Europa Cup and World Cup levels in recent months, so they are well prepared to compete with their international peers. We are looking forward to a great event."

The 2021 Junior Worlds will not include downhill, alpine combined, and team events but will feature men and women’s super-G, giant slalom, and slalom. Live timing will be provided by FIS.

2021 FIS ALPINE JUNIOR WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
Name, Hometown; Team Affiliation; Club (Birthdate)

Women

• AJ Hurt, Carnelian Bay, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team (12/5/2000)
• Allie Resnick (Vail, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 9/1/2001)
• Nicola Rountree-Williams, Edwards, Colo.; Independent/Private (7/7/2002) 
• Zoe Zimmermann, Gilford, N.H.; Burke Mountain Academy (5/16/2002)

Men

• Isaiah Nelson, Wayzata, MN.; Buck Hill Ski Racing Club (4/3/2001)
• Cooper Puckett, Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (3/31/2003)
• Ben Ritchie, Waitsfield, Vt.; Green Mountain Valley School (9/5/2000)
• Bradshaw Underhill, Newbury, N.H.; Killington Mountain School (3/10/2000)

BANSKO 2021 COMPETITION SCHEDULE

March 3 – Men’s super-G
March 4  – Men’s giant slalom
March 5  – Men’s slalom
March 8  – Women's super-G
March 9  – Women’s giant slalom
March 10 - Women’s slalom

MORE INFORMATION
Bansko 2021 Official Website

FOLLOW THE LAND ROVER U.S. ALPINE SKI TEAM
Instagram - @usskiteam
Facebook - @usskiandsnowboard
Twitter - @usskiteam

Mikaela Shiffrin struck gold in the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, winning the super-G-slalom alpine combined event by an impressive margin. It is her second medal of the 2021 World Champs, her sixth career world title, and her ninth career World Championship medal.  

The super-G portion of the combined led the day in sunny Cortina d'Ampezzo with Shiffrin finishing in third place, just .06 seconds behind leader Federica Brignone of Italy. Shiffrin looked confident and fast in the event she had just collected a bronze medal in on Saturday, but slalom was where she knew she could shine.

The second run introduced a slalom course set into a sheet of ice after the race crew had injected and temperatures had dropped overnight, causing racer after racer to crash or ski out throughout the afternoon. While there was a total of 14 DNFs, Shiffrin—who had spent many of her formative years racing on Vermont’s icy surfaces—made the conditions look easy, building her lead by half a second or more at each split. She came down an impressive 2.35 seconds ahead after her slalom run, and only Petra Vlhova of Slovakia was able to get near her, finishing second and .86 seconds behind her. Michelle Gisin of Switzerland took bronze.

“It was pretty fun!” said Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Shiffrin. “It was quite nice to ski today again. Beautiful weather and really nice in the super-G and again amazing in the slalom. It was tough conditions—like a real slalom—but I felt good and like I was pushing the whole time. It was nice when you feel like you’re skiing well and it works. Cool day”

Shiffrin had won slalom, giant slalom, and super-G medals at World Championships in the past, but this was her first alpine combined medal, having sat out the event in the past due to demanding World Champs schedules. Her gold also accrued her a slew of records, including collecting her sixth World Championship gold, passing Ted Ligety, and her ninth total World Championship medal, passing Lindsey Vonn.

“For sure the records are really nice,” said Shiffrin humbly. “It means something, but I don’t really know what to say about it. Today I was focusing on today. First: good super-G run; second: good slalom run. I wasn’t thinking about the record. I know that there’s something about the gold medals and something about total medals, but the first thing I have to do is make good turns on my slalom skis.”

Shiffrin also joins a small elite club of World Championships combined medalists. Tamara McKinney took home gold in 1989—32 years ago—while Julia Mancuso snagged silver in 2007.

In her first World Championships of her career, Bella Wright took home an impressive 14th place. “So much fun!” she exclaimed. “I love it here. I’m sad to be leaving after today, but some great memories here.”

She went on to describe what it’s like to be an athlete with Shiffrin on her team. “It’s amazing to be with her and to learn from her and today to be able to watch her on TV and see her ski some amazing super-G after like five days of super-G this year was so exciting and motivating,” said Wright. “She’s the greatest of all time in slalom, so that was perfect to watch.”

AJ Hurt also raced the slalom portion of the event after finishing 24th in the super-G, but struggled with the tough conditions and skied out. Breezy Johnson did not finish the super-G and is OK.

Speed specialists head home now that the downhill, super-G and alpine combined events have wrapped at the World Champs, but Shiffrin has another two races to go—the giant slalom and slalom—where she’ll look to collect more medals. Next up, the racers compete in the parallel on Tuesday.

