Olympic Selection Update
Jan. 21, 2018 - On the final day of Olympic selection for most sports, several new spots were clinched based on objective criteria. Olympic medalists Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo.) and Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) took it right down to the wire on the last day of Olympic selection to claim objective spots in men's slopestyle skiing.
Just 10 months after a significant knee injury, Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) confirmed her Olympic spot after the final event Sunday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Ross scored a top-10 finish in Val d'Isere in December that held up to put her on the team. Also qualifying in super-G were Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) and Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.). After the final men’s slalom, David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) and Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) qualified based on World Cup ranking in slalom. Kasper returned to the World Cup after nearly three years battling injuries earlier this week to earn his spot in his first World Cup back.
All of the objective qualifiers from snowboarding halfpipe and slopestyle/big air plus freeski halfpipe were honored Saturday night at Mammoth Mountain during the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix.
Team announcements are scheduled for this coming week and will be sequenced whenever final team sizes are known.
Jan. 20, 2018 - Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) earned a shot at repeating her 2010 Olympic downhill gold as she clinched an Olympic Team spot with a win in the final downhill at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Jackie Wiles (Bend, Ore.) was third to make her second Olympic Team. Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) also qualified with her two downhill podiums this season. A fourth downhill position may be added this week. In Kitzbuehel, Jared Goldberg (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) sealed their downhill spots on the Olympic Team.
Jonathan Cheever (Saugus, Mass.) claimed his Olympic spot when no other athletes were able to unseat him in selection events. Cheever scored a podium in the season opener last summer.
At Mammoth Mountain, the day kicked off with the final slopestyle snowboarding contest of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Hailey Langland (San Clemente, Calif.) and Julia Marino (Winchester, Mass.). Kyle Mack (West Bloomfield, Mich.) took the men's win to claim the final remaining objective criteria spot. Closing out the evening, Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, Vt.) and Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) claimed halfpipe snowboarding nominations.
Jan. 19, 2018 - In a hotly contested Toyota U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe skiing finale, final objective spots for the Olympic Team were claimed. Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) sealed a return Olympic berth with a win. Devin Logan (W. Dover, Vt.) also sealed a return, but this time in halfpipe. Logan is still in contention for a slopestyle spot. In the men's halfpipe, Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.), who narrowly missed in 2014, earned a spot finishing second. Torin Yater-Wallace (Aspen, Colo.) claimed a return spot. Defending gold medalists David Wise (Reno, Nev.) and Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.) had already clinched spots. Additional fourth spots for men and women may be named next week.
In the final men's super-G of the selection period, Tommy Biesemeyer (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) claimed Olympic spots based on World Cup rankings. Weibrecht has medaled in super-G the last two Olympics.
Jan. 14, 2018 - Olympic selection continued on Sunday, but there were no new athletes achieving objective criteria for selection. In men's slopestyle skiing Sunday in the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Aspen-Snowmass, Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo.) took the men's win over Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.). It was Kenworthy's first podium of the selection period, second for Goepper. But it was not enough for either to mathematically clinch one of the three objective criteria spots. It will now come down to the final two slopestyle contests at Mammoth Mountain.
Jan. 13, 2018 - Shaun White (Carlsbad, Calif.) led three Americans to PyeongChang Saturday at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen-Snowmass with all three clinching Olympic berths. White will make his fourth Olympic team, first for Ben Ferguson (Bend, Ore.) and Jake Pates (Eagle, Colo.), who won Youth Olympic Games gold two years ago.
Earlier in the day at Aspen, Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.) nailed a repeat spot in slopestyle skiing.
Cross country ended its World Cup selection with a freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany. New team qualifiers with a top 50 World Cup sprint ranking included Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.), Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) and Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.).
Jan. 12, 2018 - Teen Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.) rocketed to his second Olympic qualifying win at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen-Snowmass Friday to claim a slopestyle snowboarding spot in PyeongChang. Olympic champions David Wise (Reno, Nev.) and Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.) claimed their halfpipe skiing spots and will defend their Sochi titles. At the Visa Freestyle International in Deer Valley, aerials skier Kiley McKinnon (Madison, Conn.) sealed her first Olympic Team spot.
Jan. 11, 2018 - Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) and Morgan Schild (Rochester, N.Y.) clinched Olympic berths with their finishes in the Visa Freestyle International World Cup moguls events in Deer Valley. With just one event remaining in the Olympic selection period, both have achieved two top three World Cup finishes and have mathematically sealed a spot.
Jan. 9, 2018 - Resi Stiegler (Jackson, Wyo.) clinched her spot on a third Olympic team after the final slalom of the selection period. Stiegler qualified based on her World Cup ranking behind slalom leader Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.).
