David Norris (Fairbanks, Alaska) skied a personal best in the 50k freestyle on the final day of the 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in Seefeld, Austria. Norris skied the entire first lap of the six-lap race between third and fourth place, and was consistently in the main pack the entire race, eventually finishing 20th.

“I felt good and my skis were working really well,” said Norris. “It almost seemed easier to position myself in the top 15 as best as possible and just try to stay out of trouble. Then I came into 700 meters in medal contention but at that point I had no more juice left and just tried to survive.”

Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) was 23rd on the day, Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Co.) was 34th with Adam Martin (Wausau, Wis.) in 45th.

“I was in for the hunt, but I felt like I wasn’t skiing the downhills well and I missed the move on that last lap,” Patterson said. “I was thinking I need to go, need to go, but it was too late. I felt like if I had made that split, I could have fought with guys.”

“David was in the mix from the beginning,” said U.S. Cross Country World Cup Coach Matt Whitcomb.  “On the last climb at 49.5k he was still charging with the Bronze within reach, and for him to be in that pack is just next level. He led a very strong performance for the team today with Scotty finishing 23rd and in the mix all the way for 98-percent of the race, super proud of all the guys today. It’s fun when coaches in the feed zones are saying hey, the American’s are having a good day today. We are proud and leaving Seefeld with our heads high.”

The U.S. Cross Country Team team now heads to Oslo, Norway, for a women’s 30k and men’s 50k March 9-10.

RESULTS

Men’s 50k freestyle

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Saturday, March 9
4:00 a.m. - Men’s 50k mass start - Oslo, NOR - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 10
6:45 a.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - 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.

Due to weather, the FIS Freestyle World Cup dual moguls scheduled for Sunday were canceled. The American athletes were able to train on schedule, but the fog never lifted, and the organizers, unfortunately, had to call the event.

The U.S. team will finish second overall for the Nations’ Cup and will also claim the second-ranked female moguls skier in the world: Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.).

“This has been my best season to date and the most consistent I’ve ever been,” said Kauf. “I said at the beginning of the year that I wanted to make every super final and I did. I’m so proud of myself for that. I know I made mistakes and have a lot to improve for next year, I can still clean up and improve both my jumps and my skiing. It’s been a competitive season and there’s been a lot of really impressive skiing. I am truly honored to finish second in the world among such a strong field of women.”

Although the U.S. did not earn the Nations’ Cup, the Americans did close the season with the number one women’s team. “Overall, I am very pleased with how the team performed this winter,” reflects U.S. Ski & Snowboard Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “Unfortunately, we came up just short of our team goal of winning the Nations’ Cup, but we did have the number one women’s team to finish the season.  I am extremely proud of all the athletes. Every one of them improved as we progressed through the season and we became a better team each week.”

Although Kazakhstan didn’t provide a second podium opportunity, the course was excellent on Saturday with blue skies and temperatures around 40 degrees Fahrenheit – perfect for March moguls skiing. “The Kazakhstanis were very supportive and helpful; the people here are very proud of their country and we're excited to share it with us,” said Gnoza. “We look forward to returning to Kazakhstan for future World Cups and hope that this becomes an annual stop on the tour. 

Even with no podiums this weekend, the Americans still managed to put on the wow factor. A definite highlight was Olivia Giaccio (Redding, Conn.) throwing the first cork-1080 in moguls competition for women. During the super final Giaccio had a hiccup in her first air, causing her to stop. Instead of earning a DNF, Giaccio gathered herself to finish out the run and threw the trick to wild excitement from the fans.

“I was pretty pumped up after the whole thing!” said Giaccio. “When I blew out after my full up top, I knew my run was over. But I wanted to use the rest of the run as an opportunity to try out the trick I had started working on this summer. I didn’t think — I went for it in more of a spur of the moment fashion, which was really fun. It was one of my goals this season to be the first woman to compete the trick, so going for that was pretty fun. It’s definitely in my plan to make it a part of my run, for sure!”

