Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) closed out her dream season with a fourth FIS Ski World Cup Crystal Globe - and her first giant slalom title - following her 17th victory of the season at Saturday’s World Cup Finals giant slalom in Soldeu, Andorra.

“I’ve been dreaming about (winning the giant slalom Crystal Globe) for a really long time,” Shiffrin said. “Since...before my first slalom Globe. And there have been a lot of moments in the past eight years where I thought I would never be able to achieve this goal.

“To be here now, after this season...this whole season has felt like a dream,” she continued. “It’s really hard to believe that it actually happened.”

Well, it did and she owned it! Setting records all season, including…

• The most World Cup victories in a season - 17.

• The first alpine skier, male or female, to ever win the World Cup overall, slalom, giant slalom and super-G crystal globes in one year.

• The fifth woman to win the slalom and giant slalom crystal globes in one season, after Tanja Poutiainen (2005), Anja Pärson (2004), Vreni Schneider (1989, 1995) and Lise-Marie Morerod (1977).

And she did it all with gas left in the tank after 26 World Cup starts this season and racking up an impressive 70-percent win ratio - the highest winning record of any athlete in any major sport! Her worst finish of the season was ninth in downhill at Lake Louise, Canada, which is impressive in itself as it was only her seventh-ever World Cup downhill start.

But throughout the entire season, Shiffrin has not focused on the victories, the records, or the Globes. Her focus has remained on one thing, and one thing only - the quality of her skiing.

Racing under perfect conditions with sunshine on a hard, fast track, Shiffrin took the first run lead by .59 seconds over Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg, and .81 seconds over New Zealand’s 17-year-old Junior World Giant Slalom Champion Alice Robinson, who is coached by former longtime U.S. Ski & Snowboard coach Chris "CK" Knight. After Robinson laid down a blistering second run and sat in the hot seat, Shiffrin left it all on the hill for the final run of the World Cup season.

“I came out here today...to fight and be aggressive, and maybe make mistakes, but ski really fast,” she said. “My first run felt amazing, and my second run was feeling really, really good, then I went down on my hip, and I was thinking 'I lost it!’ But that’s part of it, that’s part of the fight.”

Robinson held on for second - her first career World Cup podium - and Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova, the 2019 Giant Slalom World Champion, rounded out the podium in third.

With the season wrapped up, Shiffrin is off for a few days of rest and relaxation in Spain before heading back to the United States. But after being pushed by Robinson Sunday and Vlhova all season long, she knows that next season’s prep has already started.

“One thing that does keep (this season) in perspective is someone like Alice Robinson coming down into second with two runs of amazing skiing, and feeling like, I don’t know, next season has started,” she said. “There is always a new reason to be motivated and that sometimes puts it in perspective for me

“The real goal is always pushing my level of skiing, pushing my limit. Seeing what’s possible...as long as I have motivation and fire, then I’ll be doing this as well as I can,” she continued. “That is kind of the ultimate goal. So in that way, it doesn’t matter how many Globes, or wins, or whatever, it’s just go for it because it’s fun.”

RESULTS
Women’s giant slalom

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup overall
Women’s World Cup giant slalom
 

Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) took the victory under the lights at the final FIS Freeski and Snowboard World Cup big air season Saturday night in Quebec City, Canada. 

"This contest is always cool to attend because of all the people the come watch," said Marino. "Quebec gets really festive for that night and it really fun to be a part of it, not to mention they do a really good job with the jump every year making sure that because it’s a scaffolding it’s not too sketchy and it’s perfect every time."

The competition kicked off in the afternoon with the freeskiers taking to the 40-meter tall, 90-meter long scaffolding jump set-up located between two converging highway overpasses. A capacity crowd looked on as the best athletes in the world dropped into one of the most impressive venues of the FIS World Cup tour.

Double-Olympic medalist Nick Goepper fell on his first attempt but made a run at the podium after lacing his last two runs and landing a right double cork 1260 Mute to Japan, as well as a right double cork 1260 Cuban. Goepper’s combination put him on the bubble in third place, where he lasted until the number one qualifier and the last rider to drip, Fabian Boesch of Switzerland stomped a perfectly execute right triple cork 1620. Goepper would finish the night just outside the podium in fourth place.