Dec. 31, 2017 - Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) earned a spot on his second Olympic Team with a win in nordic combined. Mike Glasder (Cary, Ill.) clinched his first Olympic berth with a ski jumping victory while Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) claimed a return trip with her women's ski jumping win.x
Olympic selection continues in most sports through next weekend with full teams being announced the week of January 22.
Selection Notes
This update is as of the noted date and subject to change through the selection period. Update includes only those athletes who have achieved the top levels of objective selection criteria, which does not guarantee a spot on the team. Final team announcements will be made the week of Jan. 22, subject to USOC approval.
Alpine (selection period runs through Jan. 22)
Bryce Bennett (top 10 alpine combined; World Cup ranking downhill) ^
Tommy Biesemeyer (World Cup ranking SG) ^
Ryan Cochran-Siegle (World Cup ranking alpine combined) ^
Tommy Ford (World Cup ranking GS) ^
Jared Goldberg (top 10 downhill) ^
Ted Ligety (top 5 giant slalom) ^
Megan McJames (World Cup ranking GS) ^
Laurenne Ross (top 10 super G) *
Mikaela Shiffrin (top 3 downhill, top 5 super G, top 3 giant slalom, top 3 slalom) ^
Resi Stiegler (World Cup ranking SL) ^
Lindsey Vonn (top 3 downhill) ^
Andrew Weibrecht (World Cup ranking SG) ^
Jackie Wiles (top 3 downhill) ^
^ Qualified for U.S. Olympic Team
* Achieved objective qualification criteria
Cross Country (selection period runs through Jan. 15)
Erik Bjornsen (top 50 World Cup ranking in distance, sprint) ^
Sadie Bjornsen (top 8 in designated selection event) ^
Rosie Brennan (top 50 World Cup ranking in distance, sprint) ^
Sophie Caldwell (top 8 in designated selection event) ^
Jessie Diggins (top 8 in designated selection event) ^
Simi Hamilton (top 50 World Cup ranking in sprint) ^
Andy Newell (top 50 World Cup ranking in sprint) ^
Kikkan Randall (top 50 World Cup ranking in sprint, distance) ^
Ida Sargent (top 50 World Cup ranking in sprint) ^
Liz Stephen (top 50 World Cup ranking in distance) ^
^ Qualified for U.S. Olympic Team
* Achieved objective qualification criteria as of rankings on Jan. 6 (rankings subject to change through Jan. 15)
Freeski (selection period runs through Jan. 21)
Maddie Bowman (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in halfpipe) ^
Alex Ferreira (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in halfpipe) ^
Nick Goepper (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
Gus Kenworthy (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
Devin Logan (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in halfpipe) ^
Brita Sigourney (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in halfpipe) ^
Maggie Voisin (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
David Wise (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in halfpipe) ^
Torin Yater-Wallace (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in halfpipe) ^
Freestyle (selection period runs through Jan. 21)
Jaelin Kauf (2 top 3 moguls) ^
Kiley McKinnon (2 top 3 aerials) ^
Morgan Schild (2 top 3 moguls) ^
* Achieved objective qualification criteria
Nordic Combined (selection period runs through Jan. 22)
Bryan Fletcher (winner Olympic Trials) ^
^ Qualified for U.S. Olympic Team
Ski Jumping (selection period runs through Jan. 21)
Mike Glasder (winner Olympic Trials) ^
Sarah Hendrickson (winner Olympic Trials) ^
^ Qualified for U.S. Olympic Team
Snowboard (qualifying through Jan. 21)
Jamie Anderson (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
Jonathan Cheever (top 3 in designated snowboardcross selection event) ^
Kelly Clark (clinched objective spot in halfpipe in qualifying series) ^
Ben Ferguson (clinched objective spot in halfpipe in qualifying series) ^
Red Gerard (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
Chris Corning (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
Faye Gulini (top 3 in designated snowboardcross selection event) ^
Lindsey Jacobellis (top 3 in designated snowboardcross selection event) ^
Chloe Kim (clinched objective spot in halfpipe in qualifying series) ^
Hailey Langland (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
Maddie Mastro (clinched objective spot in halfpipe in qualifying series) ^
Julia Marino (mathematically clinched qualifying series points in slopestyle) ^
Jake Pates (clinched objective spot in halfpipe in qualifying series) ^
Shaun White (clinched objective spot in halfpipe in qualifying series) ^
^ Qualified for U.S. Olympic Team
* Achieved objective qualification criteria