2019 super-G World Juniors Champion River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.) narrowly missed landing on the podium once again at FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in Val di Fassa, Italy on Saturday in the alpine combined, finishing fourth - a mere seven-hundredths of a second off of third place. 

Radamus won the super-G portion of the alpine combined, by .08 seconds, but it was a warm day - about 45 degrees Fahrenheit - with the sun beating straight down on the track, and the snow was deteriorating with each racer. Radamus, who would then run 30th, felt the effects of that sun, and he finished just off the podium - and a tenth out of silver medal contention - when he crossed the finish.

Radamus led three into the top 12, though, with fellow Coloradans and teammates Kyle Negomir (Littleton, Colo.) in eighth and Cooper Cornelius in 12th (Glenwood Springs, Colo.). Going into the middle flat, Negmoir went down on a hip in the super-G portion of the combined but was able to come back and ski the fourth-fastest slalom portion of the combined. Alpine Development Director Chip Knight called his speed "remarkable" despite his big mistake, and also noted that his big move in the slalom portion of the combined was nothing short of impressive. 

Keep an eye on these guys as they head into the tech portion of World Juniors. With fire in their eyes, they'll look to land on that podium once again. 

Up next at Junior World Championships is the women's alpine combined and women's super-G (rescheduled from Friday due to heavy winds) on Sunday.

RESULTS
Men's alpine combined

COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Feb. 24  – Women’s alpine combined and women’s super-G (rescheduled from Friday)
Feb. 25  – Men’s giant slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 26  – Men’s slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 27  – Women’s downhill

MORE INFORMATION
Val di Fassa 2019

Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) skied to a FIS Nordic World Ski Championship personal-best 10th place in the women’s 15k skiathlon in Seefeld, Austria, Saturday. The U.S. added two more in the top-30 with Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.) in 19th, and Rosie Frankowski (Minneapolis, Minn.) in 24th.

“We only do a skiathlon about once a year, so you never really know what to do,” said Brennan.  “I tried to get in a group that I thought was realistic and relax and hang in there. My skis were quite good. Once we switched to skate I started trying to think a little more tactically of how to ski within my group. That is what I am most happy about, I think that was one of best tactically skied races I have ever had.  It was a great way to start the championships”

“A personal World Championship best for Rosie Brennan was super fun to see,” said U.S. Head Cross Country Coach Chris Grover. “She was in the top 15 all day and then putting a little distance on 11 to secure that top-10 place.

“Julia Kern in 19th place has been skiing fantastic and a solid race for Rosie Frankowski in 24th, I think she was wanting more, but solid,” Grover added. “I know Caitlyn Patterson didn’t have the race she was looking for, but she was coming off an illness, so that was to be expected.”

Norway’s Therese Johaug took the gold in the women’s race, followed by teammate Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg in with the silver, and Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia with the bronze.

For the U.S. men, Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) was the top finisher with a hard fought 32nd on a rapidly warming course.

“It was a tough classic as the lead group took it out really hard,” said Patterson. “I was struggling a little with kick and dug myself into a hole and burned my legs a bit. My skis were fast, so I just tried to hold on as much as I could. When we switched to skate, I was waiting for my legs to come around, trying to get going and it never quite happened.”

“It really slowed down for the guys side and became a survival fest,” said Grover. “It was really cool to see both Scott and David Norris battle back a little bit on the skate side and start to pick off some guys. I think there are some good feelings there even if the race did not come together for any of our guys, I know they were all left wanting more, but there were some bright spots for each of them today.”

Norway’s Sjur Roethe took the gold, followed by Alexander Bolshunov of Russian with the solver and Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway winning the bronze. Patterson were David Norris (Fairbanks, Alaska) in 38th, Kyle Bratrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) in 49th and Adam Martin (Wausau, Wisc.) in 54th.

The World Championships continue Sunday with the men’s and women’s classic team sprint.

RESULTS
Men’s skiathlon
Women’s skiathlon

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

Sunday, Feb. 24
5:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men and women’s team sprint finals - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold 
10:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men and women’s team sprint finals - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*
11:30 p.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s team sprint finals - Seefeld, AUT - NBCSN*

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.
 

During the first day of competition at the FIS Freestyle World Cup Tazawako moguls, crowd favorite Bradley Wilson (Butte, Mont.) stood in third place on the podium - the first U.S. men’s World Cup podium of the 2019 season. Wilson shared the podium with Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury and Philippe Marquis, who came in first and second respectively.

“Today was ultimate, the conditions were insane,” said Wilson. “When we showed up the course was a little firm and then it just got warm and it was soft and slushy, the sun was out, it was awesome. I had a blast, it was good!”