Lukas Muellauer of Austria won the event and Switzerland’s Boesch and Andri Ragettli finished in second and third respectively. Ragettli’s podium finish secured the coveted Crystal Globe in big air.

For the women, Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud topped the podium, Kea Kuehnel of Germany finished second, and Canada’s Elena Gaskell finished in third. Gaskell’’s third-place finish locked in the World Cup big air title.

As the sun set, the lights turned on, and the big air jump quickly became part of the Quebec skyline for the evening as snowboarders lined up for their chance at the massive jump. Marino would take the top spot for the ladies landing all three of her tricks and securing her third consecutive big air podium in Quebec in three years.

On the final run, Laurie Blouin of Canada was the only rider left that could challenge Marino. Blouin landed her final trick in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd, but to Marino’s favor, her final score would only be good enough for second place. As the top qualifier, Marino had a victory lap waiting for her on run three, but she did not let off the gas. Feeding off the crowd, she dropped in full speed and stomped a double underflip to improve on her first run score. Blouin finished second, and Klaudia Medlova of Slovakia closed out the podium in third.

For the men, Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) rode extremely well landing his first two tricks including a beautiful front side flat spinning 1440 Indy. The flat spins are known to be extremely difficult to stop rotating for a solid landing, but Stassel locked it in. Dropping into run two and listening to Kansas, Stassel landed a backside 1260 Mute to move into first with only one run remaining. He was unable to land his final run and improve his score, opening the door for the rest of the field to fight for a spot on the podium.

Seppe Smit of Belgium, would land his final run and move into first where he would finish. Kalle Jarvilehto of Finland and Jonas Boesiger of Switzerland both landed their third run and would move into second and third respectively. Stassel finished fifth.

The Quebec World Cup signals the end of the FIS snowboard season. However, the U.S. Freeski Team will cap off their competition season in Silvaplana, Switzerland, March 29-30 with a full slopestyle program. Mac Forehand (Winhall, Vt.) will compete for a chance to take home the Crystal Globe as he currently leads the slopestyle World Cup standings.

CUP STANDINGS
Men’s freeski big air
Women’s freeski big air
Men’s snowboard big air
Women’s snowboard big air

RESULTS
Men’s freeski big air
Women’s freeski big air
Men’s snowboard big air
Women’s snowboard big air
 

HOW TO WATCH
All times EDT
**Next-day broadcast

FREESKIING
Monday, March 18
7:00 p.m. - Men and women’s big air - Quebec, CAN - Olympic Channel-TV**

SNOWBOARDING
Monday, March 18
8:00 p.m. - Men and women’s big air - Quebec, CAN - Olympic Channel-TV**

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.
 

Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) and Jesse Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) each won their first U.S. Freestyle Championships individual moguls titles Saturday at New Hampshire’s Waterville Valley Resort.

“I feel like I've been trying for quite a few years and haven't been able to get there yet, so I'm really stoked with (the U.S. title),” said Kauf, who won the U.S. dual moguls title and finished third in the individual moguls at the 2017 U.S. Championships. “There is so much talent on the U.S. women's mogul team...to be able to walk away with a win and stand on top of the podium today means a lot.”

Hannah Soar (Killington, Vt.) posted a career-best U.S. Championship result, finishing second, while Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.), the defending U.S. Champion in dual moguls, posted a career-best individual result in third. Johnson will have the opportunity to defend her duals title Sunday at Waterville Valley.

In the men’s final, Andringa, who finished second last year at the U.S. Championships, edged-out a couple of young guns to take his first individual moguls title.

“It means a lot (to win the title),” Andringa said. “There is so much good talent out here, so much young talent out here, that just to be on the podium in an accomplishment in its own. To lay down a good run today, I’ve been struggling all week, it feels really good.”

Nick Page (Wasatch Freestyle/Salt Lake City, Utah) stepped up his game, finishing on the podium in second after finishing 34th at the U.S. Championships last season. While George McQuinn (Winter Park Competition Center/Winter Park, Colo.) improved upon his sixth-place finish from the 2018 U.S. Championships to round out the podium in third Saturday.