RESULTS
Women’s World Championships alpine combined

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Tuesday, Feb. 16
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Wednesday, Feb. 17
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock

Thursday, Feb 18
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
4:30 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 19
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 20
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 21
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men' Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC

Bryce Bennett strung together a strong super-G run and a solid slalom run to score 16th in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships alpine combined event.

Marco Schwarz of Austria, the current best slalom skier in the world, took the gold—making Austria three-for-three in world titles so far in the 2021 World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Alexis Pinturault—who was the favorite coming into the day—made a small error in the middle of the slalom and ended up second, just .04 seconds behind Schwarz. Loic Meillard of Switzerland took bronze.

North American neighbor Jack Crawford of Canada was one of the best stories of the day, finishing in fourth place. He ran 32nd in the super-G portion and after the TV cameras had stopped rolling, came down to win the super-G by .08 seconds ahead of Pinturault. However, the speed specialist couldn’t quite keep up with the quick slalom gates and bumped down to fourth place overall.

Bennett, who had an impressive 10th place result in the downhill on Sunday, showed good form again, scoring 13th in the super-G run. But his slalom skills were a bit rusty, as the speed specialist had not trained a day of slalom in the last year. He ended up in 16th overall—an impressive feat given the 11 DNFs in the slalom due to icy conditions, including some of the top competitors of the day. Bennett even threw down a stylish 180 as he crossed through the finish line. 

“If we’re going to be honest, there’s no possible way I’m going to be competitive in slalom,” laughed Bennett. “I have not skied slalom in a year—not a single day of it. I took three runs in the warmup course and then was just trying to have fun this afternoon.”

Jared Goldberg was 29th after the super-G portion of the combined, but did not start the slalom run.

It’s the tech skiers turn to get to work now, as the World Championships leaves behind the speed events for the parallel, team event, giant slalom and slalom. Parallel is up next on Tuesday.

RESULTS
Men’s World Championships alpine combined

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Tuesday, Feb. 16
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Wednesday, Feb. 17
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock

Thursday, Feb 18
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
4:30 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 19
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 20
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 21
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men' Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC

Bryce Bennett had one of his best results of the 2020-21 season, scoring a top-10 finish in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships downhill in 10th place. Travis Ganong was just behind him in 12th.

It was another beautiful day in Cortina d’Ampezzo, with cold temperatures setting up the snow overnight on the new Vertigine downhill, gearing up the men’s speeds. The downhill course had initially caused controversy at the beginning of the week, with the downhillers displeased with the overly turny nature of the set and lack of jumps and air time. But after the athletes gave their feedback to the organizing committee and FIS, the course was adjusted to a good place for the men and it ran nicely for Sunday's race.

Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria, who won the World Champs super-G race earlier in the week, took the downhill victory to become the first man to sweep the World Champs speed events since Bode Miller did in 2005. Andreas Sander of Germany was only .01 seconds behind him for the silver medal and Beat Feuz of Switzerland, who won the 2017 World Championships gold in downhill, was bronze.

Bennett was pleased with his result, especially given an inconsistent 2020-21 season that has included a string of downhill World Cup results finishing in the middle of the pack. He had one shining result—a fourth place in Val Gardena, a favorite venue of the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team men—which showed potential similar to the previous season when he was regularly securing top-15 and top-10 results. Sunday’s World Championships downhill was a shift back to old form, triggered by equipment changes and a rediscovered confidence.

“I’m pretty fired up,” said Bennett. “We made some equipment changes and it really showed on the second training run. I tried to give it everything I could today.”

Bryce did get caught up in the wind, which slowed the 6’7” racer down, but Bennett was happy with the overall result. “You always want to go faster, but I’ve been having a pretty bad year, so it’s nice to show some signs of potential,” he said. “You have to ski it very precisely and also there’s some wind going on up top, so it all depends.”

Ganong finished just .14 seconds behind Bennett in 12th. Rounding out the Americans, Jared Goldberg secured a top-20 finish, in 20th.

Notably missing for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team were Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who snagged speed event podiums all season long before minorly fracturing his neck in Kitzbuehel, and Steven Nyman, who has sat out the season due to an Achilles tendon injury.

The men and women next race the World Championships alpine combined on Monday.  

RESULTS
Men’s World Championships downhill

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Sunday, Feb. 14
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Downhill - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC
4:30 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Downhill - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Monday, Feb. 15
3:45 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Combined Super-G - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
3:45 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Combined Super-G - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
5:15 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Combined Super-G - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:15 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Combined Super-G - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men and Women's Combined Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men and Women's Combined Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock

Tuesday, Feb. 16
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
8:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Parallel Slalom Finals - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Wednesday, Feb. 17
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Team Event - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock

Thursday, Feb 18
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Peacock
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
4:30 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 19
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Giant Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 20
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
5:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 21
4:00 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men' Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
7:30 a.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Men's Slalom - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN
12:00 p.m. FIS World Alpine Championships Women's Slalom - same-day broadcast, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Broadcast NBC