The FIS Ski World Cup men’s slalom tour continued on Sunday with blue skies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, for the second of two slalom races in the weekend’s series. Ben Ritchie led the way for the Americans, earning a career-best 20th place despite the challenging conditions. 

Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen took his second-consecutive World Cup slalom victory, excelling on a tricky second run set he deemed “for the men, not the boys.” David “Rocket” Ryding skyrocketed from a 19th place first run to end up second place on a course set by his coach. Germany’s Linus Strasser rounded out the podium in third. 

With this victory, Kristoffersen took the lead in the slalom standings with 356 points from teammate Lucas Braathen (307 points). Adding to Kristoffersen’s victory, he became the first man in slalom to win multiple World Cup slalom races this season. Braathen also had an impressive showing in the second run, with another significant jump, from 24th place first run to clock the second-fastest second run and land just off the podium in fourth. 

Ritchie set himself up well in the first run, finishing 18th, putting him in a good place to make the top 30 flip and collect some more World Cup points. He skied a solid and smart second run and grabbed a career-best 20th place finish.

With the depth in this men’s slalom field, anything could have happened. Nine athletes did not finish the second run, including Swiss Loic Meillard who was leading after the first run, making it an advantage to Kristoffersen to snag the win from his opponents. 

Fellow Americans Luke Winters, Jett Seymour, and Alex Leever also started but did not qualify for a second run. 

Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt continues to lead in the overall standings, with 1,200 points to Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde’s 825 points. With his performance this weekend, Kristoffersen moved up to fourth in the overall standings, with 659 points. 

The men will travel to Kvitfjell, Norway for a pair of downhill races—including the rescheduled downhill from the Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup at Beaver Creek, Colo.—and a super-G. 

RESULTS
Men’s slalom

STANDINGS
World Cup Slalom
World Cup Overall

HOW TO WATCH:
Please note: Streaming services and apps are third-party services and subject to such parties’ terms of use and data privacy. U.S. Ski & Snowboard disclaims any and all liability for use of third-party services and apps.

Sport-specific broadcast and streaming schedules are available below:

• Alpine
• Cross Country
• Freeski
• Freestyle
• Ski Jumping
• Nordic Combined
• Snowboard

Broadcast and streaming schedules are updated on a daily basis throughout the season.

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Crans-Montana, Switzerland for the first of two FIS Ski World Cup women’s downhills, with Keely Cashman leading two Americans into the top 30. 

Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka found her way back to the top of the podium, with Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel in second place, and Austria’s Cornelia Huetter continuing her string of strong results in third to round out the podium. Cashman, who was fresh off a 17th place result in the downhill at Beijing 2022 to lead the Americans, was skiing solid and ended up in 28th to grab more World Cup points. Teammate Bella Wright followed in 30th. 

Both Cashman and Wright are coming back from injuries and gaining some important confidence on the World Cup stage once again. Cashman, who sustained a concussion, minor MCL strain, hematoma in both hips, and a temporary loss of feeling in her foot from bruising from a training crash in January 2021 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, has been building confidence all season since returning to competition in October's World Cup opener. Wright crashed in the second of two World Cup super-G races at St. Moritz, Switzerland in December, sustaining a broken talus bone in her right ankle. She returned for the Olympics, but this was her first World Cup back since injury. 

Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who had an impressive comeback at the Olympics from an injury sustained in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy to grab silver in the downhill at the Olympics, struggled to approach the race in her normal hard-charging manner. She ended up 12th on the day but remains the leader in the downhill standings with 422 points to Switzerland’s Corrine Suter with 357 points. 

Two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin, who opted to sit the Crans-Montana downhills out in order to rest, recharge, and prepare for the upcoming World Cups, retained her overall lead by a mere 15 points (1,026 points) over rival Petra Vlhova (1,011)  from Slovakia. Vlhova decided to leave the Olympics following the slalom to get some training in, entering the Crans-Montana speed races in hopes of skiing fast for valuable points but ended up taking home just two points in Saturday’s downhill, finishing 29th. 