RESULTS
Men’s U.S. Championships individual moguls
Women’s U.S. Championships individual moguls

A short, but thrilling FIS Snowboard World Cup snowboardcross season came to a close in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, Saturday and U.S riders finished out the season strong. With four World Cup stops, five races, and an incredibly successful 2019 FIS World Championships, the U.S Snowboardcross Team was in the mix the entire season.

For the women, the Veysonnaz finals could not have been scripted any better, as the six-time FIS World Champion, and three-time World Cup Champion, Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) and Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic came into the final event tied at the top of the overall World Cup SBX standings with 3,400 points each.

Samkova won the event, as Chloe Tespeuch of France finished second, and Michela Moioli of Italy capped of a strong season in third-place. Jacobellis finished fifth after winning the small final. The FIS World Cup standings would finish with Samkova winning the Crystal Globe and Jacobellis in second. Faye Gulini (Salt Lake City, Utah) finished a respectable 11th place in Veysonnaz.

Although Jacobellis didn’t take home her fourth World Cup title, she did complete another historic season. Jacobellis, the winningest snowboardcross athlete in history, earned her 30th World Cup victory this season, and her sixth FIS World Championship title in the inaugural team boardercross event with 2019 individual snowboardcross champion Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, Colo.). In addition, Jacobellis found success outside of the World Cup tour successfully hosting the ninth rendition of the Supergirl Snow Pro, providing increased opportunity for female snowboard athletes to follow their dreams. Jacobellis continues to be a staple and leader in the snowboardcross community at 33-years-old.

For the men, Hagen Kearney (Norwood, Colo.) was the top U.S. finisher in fifth-place. U.S. Snowboardcross team mates DIderdorff and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, Mich.) finished in 14th and 15th respectively. Lucas Equibar of Spain won as Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria finished second and claimed the Crystal Globe, while Cameron Bolton of Australia closed out the podium in third-place.

Notable U.S. finishes in the World Cup overall standings include 2018 FIS Junior World Champion Jake Vedder (Pickney, Mich.) finishing ninth. Not only did Vedder earn a top-10 finish in the overall standings proving he is in mix with the best in the world, but he also earned his first-ever FIS World Cup podium in Cervinia, Italy, at the first stop of the season. Teammates Dierdorff, Kearney, Alex Deibold (Manchester, Vt.) and veteran Nate Holland (Sandpoint, Idaho) finished 13th, 14th, 16th and 20th respectively.

Holland suggested that, after 16 seasons on the snowboardcross World Cup, he’s likely to be hanging up the race bib and retiring after Saturday’s competition. Last season’s winner in Veysonnaz, Holland has seven World Cup victories, 17 podiums, two world championship podiums, and eight X Games gold medals to his name, and is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest SBX riders of all-time.

If Holland chooses not to return next season, the U.S. Snowboardcross Team is set to fill the veteran’s void with strong young riders like Vedder, Senna Leith (Vail, Colo.) and Cole Johnson (Reno, Nev.) coming up through the ranks. In addition, Dierdorff, Baumgartner, Kearney, Jonathan Cheever (Saugus, Mass.) and Olympic medalist Alex Deibold continue to prove they can find the podium on any given day. The future is bright for the U.S. Snowboardcross Team.

CUP STANDINGS
Men’s snowboardcross
Women’s snowboardcross

RESULTS
Men’s snowboardcross
Women’s snowboardcross
 

Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) led the way for the U.S. Ski Team, finishing eighth in the final giant slalom of the season at the FIS Ski World Cup Finals in Soldeu, Andorra. Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) was 17th.

“Tied for my season’s best, so that’s good,” Ligety said of is eighth-place finish. “It’s not where I want to be having my best result being eighth place, but it’s a good step in the right direction. There were spots I was happy about, I just need to tighten it up.”

Alexis Pinturault of France took the victory. Marco Odermatt of Switzerland was second, and Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec was third. World Cup giant slalom champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria was fifth. Ford finished the season 10th in the World Cup GS standings.