While their World Cup tour is over, the U.S. Moguls Team has one more competition this season: U.S. National Championships in Waterville Valley on March 16 & 17. Winning Nationals is always on every athlete’s bucket list of achievements, there is something special about being named U.S. National Champion. “The entire team is eager to get to Waterville and ski their best, we always have some great battles amongst team members as they vie for the title,” said Gnoza. “They are equally as excited to get back to the USA and ski with their friends from their home programs and regions in competing for a national championship.”

Looking forward to 2019-2020, Gnoza sees a bright future. “This past World Cup season we became a team. I look forward to watching this team grow into champions. Our outstanding and dedicated staff combined with the talent and passion of the athletes is the makings of something pretty special.”

The U.S. Aerials Ski Team closed out their 2019 Freestyle World Cup season with a double event on Sunday. The day began with a one-jump World Cup individual event in the morning and finished with a team event in the afternoon.

Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.) led the Americans and earned her second podium of the weekend, and the season, finishing second in the morning event. “It was really exciting to get back to back podiums here in China,” said Caldwell of her success this weekend. She added, “I have never competed in a World Cup before 9 a.m. in the morning.”

Caldwell shared the podium with China’s Xu Mengtao and Xu Sicun, in first and third respectively.

For the second day in a row, the women were up before the sun. Sunday’s event started with a 4:45 a.m. breakfast for a 5:15 hour-long bus ride to the jump site to be ready for speed checks by 7:25 a.m. Five American women placed in the top 10 in the morning event: Madison Varmette (Stafford, Va.) finished fourth, Morgan Northrop (Haymarket, Va.) finished sixth, Megan Nick (Shelburne, Vt.) finished seventh and Kaila Kuhn (Park City Ski & Snowboard) finished eighth.

“Despite waking up at four in the morning, our team did incredible on the women’s side,” said Caldwell. "We were laughing and having a good time even though we were tired. After the long World Cup season this was an incredible result and I’m really proud of all of our teammates.”

On the men’s side, Nicholas Novak (Stafford, Va.) was the top American, finishing sixth. “Nick was one of the great stories about today, to come back from his crash yesterday and be our top man,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Head Aerials Coach Todd Ossian. Eric Loughran (Pelham, N.H.) came in ninth and Justin Schoenefeld (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) finished 10th. China’s Jiaxu Sun took the win, Switzerland's Noe Roth finished second, and Belarus’s Anton Kushnir finished third.

Originally the U.S. was slated to put forth three teams for the afternoon team event; however, they ended up fielding two teams. USA 1 was represented by Jonathon Lillis (Pittsford, N.Y.), Christopher Lillis (Pittsford, N.Y.) and Caldwell. USA 2 was represented by Loughran, Schoenefeld and Winter Vinecki (Salem, Ore.). Schoenefeld, who’s making quite an impression on his first World Cup tour, stomped out a beautiful full-full-full (triple twisting, triple backflip) during the first round of competition, earning a score of 117. “He was deserving of every point of that score,” said Ossian. USA 2 was the top American team, finishing fourth overall, just missing the podium by less than two points.

At the close of the season, the U.S. Aerials Team finishes with four women and three men in the top 10 of the FIS Freestyle Grand Prix and finished second overall for the Nations’ Cup. For the first year of the new quad going into the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games, the Aerials Team is set up for success.

“We knew this was going to be a building season,” said U.S. World Cup Aerials Coach Emily Cook. “Going into next season people know what they need to work on and they have the foundation to do that. We’ve been super happy with the last couple of weeks. It’s good to have that foundation moving into the next quad.”

Chris Lillis, who ends this season ranked eighth in the world reflects, “I’m definitely happy that I finished ranked in the top ten in the world. That was a big goal of mine coming into the season. I see a lot of things I can improve on for next year, like coming home with more medals, but I had some really consistent results this year so really excited about that.”