Wilson’s success comes on the heels of his second consecutive World Championships Dual Moguls silver medal and at the site of his last World Cup win in 2016.

“Brad is always tough to beat in Japan, we knew that was coming here,” said Matt Gnoza, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Head Moguls Coach. “He was locked in from this morning, he was ‘quiet Brad’ and you could see his focus first thing.”

The Americans proved their teams’ depth came out in force. All six American women competing today qualified for finals: Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.), Olivia Giaccio (Redding, Conn.), Nessa Dziemian (East Hampstead, N.H.), Hannah Soar (Somers, Conn.) and Alex Jenson (Park City Ski & Snowboard).

“We didn’t get the podiums we wanted from the women today, but six of them in the finals all skiing at that final level is something I’m really happy about,” Gnoza said.

This is the first time in Gnoza’s career that all of the women skiers made it to finals. Kauf was the top female American finisher, coming in fifth, with Johnson right behind her in sixth. France’s Perrine Laffont won, Australia’s Jakara Anthony came in second and Kazakhstan's Yulia Galysheva rounded out the podium in third.

On the men’s side Wilson, Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) and Dylan Walczyk (Rochester, N.Y.) made the top 16 and skied in the first final. “I’m super excited about the depth of the men’s team,” said Gnoza of their performance. “Every athlete skied quality runs today and that made a huge difference.”

The Tazawako World Cup is the most well-attended international World Cup stop for the moguls athletes. The cheering fans, air horns, and overall festive atmosphere make for an enjoyable competition for the Americans.

“Tazawako is sweet. I like the moguls, they’re natural moguls made from skiers, which is what I grew up on. It’s fun to feel like I’m back when I was a kid,” says Wilson.

The fun isn’t over yet as there is another opportunity for podiums with a duals competition tomorrow. And if there’s one thing learned from World Championships, it’s that Americans love skiing duals as much as fans love watching it. Wilson, Kauf, and Johnson all claimed World Championships Duals hardware and we can expect quite the show from them tomorrow.

“It was a fun day out here today,” said Gnoza. “We’re excited for tomorrow: we’re duals machines.”

Results
Men’s moguls
Women’s moguls

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 23
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls - Tazawako, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
 

Team USA grabbed its second medal of the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in as many days on Friday in the Team Event, taking home silver, at Val di Fassa, Italy under the lights. The team was led by 2019 super-G World Junior Champion River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.), along with Ben Ritchie (Waitsfield, Vt.), AJ Hurt (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and Katie Hensien (Redmond, Wash.).

The American squad prevailed over the Czech Republic, Italy, and Sweden, but lost to France in the final. Germany rounded out the podium in third. Italy and Sweden both had strong teams, though Italy had a few crashes and the U.S. earned a hard-fought win over Sweden on a tiebreaker by mere hundredths. In the end, it was great teamwork from the athletes and staff that led to the silver medal.

Down 0-2 to Sweden, Hurt fought through a mistake that pushed her wide from the track, and Ritchie came through in the last heat with one of the fastest runs of the evening. “This event is really special because four athletes truly compete together, which doesn’t happen in any other event in our sport,” said Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. “The women’s and men’s staff works together on the hill, and all the athletes who aren’t racing were there cheering at the bottom. It was a true team effort.”

This was the first Team Event medal for the U.S. at Junior World Ski Championships, and the first Team Event medal at a major event outside of Whistler Cup (U16) last season. The women's super-G, originally scheduled for Friday, was cancelled due to high winds and rescheduled to Sunday. 

Up next at Junior World Championships is the men’s alpine combined on Saturday.

RESULTS
Team Event

COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Feb. 23  – Men’s alpine combined
Feb. 24  – Women’s alpine combined and women’s super-G (rescheduled from Friday)
Feb. 25  – Men’s giant slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 26  – Men’s slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 27  – Women’s downhill

MORE INFORMATION
Val di Fassa 2019

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Spyder, one of the world’s most recognizable ski brands, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the most decorated Winter Olympic organization, today announced the launch of an exclusive store on Amazon.com offering the Spyder and U.S. Ski Team’s co-branded gear to consumers.

Spyder x U.S. Ski Team apparel and accessories are designed and constructed with the help of U.S. Ski Team athletes to deliver top results as they train to compete against the best in the world. Spyder partners with Gore-Tex, the undisputed leader in fabric technology, to deliver waterproof, windproof and breathable technology across this collection. Versatility is also infused throughout the assortment with details such as jackets with removable helmet compatible hoods and goggle pockets, ski pants with removable suspenders and hand warmer pockets. Drawing its color inspiration from European runways, the collection has a distinct color palette of olive and army green paired with pops of yellow, that give audiences more choice and the opportunity to stand out on and off the mountain. 