Up next, the U.S. Ski Team heads to Sugarloaf Maine for the Toyota U.S. Alpine Speed Championship March 16-21,, then Waterville Valley, N.H. for the Toyota U.S. Alpine Tech Championship March 23-16.

RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom

STANDINGS
Men’s World Cup giant slalom
Men’s World Cup overall

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Sunday, March 17
4:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

With a miraculous second run, Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) won her 16th World Cup victory of the season in Saturday’s slalom at the FIS Ski World Cup Finals in Soldeu, Andorra.

Racing under brilliant sunshine on a hard, fast track, Shiffrin finished second in the first run to Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener by .28-seconds, but ahead of Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova by .94-seconds. In the second run, Vlhova laid down a near-perfect run, forcing both Shiffrin and Holdener to fight for the victory. And fight they did. 

“The second run was a really big fight,” Shiffrin said. “I already had the (slalom Crystal Globe) where I came here today, so I was just skiing to try to be aggressive. I had some mistakes in both my first and second run, but it was aggressive skiing. The second run, it was just a battle to try and stay in the course, try to be athletic, and keep moving.”

Despite a couple of mistakes on the second run, Shiffrin moved past Vlhova and into the lead by 1.20 seconds, pressuring Holdener to ski aggressive for the victory. But a couple of mistakes, especially on the bottom of the course relegated the Swiss to second. Vlhova settled for third.

“Wendy...had a little mistake on the bottom, sort of the same that I did, but maybe a little bit more, and so I was just seven-hundredths ahead...but it’s just a really amazing day to be racing,” Shiffrin said.

With the victory, Shiffrin equaled Ingemar Stenmark on an all-time record list with 40 World Cup slalom race victories. She also joined Stenmark (8), Vreni Schneider (6) and Marcel Hirscher (6, incl. 2019) on at least six overall World Cup slalom Crystal Globes. With Saturday’s victory, Shiffrin wrapped up an incredible season in slalom, winning eight of the nine World Cup slaloms this season, in addition to her third-straight World Championships slalom title.

Saturday’s race was also the final World Cup slalom race for the legendary Frida Hansdotter of Sweden, who finished fifth and ends her career with six career World Cup victories, including four slalom wins. Hansdotter was also the last women to win the overall World Cup slalom Crystal Globe, besides Shiffrin, in 2016 when Shiffrin was sidelined for a portion of the season with an injury.

“Frida has been at the top for my entire career,” Shiffrin said. “Last time we raced (in Andorra) I think she was on the podium with Marlies (Schild), and Kathrin Zettel. And I remember thinking, someday if I could be on the podium with those girls, it would be a dream. I’m wishing her the best for the future, and I'm so thankful she was there to push me to be better.”

Shiffrin wraps up her World Cup season Sunday with the final giant slalom race of the season where she is in the running for the overall giant slalom Crystal Globe - a career first. She currently leads the World Cup giant slalom standings by 97 points over Vlhova. Shiffrin will secure the ladies' giant slalom crystal globe if she finishes in the top-15 or if Petra Vlhova fails to win the race.

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

STANDINGS
World Cup slalom
World Cup overall

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Sunday, March 17
4:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.) led the way for the U.S. Ski Team, finishing 13th, in Thursday FIS Ski World Cup Finals super-G in sunny Soldeu, Andorra. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT.) was 16th, and super-G Junior World Champion River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.) was 19th.

Italy’s Dominik Paris continued his super-G dominance with his fourth super-G victory of the season. Paris also wrapped up the overall World Cup super-G title. Swiss Mauro Caviezel was second, followed by Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr in third.

With the World Cup speed season wrapped up, the U.S. Ski Team heads to Sugarloaf, Maine, for the speed events of the 2019 National Alpine Championships.

RESULTS
Men’s super-G

STANDINGS
Men’s World Cup super-G
Men’s World Cup overall

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Friday, March 15
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals team event - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 16
4:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s giant slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 17
4:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN*

On a sun-drenched day racing on perfect snow, Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) won her third FIS Ski World Cup Crystal Globe of the 2019 season after finishing fourth in the super-G at the World Cup Finals in Soldeu, Andorra.

