Olympic and World Champion Mikaela Shiffrin has made the cut in Sports Illustrated's Fittest 50 2020, landing in fourth on the list, with gynmastics phenom Simone Biles ranked number one.  

Sports Illustrated accepted the challenge and ranked the best-conditioned male and female athletes in the world, consulting trainers, exercise physiologists and performance experts with experience across the college, pro and Olympic levels of sports to evaluate athletes on the following criteria: performances over the last 12 months; demands and risks of their respective sports; durability; training regimens and other physical benchmarks including power, speed, strength, agility, endurance, flexibility and more.

Mikaela was ranked 19th on Sports Illustrated's Fittest 50 2019 list. This year's list features the likes of track star Allyson Felix (ranked 15th), tennis superstar Serena Williams (ranked 12th), U.S. Women's National Team (soccer) athlete Julie Ertz (ranked 11th), five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky (ranked fifth), and of course—Simone (ranked first). 

The list of accolades for Mikaela Shiffrin is lengthy: the youngest slalom champion in Olympic history; the youngest skier to earn 50 World Cup race wins; the first skier—of any gender—to earn $1 million in prize money in a single season; 66 (and counting) World Cup victories … and so on. So, it should come as no surprise that the 24-year-old is disciplined and regimented when it comes to her training, keeping detailed data logs, prioritizing sleep and hitting the gym as hard as she hits the slopes.

Check out Sports Illustrated's full list.
Read the article about Mikaela's training regime and what makes her different.

U.S. Snowboard Team member Jamie Anderson earned her 11th Dew Tour Championship and her third win in three weeks on Sunday to close out the 2020 Dew Tour. As the weather took a turn, there were concerns around speed to clear the landings of the large jump features due to loose snow and wind. Together, Dew Tour organizers and competitors made the collaborative decision to eliminate the jump portion of the slopestyle course in the women’s freeski and snowboard final.

“With changing conditions, my plan today was the ‘no plan’ plan,” said Jamie. “I wanted to come up to the course to check the conditions and then see what I could link together. I hadn’t hit the wall ride all week or tried the switch 270 on the first rail. I was just happy to slowly put the pieces together. I have always loved the Dew Tour and think they do a good job of keeping it fun and creative. Also, the U.S. Snowboard Team is on fire right now. I was so proud of Red and Brock yesterday and I’m stoked with Hailey (Langland) and Jules (Marino) and our whole new generation of shredders.”

Jamie put her creativity and technical prowess on display as the only rider in the field to utilize the intimidating wallride feature with a beautiful nose slide. Jamie took the lead over Japanese rider Miyabi Onitsuka on her third run with a score of 92.66. Teammate Hailey Langland was also a strong contender landing two stylish runs with a great interpretation of the upper part of the course including a hip transfer nose grab to kick off her run. 

Miyabi Onitsuka of Japan earned second and Anna Gasser of Austria closed out the podium in third. Hailey finished in a respectable sixth place. 

U.S. Freeski Team member Maggie Voisin also kept her streak alive earning her third podium in three weeks with technical rail skiing and consistency landing all three of her runs. Maggie's third-place finish also served as her second consecutive Dew Tour podium.

“I’m happy that the girls are safe after skiing through some difficult conditions today,” said Maggie. “This is definitely the first rail jam contest I have done in a really long time. I’m super happy with another podium and more than anything, it’s amazing to be back and healthy again. My knee is feeling great!”

Maggie took full advantage of what the course had to offer, showcasing difficult tricks and big spins in both directions. Swiss freeskier Mathilde Gremaud topped the podium and Johanne Killi earned her second podium of the week with a second-place finish. 

Although last week’s Dew Tour program offered up world-class competition and a sense of satisfaction for all the athletes, Maggie spoke to her favorite part of her week. 

“I had the chance to ski neck-deep pow and throw backies with my U.S. Ski & Snowboard teammates and coaches,” said Maggie as she reflected on Friday’s amazing conditions. “It was perfect to have the chance to reset with an epic powder day.”