Alix Wilkinson and Jackie Wiles also started for the Americans, narrowly missing the top 30 and landing in 31st and 33rd, respectively. The women will tackle another downhill on Sunday, which is the final downhill prior to the World Cup Finals in Courchevel/Meribel, France.

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

STANDINGS
Downhill
Overall

HOW TO WATCH:

Please note: Streaming services and apps are third-party services and subject to such parties’ terms of use and data privacy. U.S. Ski & Snowboard disclaims any and all liability for use of third-party services and apps.

*All times EST.

Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022
3:10 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER, Streaming Ski and Snowboard Live, Streaming Peacock
4:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women’s Downhill - LIVE, Crans-Montana, SUI, Broadcast Olympic Channel, Streaming Peacock
6:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER, Streaming Ski and Snowboard Live, Streaming Peacock

Sport-specific broadcast and streaming schedules are available below:

• Alpine
• Cross Country
• Freeski
• Freestyle
• Ski Jumping
• Nordic Combined
• Snowboard

Broadcast and streaming schedules are updated on a daily basis throughout the season.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named 12 athletes to the 2022 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships Team. These athletes will represent the U.S. Alpine Ski Team in Panorama, Canada, in 11 events from March 1-9, 2022.

The 2022 squad is derived from the U.S. Alpine Ski Team C and 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.

In 2021, Junior World Ski Championships were shortened and nation quotas were halved due to COVID, but both Ben Ritchie (gold) and AJ Hurt (bronze) brought home medals in the slalom for the American squad. Ritchie and Hurt have moved up in the ranks. Still, the 2022 team features depth and promise, along with experience on the World Cup stage by Lauren Macuga, Allie Resnick, Nicola Rountree-Williams, and Zoe Zimmermann—who was sixth in the slalom last year in Bansko. Isaiah Nelson, who snagged seventh in giant slalom and ninth in super-G in Bansko, will lead the way on the men's side.

“We have named a great group of promising young athletes for this year’s World Junior Championships team,” said U.S. Alpine Ski Team Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. He continued, “After winning two medals at last year’s COVID-shortened event in Bulgaria and returning five members from that 2021 team, we are excited to continue building for the future. Everyone on this year’s team has had standout results at the Europa Cup and NorAm levels so far this season, so we are looking forward to competing for podiums and top-10s against the world’s best junior athletes.”

The 2022 Junior Worlds will once again include downhill, alpine combined, and team events, along with super-G, giant slalom, and slalom events for both men and women. Live timing will be provided by the International Ski Federation (FIS).


2022 FIS ALPINE JUNIOR WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
Name, Hometown; Club (Birthdate)

Women

• Ava Sunshine Jemison, Edwards, Colo.; Burke Mountain Academy (6/20/2002)
• Lauren Macuga, Park City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard (7/4/2002)
• Allie Resnick, Vail, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (9/1/2001)
• Dasha Romanov, Thornton, Colo.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (5/3/2003)
• 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)
• Camden Palmquist, Eagan, Minn.; Team Summit Colorado (4/15/2003)
• Tanner Perkins, Crested Butte, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club (5/18/2001)
• Jay Poulter, Bondville, Vt.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Stratton Mountain School (7/1/2003)
• Cooper Puckett, Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (3/31/2003)
• Ryder Sarchett, Ketchum, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (7/28/2003)

PANORAMA 2022 COMPETITION SCHEDULE
March 1 – Downhill Training
March 2 – Downhill Training
March 3 – Men’s and Women’s Downhill
March 4 – Men’s and Women’s Super-G
March 5 – Mixed Team Event
March 6 – Men’s Alpine Combined
March 7 – Women’s Alpine Combined
March 8 – Men’s Giant Slalom and Women’s Slalom
March 9 – Women’s Giant Slalom and Men’s Slalom