“It was super, super fun to ski,” a smiling Shiffrin said. “There were a  lot of blind rolls and spots where you wanted to be tactical, but still like always in super-G, you have to go crazy. So I had some moments where I was thinking ‘whoa, maybe I lost it there!’ I was trying to go full-gas, but it was super fun and the conditions were perfect.”

Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg won, as Austria’s Tamara Tippler was second at .15 back, and Italy’s Federica Brignone was third at .34. Shiffrin was .44 off Rebensburg’s winning time.

Shiffrin was the World Cup super-G leader heading into the Finals, having won all three super-G events this season. However, both Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein and Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria were well within striking distance of the taking the overall super-G title. But Weirather - a seven-time overall World Cup super-G champion - did not finish Thursday's race, and Schmidhofer tied with Shiffrin for fourth, handing the three-time overall World Cup Champion and six-time World Cup slalom champion her first career super-G title.

“When I saw I was tied...with Schmiddy and ahead of Tina, that’s crazy. What a season!” Shiffrin said.

Additionally, with Shiffrin's fourth place today, she now has 2,004 points with two races to go – surpassing Austrian Hermann Maier, who scored 2,000 points (and holds the men’s record) in the 1999-2000 season. From 2000-2013, Maier also held the title of most points in one season, until Slovenia's Tina Maze scored 2,414 points in the 2013 season.

Up next, Shiffrin will compete in slalom Saturday at the World Cup Finals, and giant slalom Sunday. She has already wrapped up the slalom title and the overall World Cup title and leads the giant slalom standings by 97 points over Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova.

“I’m going to take a bit of a recovery day (Friday), then go for slalom and go for GS and see what’s possible,” Shiffrin said.

RESULTS
Women’s super-G

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup super-G
Women’s World Cup overall

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Thursday, March 14
11:00 a.m.  - Men and women’s World Cup Finals super-G - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN*

Friday, March 15
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals team event - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 16
4:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s giant slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 17
4:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard member club Sugar Bowl Academy (SBA) in California is celebrating a significant milestone this winter, its 20th anniversary. SBA is an 8th through 12th-grade independent college preparatory boarding and day school designed for competitive skiers whose founder, Tricia Hellman Gibbs, was inspired to create a ski academy where student-athletes can pursue their passion for high-level skiing while receiving an excellent education.

SBA has grown significantly in its 20-year history. With an initial graduating class of three students, SBA now has more than 140 graduates and 75 full-year student-athletes. As the only ski academy in the country with ski-in and ski-out facilities, its location in the village of Sugar Bowl is truly unique.

After a successful capital campaign in 2014, SBA built a new residence hall for 31 boarding students and a state-of-the-art academic building. In addition, students have access to Sporthaus, a 10,000 square-foot gym, for strength, conditioning, and recovery work.

Sugar Bowl Academy’s graduates have gone on to race in the Olympics Winter Games for the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, and competed on the World Junior Freeride Tour. SBA’s graduates frequently ski for NCAA Division I college and university programs as well as club teams.

Equally weighted with their athletic success, SBA’s graduates are well prepared for college. The Academy offers a comprehensive college preparatory program and is the only ski academy to offer AP classes. Ryan Aldrich, Head of School, commented, “One of the special qualities and a core part of the mission of this Academy is that student-athletes can pursue both their athletic and academic dreams without having to sacrifice one for the other. We take pride in the individualized support our staff provides our student-athletes during the winter when travel is at its peak. Our student-athletes learn how to manage their time well, advocate for themselves, and develop a stronger sense of agency in owning their learning by the time they graduate.”

SBA alumni Riley Plant, a 2018 Middlebury College graduate and former captain of Middlebury’s alpine ski team, reflected on his SBA experience, “By intertwining academics, athletics, and the outdoors, students naturally become well-rounded, wholesome people. I am now six years post-grad and thank SBA for a large part of my life fulfillment – the program taught me to see challenges as opportunities arise and conquer, rather than turn and run.”