There is no doubt that heavy snow and wind caused some logistical challenges for Dew Tour organizers, but it may have been a blessing in disguise for the athletes. Skiers and riders from around the world are in the middle of a busy contest schedule that can take a toll on the mind and body. The consensus among the Dew Tour roster was that Friday’s cancellation resulted in a fantastic day of soul shredding for all. 

U.S. Freeski and Snowboard athletes now head north to Calgary, Alberta Canada’s Canada Olympic Park for slopestyle and halfpipe FIS World Cup competition Feb. 12-16. 

RESULTS
 

Tommy Ford grabbed his best FIS Ski World Cup result of 2020, taking fourth in the parallel giant slalom in Chamonix, France.

Swiss teammates Loic Meillard and Thomas Tumler battled for first in the big final, with Loic taking the win. In a dash for the podium, Tommy made a tiny mistake to finish behind Alexander Schmid of Germany in the small final, allowing Alexander to take third.

Tommy quickly picked off Stefan Hadalin of Slovenia in the 1/16 finals, Giovanni Borsotti of Italy in the 1/8 finals and Thibaut Favrot of France in the quarterfinals before losing to Alexander. This is Tommy’s third top-five result of the 2019-20 season, having taken fourth in Soelden and the big win on home soil in Beaver Creek. This is his career-best parallel giant slalom result. 

Tommy had a fast first run in the morning's qualifier and a "safer" second run as he tried to dial in his set-up and figure out the skis before heading into the 1/16 finals. "I was able to get in a rhythm right out of the start, which was a big change from Alta Badia," said Tommy. "I was able to find the ski early and was psyched about that—I had fun just generating speed from top to bottom. I just got in the flow of things and felt connected to the skis and the snow, even over the pieces of terrain, and kept the continuity with it throughout the runs and before I knew it I was in the semifinal."

The parallel event has stirred up controversy in the ski community, with athletes and fans alike questioning the fairness of the event, as well as the safety of the head-to-head format. In the quarterfinals, Tommy was the only skier to emerge victorious on the more challenging red course. 

From there, Tommy narrowly escaped a collision in the semifinals with Thomas Tumler of Switzerland.  "I got out of the start a little slower and pushed it maybe a little too much, had some sweet turns and went straight into a piece of terrain where you usually need a bit more direction, and landed sideways, popped a ski off and narrowly missed getting hit by Thomas Tumler—so hats off to him for taking it off the gas for a second," he said. "And then, after that with Schmid in the small final, I just lost a little momentum there, but still skied well. All in all, fun day...nice to get more than a couple of runs in a pro-style event."

Luke Winters also started the race for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team but did not finish in the qualification round.

Next up, the men head to Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria for speed events on Thursday and Friday, replacing the Beijing Olympic test events that were originally scheduled for Yanqing, China. The tech men head over to Japan for giant slalom and slalom events in Niigata Yuzawa Naeba on February 22 and 23.

RESULTS
Men’s parallel giant slalom

STANDINGS
Overall
Parallel

Four American’s finished in the points in Sunday’s FIS Cross Country World Cup distance races on a wet, sloppy track in Falun, Sweden, led by Jessie Diggins in 14th.

With temperatures well above the freezing mark and no natural snow, organizers relied on machine-made snow to cover a narrow 2.5k loop for Sunday’s 10k four-lap women’s event and the men’s six-lap 15k freestyle mass start races. 

Four American men started Sunday’s race with David Norris posting his best World Cup result of the season in 24th. “I felt strong,” David said. “Lap three and four were so painful, but I luckily pulled it back together for the last two laps.”

Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov won the race, with Norway’s Sjur Roethe in second, and Ivan Yakimushkin of Russia in third. Benjamin Lustgarten was 60th, followed by Ian Torchia in 65th and Kevin Bolger in 68th. 

In the women’s 10k race, Norway’s Therese Johaug won her 12th race of the season 6.5 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Ebba Andersson in second. Norway’s Heidi Weng was third. Sadie Maubet Bjornsen was 21st, and Rosie Brennan was 23rd. Hailey Swirbul was 35th, just 11 seconds out of the points. Sophie Caldwell was 38th, Alayna Sonnesyn was 49th and Julia Kern was 57th.

