Team USA's ski jumpers will open the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang Thursday night with the qualifying round for the normal hill competition to be held Saturday at the Alpensia Nordic Centre. The four American ski jumpers got their first taste of the HS106m hill Wednesday night. Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) led the way with two top-10 rounds in training including a 102.5m jump on his second ride of the evening.

The view of the towering jumps at the Alpensia Nordic Centre illuminated at night is becoming the iconic look of the PyeongChang Olympics as ski jumping training began on Wednesday. Team USA skipped the morning sessions but was out on the HS106m hill Wednesday evening. Bickner was joined by teammates Michael Glasder (Cary, Ill.), Casey Larson (Barrington, Ill.) and Will Rhoads (Park City, Utah) – all first-time Olympians.  

The women will get their first look at the jumps on Thursday with veteran Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) plus new Olympians Abby Ringquist (Park City, Utah) and Nita Englund (Florence, Wisc.). The men have a final training Thursday before the qualifying round where the top 40 finishers in a single jumping round will make the field for Saturday’s medal event. They will be joined by the top 10 in the world, who are pre-qualified. 

It was a long day for Team USA with processing in Seoul and a long trip to Alpensia. “We are pretty satisfied with the first training for Team USA,” said team director Clint Jones. “All four of our athletes made some improvements over the three jumps and are starting to get comfortable on the hill.”

"Training was a bit tricky today after some long travel days en route to Pyeongchang," said Rhoads. "Our team actually started the morning at team processing in Seoul, we then traveled to the Olympic Athlete Village in PyeongChang and arrived only 30 minutes before we were set to leave to the ski jumping complex!

"Despite a little fatigue, the hills were perfectly prepared and the wind stayed calm so the training rounds went by quite well.  We are set for another official training round tomorrow morning and the qualification round Thursday night. Really excited and ready for what has to offer!"

Glasder, who won the Olympic Trials five weeks ago, was also impressed. "Even though it is my first Olympic Games I felt calm, cool, and collected," he said. "Training the last few weeks has prepared me greatly and the technique is moving in the correct direction at the right time. I was a little bit tired today due to the hectic travel schedule. I feel confident going into the qualification on the small hill tomorrow night."

The event will be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports mobile app beginning at 7:30 a.m. EST Thursday morning.  

ALPINE
Men's Downhill Training Starts Thursday
Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) kicks out of the start gate with bib 2 in the first of three scheduled downhill training runs Thursday leading up to Sunday's race. Also starting the first training run for Team USA will be Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah); Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.); Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.); Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.); Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.); and Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah).
Men’s Downhill Training Run 1 start list

FREESTYLE
Moguls Qualifying Friday
Things are shaping up on the Phoenix Park Resort moguls course. The U.S. Olympic moguls team arrived in the athlete village over the weekend, participated in an opening press conference and got down to work with three productive nights of training. The team will have a morning training session on Thursday (Wednesday night in the USA) before the first rounds of qualification for men and women on Friday.
The top 10 athletes from Friday’s qualification rounds will advance to finals. 

CROSS COUNTRY
Team USA Opens Training at Alpensia
The first group of Team USA cross country athletes have hit the trails at the Alpensia Nordic Centre. It may be a golf course in the summertime, but this course layout is tough. Athletes hit the trails for the first time Tuesday and Wednesday. Most of Team USA’s 20 athletes are in Alpensia including Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.), Sadie Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska), Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska), Rosie Brennan (Anchorage, Alaska), Ida Sargent (Craftsbury, Vt.) and Erik Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska), who held a press conference Wednesday. Starters for Saturday's opening women’s skiathlon will be decided on Friday.

SKI JUMPING
Training Begins at Alpensia Nordic Centre
The view of the towering jumps at the Alpensia Nordic Centre illuminated at night is becoming the iconic look of the PyeongChang Olympics as ski jumping training began on Wednesday. Team USA skipped the morning sessions but was out on the HS106m hill Wednesday evening. Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) led the team with two strong rounds including a 102.5m ride on his second jump. Bickner was joined by teammates Michael Glasder (Cary, Ill.), Casey Larson (Barrington, Ill.) and Will Rhoads (Park City, Utah) – all first-time Olympians.  
The women will get their first look at the jumps on Thursday with veteran Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) plus new Olympians Abby Ringquist (Park City, Utah) and Nita Englund (Florence, Wisc.). The men have a final training Thursday before the qualifying round where the top 40 finishers in a single jumping round will make the field for Saturday’s medal event. They will be joined by the top 10 in the world, who are pre-qualified.
It was a long day for Team USA with processing in Seoul and a long trip to Alpensia. “We are pretty satisfied with the first training for Team USA,” said team director Clint Jones. “ All four of our athletes made some improvements over the three jumps and are starting to get comfortable on the hill.”