Recently, the Board of Trustees and senior leadership completed a 10-month strategic planning process, which revitalized the organization’s mission statement, developed core values, and created the vision statement “To be recognized as the gold standard for ski teams and ski academies.”

“It’s an exciting time to be a part of SBA,” commented Ryan Aldrich, “this is an incredible place to work and we are excited about the vision for the next 20 years.”
 

Under the sun on a bluebird day in Soldeu, Andorra, Italy’s Dominik Paris claimed the victory, but it was the Swiss Beat Feuz who earned the FIS Ski World Cup downhill Chrystal Globe while Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.) led the Americans, finishing 10th.

In his comeback season from a season-ending knee injury sustained in December 2017 that had him sidelined for the PyeongChang Olympic Games, Ganong was able to progress steadily and find the flow to get back to racing speed. “I finally feel like I’m starting to find my speed and my confidence in my skiing,” Ganong reflected. “It’s too bad the season is over now, but it’s good to go into the prep period and into the summer with a little confidence and mentally knowing that I still have it and I’m fired up for the next year.” 

The track was a new one for the men, and - as teammate Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) had commented on after the second and final downhill training run on Tuesday - it was also a bit easier of a downhill track than most the men have seen this season. “It’s the last run of the season in downhill,” Ganong said after his run. “So it was pretty fun to enjoy perfect snow and a little easier track than we normally ski...so you can focus on enjoying the skiing. It’s a really fun, kind of flowy hill, and there’s no big scary jump or gnarly section.” Norway's Kjetil Jansrud finished second, and Austria's Otmar Striedinger finished third to round out the podium. 

Bennett struggled to find his timing on the track, finishing 21st and slipping back from sixth in the overall downhill standings to seventh. However, after finishing 20th in the 2017-18 standings, Bennett far exceeded his expectations this season. “Last night I was spending a little time reflecting on the goals I had written down for myself, and my goal this season was to become top 15 in the world,” Bennett commented. “Which means you have to be consistently in there every weekend. And there were a few weekends in there this season where I really surprised myself, where I was like, ‘Wow, I can compete with these guys when all of the pieces are in line.’ So, I far exceeded my expectations about three races into the season, and I was able to keep it going for a while.”

A little bout of food poisoning and a lack of energy as a result of traveling all season and living out of a duffel bag away from North America caught up to Bennett in Andorra, though, slowing him down a tad. “Unfortunately, here I got a little food poisoning and I was really on the edge already with energy, and it’s been really tough for me,” Bennett said. “But it is what it is, I’m safe and hopefully we can make a few adjustments coming into next season and put ourselves into an even better position.”

What will it take for Bennett to win the downhill title - something no American has done before - someday? “You need that experience - of just living and competing in Europe - and also your equipment needs to be in line every single weekend and you have to understand what you’re doing at all of these venues,” Bennett remarked. “For me, personally, if I can manage through the North American series and then put the hammer down through all of the classics, I’ll set myself up for a position to have a chance at a title. The classic downhills are what really get me fired up for racing World Cup downhill, so managing the pieces when you’re not at the classics and then putting the hammer down when it’s the real downhills.”

Veteran teammate and mentor to Bennett, Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah), ran into some trouble after clocking a fast top split, and finished 16th in Wednesday’s downhill, pushing him to 16th in the season standings. Ganong finished 20th in the season downhill standings.

Up next, the men and women will race super-G on Thursday, with Ganong, Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.), and World Juniors Champion River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.) competing for the men. Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) will go into Thursday’s super-G with the leader bib, ahead of Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather by 32 points.

RESULTS
Men’s downhill

FINAL STANDINGS
Men’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Wednesday, March 13
12:30 p.m.  - Men and women’s World Cup Finals downhill - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN*

Thursday, March 14
5:30 a.m. - Men and women’s World Cup Finals super-G - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:00 a.m.  - Men and women’s World Cup Finals super-G - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN*

Friday, March 15
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals team event - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 16
4:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s giant slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold 

Sunday, March 17
4:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com& NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 1 - Soldeu, AND - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - World Cup Finals men’s slalom run 2 - Soldeu, AND - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - World Cup Finals women’s giant slalom - Soldeu, AND - NBCSN*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.