RESULTS
Men’s aerials
Women’s aerials
Team aerials
 

It was a snowy day in Kvitfjell, Norway, but that didn't stop Travis Ganong (Squaw, Calif.) from grabbing the second best FIS Ski World Cup super-G result of his career, landing in fifth to lead three Americans into the points.

For the second-straight day, Italy’s Dominik Paris took the victory, piping the bottom section of the course, finishing with a time of 1:29.20 - .43 seconds ahead of Attacking Viking and hometown boy Kjetil Jansrud and .60 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Beat Feuz. Paris moved from third in the super-G standings behind Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr and Matthias Mayer to lead the standings heading into World Cup Finals in Soldeu, Andorra, with 330 points - a 44-point advantage on Kriechmayr.

Ganong skied a clean and fast run to lead the Americans and snag his best result of the season, and second-best career super-G result (his best is a fourth place at Lake Louise, Canada in 2015. After sustaining a knee injury in Bormio, Italy that sidelined Ganong prior to the Olympics, he has been fighting to find his way back into the top group.

“I’m feeling better,” Ganong said after his run. “The whole season I’ve kind of been struggling mentally to find my race gear and to be comfortable pushing and taking risks. I’ve been really skiing within myself. These last two days - especially yesterday - I decided to push and take some risks, and it didn’t quite pan out yesterday in the downhill, but it was nice to get that monkey off my back and take some risks and not crash and have good splits. Obviously, in the downhill I had huge mistakes, but today - another chance - I pushed hard again, took some risks, and it worked.”

Ranked 16th in the standings, Ganong will take that confidence into the World Cup Finals and next season. “Just a really good stepping stone in my recovery and my comeback, and sets me up really well for next season,” he said. “I’m super happy to have a fifth place today.” Teammate Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) - who is tied for 21st in the super-G standings with France’s Alexis Pinturault - will also represent the United States at World Cup Finals in the discipline.

Teammate Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) was skiing super fast in the middle section of the course, back by just .17 seconds at one split when he made a couple of costly errors that pushed him to 15th place. Nyman has been skiing the best super-G he’s skied in years, and is back in the 30, though he narrowly missed making it to World Cup Finals in the discipline - as he’s sitting in 26th by just one point. For the second-straight day, Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) finished in the points. Today was the first time Goldberg has finished in the top 30 this season super-G. 

Other Americans to compete in Sunday’s super-G included Thomas Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.), in 33rd, Cochran-Siegle in 34th, Sam Morse (Sugarloaf, Maine) in 42nd, Sam Dupratt (Park City, Utah) in 48th and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) in 49th.

Up next for the men is a giant slalom and slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on March 9-10.

Women's Super-G Canceled in Sochi; Shiffrin With Super-G Lead into Finals

For the fifth-straight day, weather wiped out the women's FIS Ski World Cup in Sochi, Russia.

As a result of Sunday's cancelation, Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) will maintain her super-G standings lead heading into the final super-G race in Soldeu, Andorra at World Cup Finals on March 14. Shiffrin has won every super-G she’s participated in this season, including Lake Louise, Canada, St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. She will go into World Cup Finals with 300 points, and a 32-point lead over the reigning super-G title holder,  Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather, Up next for the women is a giant slalom and slalom in Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic. Shiffrin is the current leader in the giant slalom standings, with an 81-point lead over France’s Tessa Worley.

RESULTS
Men's super-G

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

Sunday, March 3
4:00 p.m. - Men’s super-G  - Kvitfjell, NOR - NBCSN*

Friday, March 8
4:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 1 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - NBCSN*

Saturday, March 9
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 10
4:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.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.

A field of six Olympians took to the halfpipe at Vail Mountain Resort in Colorado for the final day of the 37th Annual Burton U.S. Open with women's halfpipe finals. U.S. Snowboard Pro Team member Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) not only earned her first-ever U.S. Open victory and her first ever top-level international win but also made history landing the first ever double crippler in women’s halfpipe competition.