"The conditions were pretty tough today, variable snow conditions on a really narrow course that made it difficult to move up," noted Julia, who is rebounding from a leg injury and made her first World Cup start in three weeks. "I did not feel good today...so just being able to race was a big accomplishment. I am hoping with another week of training and some more races coming up, I can gain back my fitness and work back into things."

Up next is the second stage race of the season - Ski Tour 2020 - Feb. 15-23 with six races spread out over nine days at five different venues in Sweden and Norway.

RESULTS
Women’s 10k mass start freestyle
Men’s 15k mass start freestyle

STANDINGS
Women’s overall World Cup
Men’s overall World Cup

Alice Merryweather put down her best career super-G result in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, taking 14th.

It was a typical Garmisch race, with the dark Kandahar track full of bumps and Alice describing the race as a “bit of a rodeo.” Corinne Suter of Switzerland took the win and extended her lead for the super-G FIS Ski World Cup globe. Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria was second and Wendy Holdener of Switzerland was third.

Garmisch is becoming a favorite of Alice’s, having snagged eighth in the downhill last season, her best World Cup finish. Sunday’s super-G continued the upward trajectory she’s been on throughout the season, as the young skier regularly posts top-20 results.

“I’m pretty happy with today,” said Alice. “It was definitely not easy out there—pretty bumpy and Garmisch is always dark. But I’m really happy with the way I just stuck my nose in it. Sections were good; sections still weren’t what I want. I’m sitting in 14th right now and that’s my best super-G finish, so I’m pretty happy with it!”

Breezy Johnson, who was the top Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team finisher in Saturday’s downhill, took another top-20 result in 18th. Both Alice Mckennis and Jackie Wiles skied out of the course and did not finish. Both Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg—who was victorious in Saturday's downhill—and Italy's Sofia Goggia unfortunately sustained season-ending injuries.  

Mikaela Shiffrin, who is back in the states after her father unexpectedly passed away, remains in the lead of the overall World Cup standings by 145 points.

The women’s speed team has a break for a week while the tech women race a giant slalom and slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on February 15 and 16. Speed events resume the following week in Crans Montana, Switzerland.   

RESULTS
Women's Super-G

STANDINGS
Overall
Super-G

Hannah Soar led the U.S. in an incredible night of dual moguls World Cup competition with a career-best second-place finish on the Champion course at Deer Valley Resort at the 2020 Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International. Jaelin Kauf landed back on the podium in third place after dueling teammate and friend Tess Johnson in the small final. 

Champion lived up to its name and took no prisoners. After being skied for five days in a row the moguls were deep and unforgiving. Voted MVP by her team, Tess skied the biggest upset of the night, knocking out until-then undefeated Perrine Laffont (France) in the quarter final. This allowed for all three American women to compete in the semi-final. Tess then met Canada's Justine Dufour-Lapointe in her semi-final round but was unable to beat her. Hannah and Jaelin dueled it out during their semi-final round with Hannah advancing to the big final and Jaelin to the small. Jaelin and Tess dueled it out in the small final, where Jaelin skied to third. Hannah and Jaelin shared the podium with Saturday’s winner, Justine. 

“Honestly I started out feeling pretty slow, my legs felt kind of like jello after skiing so many runs on Thursday night,” said Hannah as she caught her breath in the finish area. “For me sometimes it’s hard the second day after a day of success prior to come out and feel really great with my body. I feel like I did a great job and focused on the little things I needed to do to succeed today, as opposed to getting caught up in how I need to feel, or what I want to do by the end of the day. This is the second time I’ve dueled Jaelin and Jakara this year. It was great to get another chance. Jaelin is amazing! There’s nothing more than I would want than to be in the super final with Jaelin and Tess.”

“Sharing the podium with a teammate again makes it so much better,” said Jaelin. “It was so much fun skiing against Tess and Hannah tonight. From my perspective we had some of the best duals on the women’s side. It was fun to be a part of and I’m stoked to end up on the podium.”