MORE INFORMATION
Panorama 2022 Official Website

FOLLOW THE U.S. ALPINE SKI TEAM
Instagram - @usskiteam
Facebook - @usskiandsnowboard
Twitter - @usskiteam
TikTok - @usskiandsnowboardteam

In Thursday's alpine combined, Tricia Mangan followed through on a solid downhill run with a speedy slalom earning 11th in her second Olympic Games. Her teammates, Mikaela Shiffrin, Keely Cashman, and Bella Wright, posted strong times in the downhill, finishing fifth, seventh, and 15th. Unfortunately, the trio was not able to capitalize on their strong speed run. Each woman skied out of the slalom in approximately the same spot, ending their medal dreams with DNF's. 

"The one thing I didn't want to do was ski safe to protect any sort of an advantage I had from the downhill run against some of the more slalom specialist skiers," Shiffrin said in a post-race interview. "I didn't want to ski safe in order to make it to the finish. I wanted to ski a good, solid run of slalom. It was not actually that much to ask for from myself, and I was starting to do it, and then I was out anyway."

"I don't really understand it, and I'm not sure when I'm going to have much of an explanation. I can't explain to you how frustrated I am to not know what I can learn from today."

Shiffrin will make one last play for a Beijing 2022 Olympic medal alongside teammates Paula Moltzan, Tommy Ford, and River Radamus on Saturday, Feb. 18. 

RESULTS
Women's alpine combined

River Radamus led the United States men in Saturday’s giant slalom, finishing just off the podium in fourth. Tommy Ford earned 12th, a monumental finish for his first race back post-injury in 2021. 

Saturday, Feb. 13, saw a large amount of snowfall in Yanqing, China, the most the region has seen in one day in eight years, and conveniently on the day of the men’s giant slalom during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. While other events were getting canceled, the men’s race was still on, but the athletes were ready to fight for Olympic gold no matter the weather. Ski racing is unpredictable, and the athletes never know what weather they’ll get on race day.

Radamus, who celebrated his 24th birthday just one day before his Olympic debut, sat in sixth, headed into the second run. Excessive snowfall on course tripped up many athletes on their hunt for the finish, but Radamus was able to hang on while carrying enough speed to grab a career-best result. 

“My approach this whole season has been process-based; focusing on the things I can control, making sure I take the steps to prepare, and knowing that this is an outdoor sport and things happen on race day, and I can’t control the outcome,” said Radamus. 

He’s come close to the podium results he craves before. In Alta Badia and Soelden, Radamus finished sixth, matching his World Cup career-best twice in the 21/22 season. But in the Olympics, he pushed hard enough to do even better. Sporting a zebra-stripe hairdo and 

“(Fourth is) tough to swallow right now, but I know in my heart that I did everything to prepare for today. But pressure is a privilege,” Radamus said, “and I tried to relish in it and execute as hard as I could. I didn’t want to back off, I wanted to make sure that I left everything I had on that course, and I did that and then some.”

 

 

 

 

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For Ford, competing in the Olympic Games is a milestone in his recovery. In 2021, a hard crash near the finish of the Adelboden giant slalom knocked him unconscious. He was subsequently airlifted off the course for evaluation. Soon after, doctors discovered he obtained a concussion, two torn ligaments in his right knee, a shredded meniscus, a broken tibia plateau, and a broken left wrist. He needed four surgeries to repair the damage. Headed into the Games, Ford was not sure he would be ready to compete, let alone finish two runs given the conditions.

Yet ever since, Ford has been working hard on the road to recovery and training diligently on snow back in the United States since November. So much so that getting back out in a giant slalom course on race day felt “like riding a bike.” 

"I'm just happy to be alive and skiing and out here,” said Ford. “There's part of me that knows I can win a medal here, but (now) it’s a different time and I've learned a lot in this past year.”