A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of co-branded Spyder x U.S. Ski Team products supports the U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s efforts to provide resources to athletes who are inspired to be the best in the world.

“For 30 years Spyder has proudly developed and supplied product to the U.S. Ski Team,” said Nick Adcock, CEO of Spyder. “Teaming up with Amazon has allowed us to highlight these amazing athletes to a much broader audience than ever before and  raise funds to support their future success with the sale of these licensed products.”

“We are delighted to be working with Spyder and Amazon,” said Dan Barnett, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief Commercial Officer. “Ski fans now have a unique opportunity to access the great looks that they see on their favorite athletes wherever they are, whenever they want!”

The Spyder x U.S. Ski Team store on Amazon.com at amazon.com/usskiteam offers a capsule collection of t-shirts, hoodies, and hats featuring the Spyder and U.S. Ski Team logos. In addition, the store offers the full Fall 2019 Spyder x U.S. Ski Team “Speed Freaks” collection for pre-order, including sweaters, jackets, snowsuits, speed suits, ski pants, and accessories for men and women.

To learn more and stay up to date on Spyder and U.S. Ski & Snowboard, please follow @SpyderActive on social media.

About Spyder
Spyder is one of the world’s most recognizable and credible outdoor sportswear brands. Focused on enhancing the ski experience both on and off the mountain, Spyder prides itself on its advanced technical composition and style. Originally founded by David Jacobs, coach of the Canadian Ski Team and Bob Beattie, coach of the United States Ski team, Spyder’s roots run deep in the ski community. Pioneering its first padded ski sweater in 1978, and sponsoring the U.S. Ski Team since 1989, Spyder offers technical ski, fitness, and lifestyle apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. The highly sought-after brand is available in department stores, sporting goods stores, and specialty retailers throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, South Korea.

About U.S. Ski & Snowboard
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Tracing its roots directly back to 1905, the organization represents nearly 200 elite skiers and snowboarders in 2019, competing in seven teams; alpine, cross country, freeski, freestyle, snowboard, nordic combined and ski jumping. In addition to the elite teams, U.S. Ski & Snowboard also provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders across the USA, encouraging and supporting them in achieving excellence. By empowering national teams, clubs, coaches, parents, officials, volunteers and fans, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to the progression of its sports, athlete success and the value of team. For more information, visit www.usskiandsnowboard.org

About Authentic Brands Group
Authentic Brands Group (ABG) is a brand development, marketing, and entertainment company, which owns a portfolio of global entertainment and lifestyle brands. Headquartered in New York City, ABG manages, elevates, and builds the long-term value of more than 50 consumer brands and properties by partnering with best-in-class manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. Its brands have a global retail footprint in more than 100,000 points of sale across the luxury, specialty, department store, mid-tier, mass, and e-commerce channels and more than 4,800 branded freestanding stores and shop-in-shops around the world. ABG is committed to transforming brands by delivering compelling product, content, business, and immersive brand experiences. It creates and activates original marketing strategies to drive the success of its brands across all consumer touchpoints, platforms, and emerging media. 

ABG’s portfolio of iconic and world-renowned brands includes Marilyn Monroe®, Mini Marilyn®, Elvis Presley®, Muhammad Ali®, Shaquille O'Neal®, Dr. J®, Greg Norman®, Neil Lane®, Thalia®, Michael Jackson® (managed brand), Nautica®, Aéropostale®, Juicy Couture®, Vince Camuto®, Herve Leger®, Judith Leiber®, Frederick's of Hollywood®, Nine West®, Frye®, Jones New York®, Louise et Cie®, Sole Society®, Enzo Angiolini®, CC Corso Como®, Hickey Freeman®, Hart Schaffner Marx®, Adrienne Vittadini®, Taryn Rose®, Bandolino®, Misook®, 1.STATE®, CeCe®, Chaus®, Spyder®, Tretorn®, Tapout®, Prince®, Airwalk®, Vision Street Wear®, Above The Rim®, Hind®, Thomasville®, Drexel®, and Henredon®. For more information, please visit ABG-NYC.com.

Jessie Diggins (Afton Minn.) led four American women in the finals and skied to an eighth-place finish in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship sprint on Thursday in Seefeld, Austria.