“Obviously I would have liked to be on the podium today,” reflected Tess. “But looking back on my day I'm so proud of myself, and this is an incredible night in front of a home crowd. I'm just stoked I was able to put down some of my best skiing.” On besting the top woman Perrine, “I had a bit of a moment after that dual and I’m just really proud of myself, I’ve done it once before and I knew that I could do it again. She’s an incredible skier and I’m just honored to have the opportunity to push myself against the best in the world.”

The American women showed their might on the meanest course in freestyle skiing and they’re hungry for more. The #PowHERhouse is back! “I think a sweep is definitely coming pretty soon,” said Jaelin. 

On the men’s side, in his first ever dual mogul World Cup start Kalman Heims laid it down and was the only American man to qualify for the finals. Advancing to the finals by just 38 hundredths of a second against Canada’s Elliot Vaillancourt, Kalman skied an impressive dual against France’s Ben Cavet and kept him on his toes the whole time. It wasn’t enough to advance to the round of eight, but Kalman posted a career-best in 12th place. “[This] was amazing,” he said. “It met and exceeded my expectations. Being out there, looking down at the crowd, I could hear everyone in both of my ears, it was incredible. I just listened to my coaches and put down some of the best runs I ever skied!”

Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury won his 61st World Cup on the Champion course, France’s Ben Cavet took second and Sweden’s Walter Wallberg rounded out the podium in third. 

It was a rowdy competition with no shortage of carnage. On Champion, anything is possible and every run counts towards that podium. Jesse Andringa went head to head with Australia's Brodie Summers and finished the night in 20th, Dylan Walczyk finished in 23 after dueling Japan's Ikuma Horishima. Brad Wilson finished 27th and Nick Page in 28th. Madison Hogg, in her second World Cup start, finished 17th; sister Kasey Hogg finished 26th.

“It was a great night of personal bests in front of an amazing crowd,” said Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “I’m very proud of the athletes for their performances tonight.”

The greatest show on snow did not disappoint and the U.S. Moguls Team is energized for the next part of their schedule. The Team has a brief break to do some local training and visit with friends and family before they head overseas for two events in Tazawako, Japan Feb. 22-23. 

RESULTS
Men’s Dual Moguls
Women’s Dual Moguls

HOW TO WATCH
Sunday, Feb. 9
3:00 p.m. - Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International men and women’s dual moguls, Deer Valley, Utah - NBC

Red Gerard was the top finisher for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes on day three of the 2020 Dew Tour at Copper Mountain, Colo. Reminiscent of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, Red came in clutch on his final run to top the podium in front of his friends and family. 

“I feel insane right now,” said Red. “I started off riding this morning and the course seemed slow due to fresh snow yesterday and didn’t think things were going to go my way. I can’t believe things worked out and I’m on the podium with my best friend (Brock Crouch). It’s my home turf, home mountain, my whole family was able to come out, and I’m sharing the podium with my best friend. What can I say? -  I’m hyped.”

Red was in the top spot after run one, however, this wouldn’t last long as a collection of stellar runs immediately followed by the majority of the field. On Red’s last run, he would climb the ranks once again to his own disbelief. This win checks an important box for Red. He now has won three of five pinnacle snowboard events including Dew Tour, U.S. Open, and the Olympics. This is Red’s first Dew Tour medal. 

U.S. Snowboard Team alumnus Brock Crouch finished second and Norwegian legend Stale Sandbech rounded out the podium in third. 

Maddie Mastro also found success for the U.S. Snowboard Team, earning second place in the modified superpipe. Maddie’s top run included stylish frontside and backside alley-oops on the transition features as well as her signature method, a crippler, and a backside 540 in the traditional portion of the superpipe. 

“Riding the modified superpipe today was awesome,” said Maddie. “I love being able to mix it up, be creative, and challenge myself, so I had a blast today. I had a lot of fun on the transition features. My goal was to utilize both sides and I wanted to flip them - I thought that would be fun. The flip got the best of me in the beginning, but I was able to tame it after that.”

Maddie was coming off a second-place finish at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., where she landed her double crippler for the second time in the competition. Due to falls on her second and third runs, Maddie would not have the opportunity to land the double crippler at Dew Tour. Although Maddie may have been unable to put down the exact run she was looking for, there was a bright side in addition to her podium finish. That bright side’s name is Sonny Alba, a fellow Mammoth Lakes, Calif. athlete. Sonny is a 13-year-old shredder who has looked up to Maddie since she started riding halfpipe. 