 

 

 

 

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Switzerland's Marco Odermatt walked away with giant slalom gold, followed by Slovenia's Zan Kranjec in silver, and France's Mathieu Faivre in bronze. Faivre finished 0.26 ahead of Radamus in fourth.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle, silver medalist in the men’s super-G, did not finish his first run. Luke Winters also did not finish his first run but has the men’s slalom to look forward to on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Winters will be the sole representative of the United States in Tuesday’s slalom.

RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST

Please note: Streaming services and apps are third-party services and subject to such parties’ terms of use and data privacy. U.S. Ski & Snowboard disclaims any liability for using third-party services and apps.

Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022
10:00 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill Training, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

Monday, Feb. 14, 2022
10:00 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022
2:35 a.m. West Coast Encore - Women’s Aerials Final (freestyle), Women’s Big Air Final (snowboarding), Women’s Downhill (alpine), NBC Broadcast
9:15 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Men's Slalom, First Run, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022
12:45 a.m. Alpine Skiing - Men's Event Slalom Run 2, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
2:35 a.m. West Coast Encore - Alpine Skiing - Men’s Slalom, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast
6:05 a.m. Primetime - Alpine Skiing - Men’s Slalom, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast
 

Sport-specific broadcast and streaming schedules are available below:

• Alpine
• Cross Country
• Freeski
• Freestyle
• Ski Jumping
• Nordic Combined
• Snowboard

Broadcast and streaming schedules are updated on a daily basis throughout the season.

Mikaela Shiffrin came back in Friday's super-G reset and ready to race, finishing ninth overall, 0.79 off of gold medalist Lara Gut-Behrami's pace. Austria's Mirjam Puchner grabbed the silver medal, while Switzerland's Michelle Gisin rounded out the podium with the bronze. 

The nerves built up from the past couple of days had not disappeared, but the feeling of getting back out on skis reminded her that not every day at the Beijing 2022 Olympics is going to feel like a bad day. As she wrote in her Instagram post after the event, "the girl who failed...could also fly."

"I feel more positive, and a little bit of relief after skiing the super G, to know that it’s not so difficult," she said. "Good skiing is good skiing. I feel a lot more optimistic right now."

Since her second DNF at the Winter Olympic Games, Shiffrin has received an outpouring of support from fans across the globe. And Shiffrin, ever-humble, does not feel like she deserves it. The sheer number of positive messages she's received has been "insane" she said, and there's not enough time in the day for her to fully express to each and every person how much their efforts to cheer her up means to her. 

"I would never have expected in this moment, severely underperforming in an Olympics, that humans can be so kind," she gushed. "It’s the most surprising thing of my Olympic experience. How kind people have been in the face of my failure. It is a failure, and I’m okay saying that. I’m sorry for it, but I was also trying, and I’m proud of that."

In her first competition back since she fractured her tallus bone in the second of two FIS Ski World Cup super-G races in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Bella Wright pulled out a 21st place finish in her Olympic debut.

"Honestly I didn't know what to expect (of my Olympic experience), but the snow is absolutely amazing, the hill is one of the coolest hills I've ever skied, and I'm loving it," Wright said after she cleared through the finish.

Keely Cashman finished 27th in her Olympic debut. Alix Wilkinson did not finish, but showed some promising skiing in the first two intervals and is OK.

The women kick off downhill training on Saturday, Feb. 12. Over the next couple of days, the athletes have the opportunity to train on the course before the competition gets underway on Tuesday, Feb. 15. The race will air on NBC Primetime at 10 p.m. EST on Monday, Feb. 14. 