SNOWBOARD
Big Features, Big Event
Team USA’s slopestyle athletes had a chance to ride the course Wednesday that includes some Olympic sized features. In Tuesday’s opening press conference, defending gold medalist Jamie Anderson’s eyes were big as she talked about the course. The team had an opportunity Tuesday for a quick course review and were hitting the jumps in Wednesday’s first full training session. The athletes will continue training daily leading up to Sunday’s opening medal event with women’s slopestyle snowboarding.  
The halfpipe snowboarding team including Shaun White (Carlsbad, Calif.), Kelly Clark Folsom, Calif.) and Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.) are in town and will open with a press conference Thursday before hitting the pipe at Phoenix Park. The first halfpipe event is set for Monday with women’s qualifying.

HOW TO WATCH
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 7
NBCSN
11:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m. - Men's downhill training - NBCSN

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
11:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m. - Men's downhill training (Thursday)

THURSDAY, FEB. 8
NBCSN
9:00-11:35 p.m. - Men's normal hill ski jumping qualifying
10:05 p.m.-1:35 a.m. - Moguls qualifying, men's downhill training

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
7:30-8:40 a.m. - Men's normal hill ski jumping qualifying
8:00-8:45 p.m. - Women's moguls qualifying (Friday)
9:45-10:30 p.m. - Men's moguls qualifying (Friday)
9:00-11:00 p.m. - Men's downhill training (Friday)

SATURDAY, FEB. 9
NBC
8:00-11:00 p.m. - Opening Ceremony

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
6:00-9:00 a.m. - Opening Ceremony
8:00 p.m.-12:30 a.m. - Men's slopestyle snowboarding qualifying
9:00-11:00 p.m. - Men's downhill training (Saturday)

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is heading to PyeongChang with one of its strongest teams ever. America's Olympic network NBC is planning 24-hour coverage across seven different platforms - the most Winter Olympic programming ever! For the first time ever, NBC will feature live streaming of every event at NBCOlympics.com and on the NBC Sports app. There will be more than 600 hours of broadcast coverage across the NBC network family including 160+ hours on NBC anchored by the nightly Primetime show with Mike Tirico. And for the first time ever, there will be no time delay across the United States for the evening Primetime show. Viewers will also be able to view past live streamed events on demand.

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team will also bring its fans supplemental coverage with U.S. Ski & Snowboard Studio featuring insightful interviews and behind the scenes action across each of the Team's social media channels.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Studio
The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Studio is a perfect second screen to the extensive NBC coverage with an insightful look behind the scenes deployed on the Team's social channels.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

NBC Where to Watch
NBC is rolling out 24-hour coverage on seven platforms covering every Olympic sport.

• NBC - featuring NBC Primetime and Primetime Plus coverage live across all time zones with extensive ski and snowboard coverage
• NBCSN - featuring live primetime coverage plus 24 hour coverage with a focus on ski and snowboard
• Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA - feature program, live Medals Ceremony coverage and daily highlight show with Jimmy Roberts
• NBCOlympics.com - featuring live streaming of every event in every sport
• NBC Sports app - featuring live streaming of every event in every sport
• CNBC (limited ski and snowboard coverage)
• USA Network (limited ski and snowboard coverage)

Consult NBCOlympics.com for the most complete daily listings which are subject to change.

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
The Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will provide 20 hours a day of Olympic coverage including live coverage of the daily medal ceremony (5:00 a.m. EST). Among the highlights will be a daily 30-minute studio show with Jimmy Roberts providing features, storytelling, commentary, and highlights, including a “Meet the Olympic Press” segment that will bring together contributing journalists to discuss all the daily news and storylines surrounding PyeongChang. Breaking news will be covered by the Olympic Channel News Service.

NBC BROADCAST-STREAMING PLAN
Note that daytime scheduled events in PyeongChang actually air the evening prior in the USA. That is noted in live streaming schedule. All schedules are subject to change. This schedule is designed as a highlight only. For full updated schedules go to www.nbcolympics.com.