“I have watched Sonny Alba ride for the past five years, which is pretty much half her life,” said Maddie, laughing to herself. “It’s crazy for me and awesome to watch her progress and ride. I always thought she had this incredible potential and she was such a great all-around rider. It’s amazing to be able to witness her first big contest.”

The lights weren’t too bright for Sonny’s big Dew Tour debut as she landed frontside and backside 540’s, as well as a few hand plants with what seemed to be beautiful skateboarding inspired style.

“When I found out I had a spot in at Dew Tour, I was shocked,” said Sonny. “It was super last minute, about 9 p.m. last night. I grew up watching Maddie, so riding with her in today’s competition was a little nerve-racking, but also really exciting. I had a lot of fun today!”

Jiayu Liu of China earned first place and Queralt Castellet of Spain finished third. 

U.S. Freeski Pro Team member Alex Hall also earned a second-place finish in slopestyle. Alex has been very successful this season in big air winning Norway X Games, the Modena, Italy World Cup, and the Visa Big Air presented by Landrover in Atlanta, Ga, but he has been struggling in slopestyle. Those struggles ended on Saturday. 

“It feels so good to find a podium in slope, especially here at Dew Tour,” said Alex. “I wasn’t skiing my best at some of the slope competitions this year. Then I went and messed up my first run here, which made me incredibly nervous moving forward. I’m hyped I was able to put it down, especially with some difficult speed due to fresh snow. I’m so stoked.”

His run was displayed trademark A-Hall style with technical rails and jumps that included outrageous grab combinations. However, Alex wasn’t the only U.S. Freeski Team member skiing well and he made that clear speaking highly about his teammate Colby Stevenson.

“If Colby would have landed his second run clean, I believe he would have won easy,” said Alex. “He’s been skiing amazing. He’s such a boss and I love watching him out there.”

Prior to the Dew Tour, Colby earned two slopestyle wins in two weeks at X Games Aspen and the Mammoth Grand Prix. Announcer, former athlete, and professional freeskiing head judge Mike Atkinson claimed that the “trick du jour” was Colby’s 360 rail transfer that had even Colby’s fellow athletes animated in the finish area. 

Norwegian freeskier Christian Nummedal won the event and Swiss Andri Ragetlli took third. Colby would finish fifth overall just ahead of teammate Nick Goepper in sixth.

Alex went on to win the street style event later that evening. In the same event and staying true to Alex’s previous comments, Colby continued his impressive skiing and earned the best trick award. 

Back in the superpipe, U.S. Freeski Rookie Team member Abigale Hansen earned her best results of the season with a fourth-place finish. She shifted the contest into full gear with a solid run and the rest of the field followed suit. She improved her score every time she dropped into the pipe showing great consistency building on her run. 

Canadian’s Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker finished first and second respectively and Zoe Atkin of Great Britain finished third. U.S. Freeski Team members Brita Sigourney and Devin Logan finished fifth and seventh respectively. 

Competition continues at Dew Tour on Sunday with the men’s ski and snowboard modified superpipe final, as well as the women’s ski and snowboard slopestyle final. Head out to Copper Mountain or tune in live to catch all the action.

RESULTS

HOW TO WATCH 
Winter Dew Tour will be live-streamed in its entirety on DewTour.com, Facebook Live, YouTube
Subject to change
All times MST

FREESKI
Sunday, Feb. 9
9:00 a.m. - Men’s Ski Modified Superpipe Final - Copper Mountain, Colo.
2:00 p.m. - Women’s Ski Slopestyle Final - Copper Mountain, Colo. 

SNOWBOARD
Sunday, Feb. 9 
10:45 a.m. - Men’s Snowboard Modified Superpipe Final - Copper Mountain, Colo. 
12:30 p.m. - Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final - Copper Mountain, Colo.
 

Sophie Caldwell led four Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team teammates into the points, finishing seventh in Saturday’s FIS Cross Country World Cup classic sprint in Falun, Sweden.