“I can't even express how happy I am,” said Mastro. “I am speechless and overwhelmed. I have been going to bed and dreaming about doing that trick. I didn’t do any in practice at all but decided if I could visualize it, its on. I was able to and I decided not to think, but to just do. I am fully overwhelmed and could not be any more filled with happiness. This is the first contest I have won and for it to be at the U.S. Open is an incredible feeling. I can’t put it into words to describe how good I feel right now. The double crippler has been a shadow just following me around so it’s really nice to show everyone what I got.”

The work Mastro has put in perfecting the double crippler in the spring and fall of 2018 paid off in a big way. After not practicing the trick at all throughout the week, Mastro’s mental toughness proved dividends as she put it down for the first time ever in competition. Also, her breakthrough performance disrupts the flawless season of Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.). Expect the battle for the top spot on the halfpipe podium to continue at the 2019 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area next week as both Mastro and Kim return to their home turf.

Kim would finish in second place behind Mastro and just ahead of Cai Xuetong of China in third. Kim’s highest scoring run contained a frontside 1080, cab 900 and a cab 1080, which is a different run than what she’s done previously this season. U.S. Pro Team member Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) also rode very well landing all three of her runs and increasing difficulty as the competition went on. Gold may have had the fan favorite hit boosting a huge frontside 1080 tail to start of her runs that lit up the crowd. She would finish in fourth just outside the podium. The top three riders all were in one point of each other illustrating the high level of riding for the women.

For the men, American Danny Davis (Truckee, Calif.) finished just outside the podium in fourth. Davis Kicked off the men’s competition with a massive amplitude which undeniably energized the rest of the field. U.S. Snowboard Pro Team member and Olympian Jake Pates (Eagle, Colo.) would have challenged the podium on his third and final run, but on his last hit, he slipped out in the flat bottom. Pates put on a great show for the Vail crowd, but could not reach the podium.

Australia's Scotty James added yet another win to his collection as he remains perfect and undefeated in the 2018/19 season. Japan’s Raibu Katayama finished in second-place and Yuto Totsuka in third. Katayama summarized the 2019 Burton Open best by simply stating, "we go higher and higher,“ highlighting the endless progression that took place in the halfpipe on Saturday.

U.S. Snowboard Team members will continue halfpipe and slopestyle competition at the 2019 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area March 6-9. Tune in on NBC To catch all the action.

RESULTS
Men and women’s halfpipe finals

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

SNOWBOARD
Friday, March 8
12:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s slopestyle - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 9
4:00 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - 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.
 

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) skied a gritty race on Saturday to finish fourth in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship 30k freestyle in Seefeld, Austria.  

Diggins was pushing the pace from the second position to pressure eventual winner Therese Johaug (Norway) to peel off the front during the second of four laps.

“That was really fun and we had some of the best skis out there,” said Diggins. “I went to the front to take the lead as I could see that the chase group was starting to make time. I started working there and was steadily pinning it at the max I could sustain. I was working with Ingvild which was fun, but she started to go, and my body said nope, as I was struggling a bit with cramping.”

Working together, second-place finisher Ingvild Flugstad Ostberg and third-place finisher 19-year-old Frida Karlsson of Norway pushed the pace late in the second lap.

“When Ingvild started to go, my body said nope, as I was struggling a bit with cramping, continued Diggins. “I was trying to ski as technically well as I could at about 2k to go and put all my energy into the snow. I was thinking I have got to make it to the finish line.  When I crossed the finish line it was such a good feeling because I know I couldn’t have given it anything else.”

“It was really exciting to see Jessie be so competitive and it was interesting at the beginning of the race as she was trying to cover Johaug’s move,” said U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Chris Grover. “Jessie was skiing in second for much of the race and never further back than that lead group until the split came. The wax techs made some incredible skis today allowed us to be really competitive all day”.

Grover continued, “Sadie and Rosie have been skiing rock solid and we’re in the mix today. All four or out starters executed the race really well, no missed feeds, no broken poles and made the smart choices about ski exchanges. That veteran experience goes into creating really good races.”