NOTE: All times EST. Times and days reflect actual airing in Eastern Standard Time of the United States, which may differ from actual event day in Korea. There is a 14-hour time difference between EST and South Korea. For example, a 10 a.m. event on Saturday morning in South Korea, is 8 p.m. EST on Friday.

NBC Broadcast Listings

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Program Listings
 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22

The final individual alpine skiing event features the women's alpine combined where both Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin could battle for gold. Women's big air snowboarding makes its debut with Jamie Anderson the favorite but chased by teammates Hailey Langland, Julia Marino and Jessika Jenson.

NBC
3:00-5:00 p.m. Nordic combined relay jump

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

NBCOlympics.com - Live Streaming
2:30-3:10 a.m. - Nordic combined team large hill jump
5:20-6:20 a.m. - Nordic combined 4x5k team event
 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23

Team USA will be chasing medals in the men's debut of big air snowboarding with Red Gerard, Chris Corning and Kyle Mack going for gold.

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)
 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Men's cross country closes out its Olympics with the 50k classic mass start.

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, FEBRUARY 25

Action wraps up in PyeongChang with the women's 30k classic and the Closing Ceremony of the 2018 Games.

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

The United States Olympic Committee, in conjunction with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, today announced the addition of alpine skier Tricia Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y.) to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team. 

She replaces the quota spot previously held by Jackie Wiles (Portland, Ore.), who was injured on Feb. 3 in competition at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Mangan, 20, skied for Holimont Race Team in Western New York, was recently fourth in super-G at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Switzerland, and snagged her first points and a 19th-place finish in alpine combined at the FIS Ski World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, earlier this season.

Team USA now stands at 244. Updated rosters can be found at TeamUSA.org/2018Olympics.

Before the Olympics, silver medalist Gus Kenworthy came onto The Ellen Show to talk qualifying for the 2018 Olympics, his silver medal from 2014 and how coming out has changed his life.

Watch a snippet of the show below.

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) is ready for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games after picking up her 81st-career FIS Ski World Cup victory – her second-straight downhill win and third of the season – Sunday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

“I have so much confidence right now in my skiing, mentally, and my equipment,” Vonn said. “Everything is coming together better than I could have hoped or planned for.  And now I go into Korea with a couple of wins under my belt and I’m just really looking forward to skiing the same way, or even better than I skied this weekend – full charge! No holding back. I’m going to lay it all out on the table and see what happens.”

It was another good news, bad news day for the U.S. women as Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) picked up her second-straight top-10 result in 8th; Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) was 23rd; Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) 29th and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) in 31st. Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) was having a solid run until she hit a compression midway down the Kandahar track and slammed into the A-net at a high rate of speed. However, she did stand up briefly before being taken off the course in a sled as a precaution and is OK. In Saturday’s race, Jackie Wiles (Portland, Ore.) suffered a left leg injury resulting from a crash. She will miss the upcoming Games and the rest of the season. Ross also crashed in Saturday’s race.

In Sunday’s full-length downhill race, Vonn absolutely nailed the top portion of the Kandahar track, leading at the first two intervals over Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather. But she fell off the pace in the middle portion of the course, only to come storming back on the bottom to move into the lead.

“Its kind of similar to Lake Louise where I know exactly what I have to do to win,” Vonn said of the Kandahar track. “The bottom section is always critical. Almost every race I’ve raced here, the race is won or lost in the last 30-45 seconds.

“So I carried all my speed really well,” Vonn continued. “I executed exactly the line that I’d hoped for and I was able to actually accelerate down to the finish.”

For the second consecutive day, Italy’s Sofia Goggia finished second to Vonn. Weirather was third. Goggia continues to lead the overall World Cup downhill standings by 23 points over Vonn with one downhill remaining next month at the World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden.

Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) opted to sit out this weekend’s speed events to train and rest up for the Olympic Winter Games. Shiffrin continues to lead the overall World Cup standings by 671 points over Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener.

Up next, the 2018 Olympic Winer Games. The first event for the women will be giant slalom on Feb. 12, followed by slalom Feb. 14; super-G Feb. 17; downhill Feb. 21; and alpine combined on Feb. 23.