“If I was going to build a course perfect for me, this would not be it,” said Diggins, who battled hard in her semifinal heat, but in a short 1.2km course got boxed in and finished fourth. “But that’s OK because this is the only time all week I will need fast twitch and I am a self-described slow-twitch athlete. I am proud of how I raced today and did the best I could.”

“We had a great start today qualifying seven of eight,” said Head Coach Chris Grover.  “With sprinting you need a little bit of luck once you get into the rounds and it just didn’t go our way. Everyone raced really hard and the service team did an excellent job, and we have a lot more days of Championships ahead.”

The U.S. qualified all four starters in the event with Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) qualifying fourth, Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) 14th, Diggins in 15th and Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.) in 22nd.

The finals were marred by a crash late in the race allowing eventual winner and Norwegian standout Maiken Caspersen Falla to enter the final stretch with a good lead. Stina Nilsson of Sweden was second, and Mari Eide of Norway in third.

In the men’s race, Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) was the top U.S. finisher in ninth - finishing fifth in a very fast semi final heat.

“I didn’t feel like I had the best energy today and my quarterfinal was really pinged the whole time and that took a lot out of me,” said Hamilton. “My plan was to use the second half of the course to draft and try to move up in the pack, but the pace was high at the start and the pack stayed together. I focused on a hard finish and it just wasn’t enough.”

The U.S. men qualified three of four starters with Hamilton in 11th, Logan Hanneman (Fairbanks, Alaska) 20th and Kevin Bolger (Sun Valley, Idaho) in 23rd. Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo took the victory, with Federico Pellegrino of Italy in second and Gleb Retivykh of Russia completing the podium

“It was a disappointing day with regards to how things could’ve gone – we have a great sprint team – but we had a plan we believed in, and put everything we had into executing it,” said World Cup Coach Matt Whitcomb. “We nailed that part, and that’s why you’ll see us with our heads high as we move into the skiathlon. Our team was ready today, and we’ll be ready again on Saturday.”

The World Championships continue on Saturday with the men’s and women’s skiathlon.

RESULTS
Men’s sprint
Women’s sprint

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Thursday, Feb. 21
11:30 p.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s sprint finals - Seefeld, AUT - NBCSN*

Saturday, Feb. 23
5:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 15k skiathlon - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 30k skiathlon - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 15k skiathlon - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*
9:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 30k skiathlon - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Feb. 24
5:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men and women’s team sprint finals - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men and women’s team sprint finals - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*
11:30 p.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s team sprint finals - Seefeld, AUT - NBCSN*

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.

Three-time Youth Olympic Games gold medalist and two-time FIS Junior World Ski Championships silver medalist, River Radamus (Edwards, Colorado), brought home his first Junior Worlds gold medal in  Val di Fassa, Italy, on Thursday under the sunshine, surrounded by the mighty Dolomites at the newly developed speed venue at Passo San Pellegrino called "La Volata."

The Dolomites seem to be good luck for Radamus, who scored his first FIS Ski World Cup points in just his fifth giant slalom World Cup start at Alta Badia, Italy, this past December. Despite the fact that his focus has been primarily on the tech events of slalom and giant slalom this winter, Radamus was able to find the fast line and focus he needed to take the super-G victory. To help him find that focus, coach Pete Anderson encouraged Radamus to pick an alternate channel on the radio to hear as little information as possible about the course before he pushed out of the start gate. The "less is more" strategy worked out for Radamus, who bested Norway's Lucas Braathen by .34 seconds and France's Florian Loriot by .48 seconds.

“World Juniors is an important benchmarking event for us, both for individual athletes on the way to the World Cup and to show our depth as a nation," remarked U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. "River’s win today was exciting because he’s been in the hunt at the event the last two years, but he hadn’t won yet, so this results highlights his progression as an athlete.  It’s also encouraging for our program from top to bottom because River has worked closely with staff and teammates at the World Cup, Europa Cup, and NorAm levels this year. It takes a team to push athletes to the top!”

A lack of speed training and a nagging head cold wouldn’t stop Radamus from finally finding the top of the Junior World Championships podium, after grabbing a silver in 2017 in alpine combined and a silver - sharing the podium with teammate Luke Winters (Gresham, Ore.) in 2018 - in super-G. Radamus, who was eighth in Wednesday's downhill - led by teammate Kyle Negomir (Littleton, Colo.) sixth - had only skied five other super-G races before today, while his first downhill was this week. Knight mentioned Radamus was in line for a potential top five or even a top three downhill result yesterday, but made an error before the finish and lost time. Radamus’ mother, Sara Radamus, is in Val di Fassa, Italy coaching an athlete from Puerto Rico, so she was able to watch her son with gold.