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) finished 15th, Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) finished 16th and, Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury, Vt.) finished 34th.

“It was a day for toughness out there,” said Brennan. “We started out at a very fast clip and with some fatigue from a week of racing, I was not feeling like I could sustain that pace for 30k. I settled back and found a good group of girls to race with and things slowly turned around. We were able to pick up a few people that faded from the group in front and I was able to have a strong sprint finish. I am really proud of my finish, but wish I had it in me to stick with the group in front.”

The Championships continue Sunday with the final race of the event, the Men’s 50k freestyle.  Starters will be Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska), David Norris (Fairbanks Alaska), Adam Martin (Wausau, Wis.), and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Co.).

RESULTS
Women’s 30k

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Sunday, March 3
5:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 50k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) landed her fourth individual FIS World Cup snowboardcross podium of the season in Baqueira Beret, Spain on Saturday.

"I am very happy to have another podium, and I loved being in Spain again," said Jacobellis. "Right now I am focused on all things production for Supergirl Snow Pro. When I arrive back in Europe I can focus on the course and doing my best to hopefully win a globe. Every year this sport becomes more competitive, especially on the women’s side. I have enjoyed watching the sport develop and I am very happy that I am still winning after all of these years."

Jacobellis has climbed from third to the top spot is the FIS Cup Standings tied with Czech Republic’s Eva Samkova. With only one World Cup left on the schedule, the race for the crystal globe is coming down to the wire. U.S. Snowboardcross Teammate Faye Gulini (Salt Lake City, Utah) also raced well finishing seventh overall, making it to the small final.

Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic took the victory and Chloe Trespeuch of France finished second.

For the men, 2019 double FIS World Champion Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) finished in fourth making it to the big final. U.S. Snowboardcross Teammate Jonathan Cheever (Saugus, Mass.) finished in eighth, Alex Deibold (Manchester, Vt.) 12th, Jake Vedder (Pickney, Mich.) 15th, Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, Mich.) 17th and Hagen Kearney (Norwood, Colo.) finished in 19th. Vedder is currently seventh is the Cup Standings and will need a strong performance in Veysonnaz to challenge standings leader Noel Martin from Germany.

Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria topped the podium in first-place followed up Adam Lambert of Austria in second, and Kevin Hill of Canada in third.

The last FIS World Cup snowboardcross of the season will take place on March 16 in Veysonnaz, Switzerland. Watch Jacobellis fight for the coveted FIS Crystal Globe overall title to cap off what has been a strong season for the U.S. Snowboardcross Team.

FIS CUP STANDINGS
Men’s snowboardcross
Women’s snowboardcross

RESULTS
Men’s snowboardcross
Women’s snowboardcross
 

For the third straight year, Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) has secured the FIS Ski World Cup overall title, and she secured it while taking time off from the World Cup circuit, to rest, recharge and train in both Italy and the Czech Republic - rather than traveling to Sochi, Russia, which has struggled with cancellations the last four days.

It’s been a historical year of record-breaking for Shiffrin, who - in an IGTV post on Saturday - called it a “pretty crazy” to secure the overall, as she sat on her bed in a hotel room in the Italy, not racing. “It’s strange because, I feel like right here right now, I didn’t do something this morning…” Shiffrin laughed. “...And I’m like ‘Oh, here you go - you woke up today, here’s an overall globe!’ But, at the same time, this entire season has been spectacular...a bit push. Every race has been a fight, but it’s been incredible.

Shiffrin won her first overall globe in Aspen on home soil in 2017, and followed that up - along with the slalom title and two Olympic medals, in the 2018 season to hoist up her second-straight overall globe in Åre, Sweden. The one big goal of Shiffrin’s has been the giant slalom title, and though it was within reach in 2018, she ended up third behind Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg and France’s Tessa Worley. She was also fifth in the downhill standings in 2018. But this season...this season has been one for the books.