RESULTS
Women's super-G

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST

Friday, Feb. 11, 2022
8:00 p.m. Primetime – Alpine Skiing Women’s Downhill (Live) & Snowboarding Mixed Team Snowboardcross (Live), NBC Broadcast

10:00 p.m. Alpine Skiing – Women’s Downhill Training, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022
4:05 a.m. Mixed Team Snowboardcross Finals & Women’s Alpine Downhill Training (re-air), NBC Broadcast

9:15 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Men's Giant Slalom, First Run, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

11:00 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill Training, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, USA Network

11:30 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Men's Giant Slalom - First Run, Freeski - Women’s Slopestyle Qualifying, Ski Jumping - Men’s Large Hill Final, NBC Broadcast

Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022
12:45 a.m. Alpine Skiing - Men's Giant Slalom, Run 2, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

5:30 a.m. Primetime - Men's Giant Slalom, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, NBC Broadcast

10:00 p.m. Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill Training, National Alpine Skiing Center, Yanqing District, Beijing, CHN, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

In her Olympic debut, Minnesota's Paula Moltzan has racked up back-to-back impressive results. Following her 12th-place finish in the giant slalom on Monday, Moltzan led the way on Wednesday with an impressive eighth-place result. Teammate and two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin did not finish. 

It’s not often that Shiffrin falls, but when she does, it’s heartbreaking. Not because she’s failed, but because her love for competition and executing fast, precise turns is so powerful that her utter disappointment is palpable.

At 26, life and loss have humbled Shiffrin. She's experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And she’s not afraid of the weight of external expectation anymore; it’s not the worst thing she’s ever experienced, she says. What she does feel is betrayed, betrayed by the number one thing she trusts most in the world – her skiing. 

After skiing out at the fifth gate in her second consecutive race of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Shiffrin moved to the side of the slalom course, took a moment, then quickly popped off her skis. She sat, resting her head on her knees, and stayed there for 25 minutes before skiing down to the finish. 

She walked reporters through what happened. She slipped. She was going full gas, and she didn’t have space to recover. It’s ski racing, and things happen fast. At one moment, she was charging, and the next, she was out of the course. Her emotions ran high, and Shiffrin fought to keep her composure.

When asked what she was still processing after her run, she took a deep breath and sighed. “Pretty much everything.”

“My entire career has taught me to trust in my skiing if it’s good skiing,” Shiffrin explained later on. “That’s all that I have to rely on these race days. When there is pressure, and there’s some nerves and the feeling that I want to do well, I just always go back to that fundamental idea that good skiing will be there for me.”

“It’s not the end of the world, and it’s so stupid to care this much,” she added fighting back tears. “But I feel…I feel that I have to question a lot now.”

In moments of self-doubt, Shiffrin used to turn to her father Jeff for support. Since his passing in 2020, that source of comfort is forever lost. “Right now, I would really like to call him,” she choked. “So that doesn’t make it easier. And he would probably tell me to just get over it, but he’s not here to say that.”

Shiffrin paused again and took a moment to flip through the onslaught of emotions. Residual grief from her father's loss, disappointment in herself for not skiing up to her standard, and guilt that she has put herself and her team through so much work, all for nothing. Until she found the thing she needed to help put things in perspective, the thing that’s kept her on skis these past couple of years – hope. 

“Despite everything that I’m feeling,” she continued. “If you take a look around, it’s a pretty beautiful day. I have incredible teammates here. One of them got a silver medal yesterday. My boyfriend is here, he got a bronze. He’s been working so hard to get an Olympic medal his whole career and he’s had some really bad luck. And I have three medals. I mean, those are still back home in my closet. As disappointed as I feel and as much as I’m feeling right now, there’s so much to be optimistic about.”

Shiffrin’s absence on the pitch did not take away from an American reason to celebrate. Moltzan had a fantastic first run that put her in sixth and allowed her to hang on to an eighth-place finish by the end of the second run. Katie Hensien posted a top 30 in her Olympic debut, in 26th. AJ Hurt finished 34th. And Shiffrin was there in the finish to cheer them on until the end. 

“I’m pretty grateful to have some teammates that are also strong and can put on this show because on a basic level for ski racing in the United States, it's so special to have such a strong group of women competing,” she said. “I feel like my performance is a huge letdown so far. But there’s so much to be proud of for my teammates.”

If she decides to ski, Shiffrin has another shot at an Olympic medal come Thursday, Feb. 10th, in the women's super-G.
 

RESULTS 
Women’s slalom

 

 

 

 

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