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Sunday, Feb. 4
4:00 p.m. – Women’s downhill; Garmisch – NBCSN (same day delay)
 

Jackie Wiles (Portland, Ore.) will be unable to compete at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, according to the United States Olympic Committee and U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Wiles suffered injuries to her left knee and leg Saturday (Feb. 3) in a crash during a FIS Ski World Cup in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, won by teammate Lindsey Vonn.

“I am completely devastated and heartbroken that I’m unable to compete in my second Olympic Games, but this is the nature of our sport and I must stay positive," said Wiles. "My teammates who have come back from injury give me hope that I too can come back stronger. Now I’ll shift my focus to rehabbing and getting strong for next World Cup season, and the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. I will be rooting very hard for my teammates – who make up a strong women’s speed squad – and look forward to returning and joining them again next year!”

"We are all extremely disappointed that Jackie suffered this injury so close to the Games,” said Luke Bodensteiner, U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport. “It’s a big loss to our alpine ski team, especially after her very strong results this season. We will do everything we can to support her in her rehabilitation and we’re already looking forward to seeing Jackie back in competitive action, stronger than ever, as soon as possible.”

Wiles is one of three U.S. athletes to score a podium finish in women’s downhill this season with her third-place finish in the event in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and a fifth place in the downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta, to open the speed season.

The USOC and U.S. Ski & Snowboard have not yet determined if her spot will be replaced under the team quota.

U.S. Ski Team cross country racer Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) arrived in Seoul, South Korea Saturday ready to start in the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang for Team USA. Sargent injured a thumb in a training crash January 27 in Seefeld, Austria. She had surgery on her left thumb but is expected to start in the classic sprint on February 13.

The crash occurred in training before the World Cup freestyle sprint in Seefeld when Sargent and another skier collided. She stayed on the sidelines for that race, then flew to the USA for surgery with Dr. Randy Viola at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo.

"I'm incredibly grateful for the awesome work by Dr. Viola and everyone at the Steadman Clinic and the support from the U.S. Ski Team medical staff," said Sargent. "Getting surgery right away and starting my recovery so quickly has been amazing."

"We don't get many injuries in cross country skiing so we're appreciative that Ida could get back quickly," said Head Coach Chris Grover. "She's an important part of the mix for the classic sprint and we expect her to be a contender."

Sargent arrived in Korea along with the first contingent of her teammates. Others remain training in Seefeld. She expects to be on-snow training with the Olympic Team at the Alpensia Nordic Centre early this week.

Lindsey Vonn’s (Vail, Colo.) Olympic Winter Games preparation is right on target following her 80th career FIS Ski World Cup victory on the Kandahar downhill track in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Saturday.

Italy’s Sofia Goggia finished second, followed by Austria’s Cornelia Huetter in third. Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) just missed the podium, posting a career-best World Cup finish in fourth.

Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) was 17th; Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) was 22nd, and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.), who was just added to the U.S. Olympic Alpine Team Saturday, was 37th.  Jackie Wiles (Portland, Ore.) and Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) both crashed. Ross did ski to the finish, however, Wiles was taken off the course in a sled and is being treated for a left leg injury. There is no confirmation yet on any impact to her Olympic Team status.

Saturday’s race was scheduled to be a two-run downhill sprint. However, weather canceled downhill training both Thursday and Friday, so the women ran a downhill training run prior to the race Saturday. Both the training run and race started from the super-G start.

Saturday’s victory was Vonn’s fourth World Cup downhill win on the Kandahar track and her eighth career World Cup victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Up next, the women compete in another downhill Sunday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is scheduled as a full-length downhill event.

RESULTS
Women’s Downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, Feb. 4
6:30 a.m. – Women’s downhill; Garmisch – Olympic Channel TV (LIVE)
4:00 p.m. – Women’s downhill; Garmisch – NBCSN (same day delay)

The United States Olympic Committee, in conjunction with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, today announced the addition of alpine skier Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team.
 
Merryweather replaces the quota spot previously held by Steven Nyman, who was injured on Jan. 26 in competition at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
 
Merryweather, 21, who skis out of Stratton Mountain School, won downhill gold last season at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships, then broke into the top 20 in downhill at the FIS World Cup Final in Aspen last March.
 
Team USA now stands at 243 athletes, including 135 men and 108 women. Updated rosters can be found at TeamUSA.org/2018Olympics.