Shiffrin currently - and depending on what happens with Sunday’s super-G in Sochi, Russia - will likely enter her next World Cup competition (in Špindlerův Mlýn) with the overall and slalom titles secured, as well as lead in giant slalom and super-G. Last season, she finished with 1,773 points in the overall standings. This season, with at least four - if not five starts left for Shiffrin - she already has 1,794 points. Is she going for the overall points record? Nope. But, just like every record she’s broken or matched this season, she’ll probably get close. Her secret?! Not focusing on the result, but rather focusing on the process.

A combination of things led to Shiffrin securing the overall title as she actually took time away from the World Cup tour. With a 719-point advantage over Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova, Vlhova not traveling to Sochi as well, and Saturday’s super-G being canceled, it was clear that Shiffrin had clinched it. “Races are canceled, certain people are not at those races, so the points get all wound up in different ways, so all of a sudden - there ya have it,” she said.

“The overall globe has been one of the biggest dreams of mine since I was a little girl,” noted Shiffrin. “This year it’s even something, maybe even more special, because a fair portion of my wins have come in super-G...and I always felt like the overall globe can mean ‘Best in the World’ but I wanted to be able to earn it in all events. I’m still working on getting to the point where I can earn it in slalom, GS, super-G AND downhill...but I felt like this season was a really big step. It’s been a little grueling, but also insanely gratifying.”

Shiffrin has broken so many records this season, it’s getting hard to keep track. But, yes - I have kept track, of course. It is my job, after all.

So, here goes…

2018-19 Season Accolades

• First super-G win in Lake Louise, making ski racing history by becoming the first-ever athlete – male or female – to win in all six currently contested FIS Ski World Cup alpine disciplines.

• She’s won every super-G she’s entered this season – three World Cup victories (Lake Louise, St. Moritz and Cortina), and one World Championship victory (Are)

• First ski racer – male or female – to win 15 World Cup races in a calendar year (2018)

• Women's slalom World Cup win record (38 – second only to Ingemar Stenmark with 40 – and could match Stenmark, as she has two slalom starts left on the season)

• Fifth on the all-time World Cup win list (57 – Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell is fourth, with 62 victories)

• 14 World Cup victories on the season (so far) – tied with Vreni Schneider’s record for wins in a single season (she has at least four more chances this season)

• 2019 Super-G World Champion

• 2019 Slalom World Champion – first athlete – male or female – to win four successive world titles in a discipline (quite a heroic win, as she did it while she was ill with a chest infection)

• 2019 giant slalom bronze medalist

• Locked in the slalom title already for the season, with her last victory at the City Event in Stockholm - 2019 slalom title holder (sixth in seven years – only year missing was 2016, when she was injured - and she was still fourth in the standings)

• Current overall, super-G, and giant slalom standings leader

• This is something that’s pretty impressive…

• Worlds – Gold Medal Count

  • Norway 2

  • Switzerland 2

  • Mikaela 2

  • Austria 1

• This is Mikaela’s winning and podium percentage on the season:

  • 24 races, with 20 podiums (including 2019 World Champs giant slalom bronze), 16 of which were wins (including 2019 World Champs super-G and slalom victories). There’s an 83% chance Mikaela will podium a race she enters this season, and a 67% chance she’ll win. Across six disciplines: slalom, parallel slalom, giant slalom, alpine combined, super-G and downhill.

Shiffrin’s main goal has been conquering the challenging giant slalom discipline. In the seven World Cup giant slalom races she’s participated in this season (including World Championships), her worst finish has been fifth. She’s podiumed five times and won three times. She currently leads friend Worley by 81 points in the giant slalom standings, and Vlhova by 137 points. “The final goal of mine for this year was the giant slalom globe,” Shiffrin said on Saturday. “I guess we’ll see in the next couple of races how that goes…” Keep in mind, she’s leading the super-G standings and it’s not even on her radar at this point. What an amazing season Shiffrin has had!