Competing in heavy, wet and tricky snow conditions, Sophie advanced to the finals after a photo-finish in the semifinals resulted in a tie with Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen of Norway. This resulted in seven athletes on the starting line of the final heat, where Sophie finished seventh.

Sadie Maubet Bjornsen was 17th, Jessie Diggins was 20th and Hailey Swirbul scored her first classic sprint World Cup points, finishing 25th.

“An aggressive day out there on the course today,” Said said. “With very small amounts of natural snow here, the races always seem to be more wild and fierce when conditions like this come. Unfortunately, Falun hasn't gotten snow all winter, so we are racing on a small ribbon of snow spread across the course.”

Sweden’s Linn Svahn took the victory in front of the home crowd, her third career World Cup win. Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva was second and Sweden’s Jonna Sundling was third.

Up next, the women will compete in a 10k mass-start freestyle and the men in a 15k mass-start freestyle Sunday. 

RESULTS
Women’s classic sprint
Men’s classic sprint

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST
Sunday, Feb. 9
3:20 a.m. - Men’s 30k freestyle, Falun, SWE - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
8:30 a.m. - Women’s 15k freestyle, Falun, SWE - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
 

Breezy Johnson led the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, finishing 17th in the downhill.

Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany took her first FIS Ski World Cup downhill win by an impressive .61 seconds in front of her home crowd, while Federica Brignone of Italy captured yet another podium in second. Speed skiing and alpine snowboarding sensation Ester Ledeka of the Czech Republic was third.

Breezy has shown some brilliance in the last few races, taking two top-10 results in January. While 17th wasn’t exactly where she wanted to have finished on the Kandahar track, she was still in good spirits. “It was tough out there,” said Breezy. “It was bumpy out there. I thought I skied my best, which is just what you want to do every day. Whatever the result is, at least there’s nothing I would have changed about my approach that much. It’s time to just go back, keep working and move forward.”

Alice Merryweather finished right behind Breezy in 19th place, while Alice Mckennis was just out of the points in 32nd. Jackie Wiles, who is still coming back from injury, was 38th.

Federica’s second-place finish closed the gap for the overall World Cup to just 190 points behind Mikaela Shiffrin. Mikaela is currently back home with her family in Colorado after her father passed away unexpectedly.

The women race a super-G on Sunday to finish out the weekend.

Luke Winters and Tommy Ford raced slalom in Chamonix, France on Saturday, with no U.S. men qualifying for a second run. Clement Noel of France took the win with Timon Haugan of Norway second and Adrian Pertl of Austria third. The U.S. men will look for strong finishes in Sunday’s parallel giant slalom.

RESULTS
Women’s Downhill
Men’s Slalom

STANDINGS
Women’s Overall
Women’s Downhill

Men’s Overall
Men’s Slalom

Megan Nick led the U.S. in aerials in her first career podium, a second place, in front of 7,500 hometown fans on Deer Valley’s White Owl course at the 2020 Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International. She stomped out a beautiful double full full, a trick she only recently brought to snow, in only the second- time in her career she has advanced to the super finals. Megan shared the podium with winner Allaksandra (Belarus) and Abbey Willcox (Australia), who came in third. 

“My night actually didn't go as planned,” said Megan of her first podium. “Training was a little iffy, but I had nothing to lose in the super final so I went for it and was able to put it down. It was really special to [podium] in front of my family and friends, and the atmosphere at Deer Valley is just awesome.”

The U.S. fielded 16 athletes and four women and four men made it through to finals under the lights on Friday: Kaila Kuhn, Madison Varmette, Megan Nick, Winter Vinecki, Jon Lillis, Eric Loughran, Nick Novak, and Justin Schoenefeld. 

Madison Varmette threw her first double full full in competition, but didn’t quite nail the landing and finished in 12th place. “I was a little nervous,” reflected Madie in the finish area. “But I just tried not to think about it. I did a million on water, so I just had to trust myself and my coaches. And it’s actually a lot more fun than scary!” 