“Most dominant” are words that have been thrown around by numerous notable journalists and publications, from the Washington Post to USA Today, as Shiffrin blazes her own path and has broken into mainstream media discussion this season. And yet still, she remains down to earth, congratulatory to her competitors and gracious both in victory and in defeat, and focused on the process - not the result.

While in Cortina after her second third super-G win of the season, she and I had a conversation about how her former teammate - and legend of the sport - Bode Miller approached his craft. If he won but did not ski his best, he was bummed. If he was second but he skied his best, he was happy. She identifies with that. So, for Shiffrin - who breaks records every time she hits the mountain - her focus will remain on skiing her best...and with this strategy and the way it’s been going so far, the success is bound to follow. What will she do to celebrate? A happy dance, perhaps?

"I could go jump around and do a little happy dance and that," she said. "I feel like nobody really needs to see that. It's just, it's pretty crazy." 

Under challenging conditions in China, the Americans stepped it up during the FIS Freestyle World Cup aerials and posted two third-place finishes. Eric Loughran (Pelham, N.H.) earned a career-first World Cup podium, and Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.) posted her first World Cup podium of the season. The Shimao Lotus Mountain event marks the first of two days of competition for the U.S. Aerials Team and is the final stop of their 2019 World Cup Tour.

“It feels so good right now to be on the podium, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Loughran. “I struggled a little bit in the beginning of the season and it’s nice at the end of it to just really pull it together. It was a super tough day today, so I’m stoked to have pulled it off and feel pretty good about my performance. The first few jumps were a little iffy, I went a little bigger than I thought and then snuck on in there to put one down in super finals.”

Loughran shared the podium with China’s Sun Jiaxu and Wang Xindi, who came in first and second respectively. Caldwell finished behind Australia’s Laura Peel in first, and China’s Xu Sicun in second.

“I’ve had a lot of good results in China,” said Caldwell. “I had so much fun with my team despite the challenging conditions, everyone really crushed it out there. I’m excited to have gotten another podium here and looking forward to tomorrow’s team event and hopefully crushing it.”

The day proved challenging with varying course conditions due to dramatic temperature changes and changing winds. Temperatures fluctuated as much as 20 degrees, with the afternoon reaching highs of over 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The organizers did a great job of providing dry ice to keep the jumps set, inserting tubes of it in the kickers to help keep the kickers’ form and smashing it on the tables and in-run so athletes could still gain speed skiing down.

“Experience definitely counts on a day like today,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Aerials World Cup Coach Emily Cook. “Ashley and Eric were both using years of experience to hit the take-off right in these conditions.”

“Eric has a good feel for these things, he’s a great skier, which is sometimes underrated in our sport,” explained U.S. Ski & Snowboard Aerials World Cup Coach Eric Bergoust. “When you’re confident on skis you can feel and make adjustments from the bottom to the top of the jump.”

Even with a 5 a.m. wake up call for a 6 a.m. hour-long bus ride to the jump site, the U.S. team put five women and four men through to finals. Kaila Kuhn (Park City Ski & Snowboard) had a career-bests as well, making her first appearance in finals and finishing eighth overall.

The aerials athletes compete Sunday in two events: a one jump World Cup and the second Team event of the season. “Having the team events is important since it will be a new Olympic sport, but also we don’t want to be sacrificing singles for it,” said Cook about the double day. Sunday will provide the U.S. with two more podium opportunities and everyone is looking forward to closing out the season.

“This has been a challenging season for me,” reflects Caldwell. “I think I’ve used the word ‘challenging’ in every interview this year just because of this being both a post-Olympic and post-injury season. I feel really awesome about this team going forward in the next four years. We have a lot of talent and a lot of comradery that is going to be epic in the future.”

RESULTS
Men’s aerials
Women’s aerials

Sunday's Starters
USA 1: Jon Lillis, Chris Lillis and Ashley Caldwell
USA 2: Justin Schoenefeld, Eric Loughran and Winter Vinecki
USA 3: Madison Varmette, Megan Nick and Nick Novak

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Saturday, March 2
5:00 p.m. - Men and women's moguls - Shymbulak, KAZ - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, March 3
12:30 a.m. - Men and women's team aerials - Shimao Lotus Mountain, CHN - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:30 a.m. - Men and women's dual moguls - Shymbulak, KAZ - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Men and women's dual moguls - Shymbulak, KAZ - 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.