Kaila made her first career super finals in her fourth World Cup start. She threw a nice lay full, which scored well but didn’t have the DD to put her on the podium. “I’m super excited, getting a chance to compete with the best in the world and getting a top-six tonight was absolutely amazing,” said Kaila. “I don't have too much World Cup experience so I’m really excited to hopefully get some more top-sixes and compete with the best in the world.”

Winter had her best night at Deer Valley yet, landing just off of the podium in fourth place, a career-best, after performing a lay full. “It’s taken me a few years now to have a good result at Deer Valley, so I’m excited to just be able to stick all of these jumps to my feet,” said Winter all smiles in the finish area. “And on not quite a high DD of a trick, to be able to stick that, that was awesome. Now I know I have all the training, I can do these big jumps and compete against the best!”

Eric Loughran led the American men with a fifth-place finish. He uses the air so well and stomped both of his finals runs. “I’m feeling pretty good after this competition, it's the first contest of the year,” Eric said. “It was a late decision with Bergy and me to keep the tricks mellow, lay double full full rather than going for a bigger trick there. I’m really excited to see how the season goes.”

Jon Lillis earned a sixth-place finish with his double full full full. “I think everybody’s feeling like all of the jumping is coming together,” said Jon. “It’s all a credit to Vlad and the new energy he’s brought being the new head coach of the team. I can't wait to see how we do moving forward.”

It was a historic night on the White Owl course, perfect weather paired with a flawless course allowed the men to push it to the limits on Friday. Russia’s Maxim Burov threw a double full full double full - that’s a quintuple twisting triple backflip and the current highest DD trick in aerials - in almost perfect fashion, earning a score of 139 out of a possible 150. Switzerland’s Noe Roth threw another quint: a double full double full full, a trick he had never competed before. Quintuple twisting tricks are not unheard of in aerial skiing, but having two competed and landed in the same World Cup competition is rare. Russia’s Illia Burov rounded out the podium in third. 

Megan Smallhouse finished 14th, Ashley Caldwell in 15th Morgan Northrop in 17th and Karenna Elliott (Park City Ski & Snowboard) in 21st. A fifteenth place was not what Ashley had hoped for but took it in stride, “I’m definitely a little frustrated. Deer Valley is our home event so you do want to perform here. I am motivated for the rest of the season. This is our first World Cup, sometimes it’s important to get some of the jitters and some of the mistakes out of the way first. So as we head to Moscow I’m motivated. I do want to land on the top of that podium and I’ve definitely felt some emotion here that will push me to do that.”

In her second World Cup start and first Deer Valley World Cup start, Karenna was excited to get valuable experience under her belt. “It was really amazing to be out here at Deer Valley,” she said. “The site is just awesome and the weather held out for the competition. I was a little bit slow on my jump so unfortunately, I had to punch front. But I had a lot of fun jumping out here with all of these amazing athletes.”

Justin Schoenefeld finished ninth, Nick Novak in 12th, Quinn Dehlinger in 15th, Alex Bowen in 16th, Derek Kreuger (Park City Ski & Snowboard) in 20th and Chris Lillis in 24th. “I definitely had a little bit of trouble in the final,” said Nick. “But I’ve been jumping well all day and I’m really proud of how I jumped. I wish I did some of my jumps like I did in training. But you win some and you lose some. It’s a wonderful venue, wonderful people, I couldn't be happier.”

The 2020 Intermountain Freestyle International at Deer Valley Resort served as the U.S.  Ski Team aerial skiers' first World Cup competition of the season. Kicking off their World Cup tour on home snow in front of the highest energy crown in freestyle was a special send-off for these athletes that fly out to Moscow Saturday for their next World Cup on Feb. 15.

Freestyle fun continues Saturday night with dual moguls. Skiers go head to head to push each other to the absolute limit on the Champion course. Finals begin at 7:30 p.m. MST. 

RESULTS
Women’s Aerials
Men’s Aerials

HOW TO WATCH

FREESTYLE
Saturday, Feb. 8
3:00 p.m. - Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International men and women’s moguls and aerials, Deer Valley, Utah - NBC**

9:30 p.m. - Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International men and women’s dual moguls, Deer Valley, Utah - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Feb. 9
3:00 p.m. - Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International men and women’s dual moguls, Deer Valley, Utah - NBC**