On a near-perfect and fast track at a Norwegian venue that feels like home, Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) led three Americans into the top 15 and four into the top 24 at the FIS Ski World Cup downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway. 

When Swiss Beat Feuz came down, it didn't appear anyone could best his time of 1:45.99, but then Italian Dominik Paris skied blazing fast on the bottom portion of the course and proved otherwise, crossing the line in 1:45.74 - .25 seconds ahead of Feuz. Austria's Matthias Mayer rounded out the podium in third, .37 seconds off Paris' pace. Feuz currently leads the downhill standings over Paris by 80 points with just one race to go in Soldeu, Andorra at World Cup Finals. 

The downhillers have had a complicated last few weeks, with Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany canceled, and the World Championships downhill at Åre, Sweden shortened considerably due to weather. Though he has not skied much downhill since his crash in Wengen, veteran Nyman walked away happy with the team's overall result in Kvitfjell, which featured Jared Goldberg's (Holladay, Utah) best result of the season, and a tie on his career-best result in ninth (tying his ninth place in Val Gardena, Italy in 2017). Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) grabbed another career best venue result, with 12th, showing continued consistency and moving him up to sixth overall in the season's downhill standings. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) also put down a solid finish, with 24th place. 

"Happy with my day. It’s a big improvement from my training run (which was 35th place)," Nyman said. "I haven’t been on downhill skis much since my crash in Wengen, so to ski with conviction took a lot of focus and grit. My comfort level isn’t that high right now, so I’m proud of my performance all things considered. I’m also proud of Jared for pulling out a good performance; he really needed that! And, of course, Bryce - being in the top 15 once again proves his consistency." 

It's been a challenging season for Goldberg, who - prior to Kvitfjell - had not finished better than 28th (in Bormio, Italy) this season, and had only scored twice (including 30th place in Wengen, Switzerland). A trip home to Utah to rest and recharge, where he was able to get some laps in the freshies on his home mountain, Snowbird, and see his dog Melvin - as well as making some adjustments with his equipment - was just what Goldberg needed to turn things around. He was the ninth-fastest in Friday's one and only training run, and he was able to match that, 1.25 seconds out, in Saturday's race. 

"It's been a struggle of a season trying to find the right feeling to push hard and look for speed," reflected Goldberg. "After a long Europe trip and canceled races, I needed some time at home to recoup and reflect on what I do and why I do it, and it paid off." 

Other Americans to compete in Saturday's downhill included Sam Morse (Sugarloaf, Maine) in 45th, Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.) who took some big risks and made a large mistake but still finished in 49th, Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.) in 51st and Thomas Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.) who did not finish. 

Up next for the men's speed team is a super-G at Kvitfjell on Sunday. 

Women's Super-G Canceled in Sochi; Shiffrin Locks in Third-Straight Overall

For the fourth-straight day, weather wiped out the women's FIS Ski World Cup in Sochi, Russia. 

The downhill that was originally scheduled for Saturday will not be rescheduled. The FIS Ski World Cup super-G in St. Anton, Austria, that was canceled, rescheduled in Sochi, and canceled again will not be rescheduled. The women are scheduled to compete in a super-G Sunday in Sochi. Due to today's cancelation, Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) has locked in her third-straight career overall title, along with her sixth slalom title, which she locked in after the Stockholm City Event. 

RESULTS
Men's downhill

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

Sunday, March 3
1:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Kvitfjell, NOR - NBCSN**
2:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G  - Sochi, RUS - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 a.m. - Men’s super-G - Kvitfjell, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G  - Sochi, RUS - NBCSN*

Friday, March 8
4:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 1 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - NBCSN*

Saturday, March 9
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 10
4:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

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.