“Today meant a lot to me. I’ve had silvers at the last two world juniors, and I was pretty sick of finishing runner-up to be honest" reflected Radamus. "When I sat down and made my goals last summer, I had 'Gold at World Juniors' at the top of the list. When I was in the gym training or exhausted from skiing, this race is what I’d think about to keep going. My motto all summer was 'remember why'. This race right here was my why." 

Radamus is quick to give credit where credit is due: his team. "I couldn't have done this without my team," he said. "We've been pushing each other's limits all summer and winter. The last few weeks we've been really locked in. Training with a common mission, and supporting each other as we pursued it. I was the one who got to take the top step today, but every one of them helped me get here." 

Double Olympic Champion and five-time World Champion Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) was cheering on her fellow Coloradan and teammate Radamus from Italy, where she's currently resting and then training for the next World Cups. "World juniors is a really important milestone," Shiffrin said. "I remember racing world juniors; that was the reason I was able to get my first World Cup start. It's a huge step in their careers and a telling sign that having success at world juniors often leads to being able to have success in the World Cup."

Shiffrin also noted that "seeing River winning the world juniors super-G is awesome, because I think everybody sees him as a real up-and-comer, a threat on the World Cup circuit in the future." As for the future, that's what Shiffrin says the world juniors is all about.

"I think one of the big goals for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard right now is developing the next generation," Shiffrin said. "So that we have depth on our team and that there's more than one person holding that torch. That's been a really big focus and I think River's success at world juniors is a sign that it is working and we just have to stay on course."

Up next at Junior World Championships is the team event on Friday, as well as women's super-G. 

RESULTS
Men's super-G
Men's downhill

COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Feb. 22  – Men’s and women’s team event and women’s super-G
Feb. 23  – Men’s alpine combined
Feb. 24  – Women’s alpine combined
Feb. 25  – Men’s giant slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 26  – Men’s slalom and women’s downhill training
Feb. 27  – Women’s downhill

MORE INFORMATION
Val di Fassa 2019

After a much-deserved rest from the 2019 FIS World Championships in Utah, the U.S. Moguls Team is back in the gate for a double World Cup event in Tazawako, Japan, with moguls February 23 and dual moguls February 24. This is their penultimate World Cup stop, and with the pressure leading into World Championships behind them, the Americans are excited to ski at their favorite international venue.

“The stressful part of the season is over so I’m super stoked to just ski,” said Hunter Bailey (Vail, Colo.) “It’s going to be fun, I feel good.”

Well into their groove, the team’s strategy as the season winds down is to ski clean runs and have strong finishes so they can end the season with good rankings. The ultimate goal is to cut down bib numbers. And there’s no better place to do so than at Tazawako, where the U.S. has a strong history of success. Americans have topped the Japanese podium six times in the last three seasons, including three wins: Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.) won her first World Cup title in duals in 2018, Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) claimed duals victory in 2017 and Bradley Wilson (Butte, Mont.) came first in moguls in 2016.

Tazawako is located in the Akita province of Japan, south of the famed powder fields of the northern island. Weather this time of year can be unpredictable and the challenge this weekend will be the snow.

“The snow is tough,” said Matt Gnoza, Head Moguls Coach for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “There’s been a lot of wet, heavy snow and it has made the course slippery. It’s hard to get an edge in, which may make it unforgiving during competition. For athletes to find success here they will have to have good execution of fundamentals: staying in front of their boots, onto the front of their skis, with good pressure on their turning foot so that they can have the most control.”

What Gnoza doesn’t foresee as a challenge is the double event. “We’ll monitor training loads the first two days and make sure no one is over-training,” explains Gnoza. “Thursday was all about getting familiar with the snow, course and set up. We’ll polish things on Friday and then really turn it up for competition on Saturday and Sunday. The adrenaline will carry these guys through to Sunday. We’re in the grind of it now as we wind down the competition season.”

While athletes won’t be unveiling anything new or crazy, what is new this week is Tom Rowley (Long Beach, N.Y.) returning to competition from injury. This is his first World Cup of the 2019 season. “It’s exciting to be back,” said Rowley. “I got to forerun at World Championships, which got me excited for Tazawako. I’ve podiumed here in the past and I usually like to ski here. The snow can get weird, but it’s fun - I love Japan.”

Athletes to watch include Kauf and Johnson, ranked third and fifth respectively, both of whom podiumed at World Championships and have a shot at an overall World Cup title or podium for the 2019 season. On the men’s side, watch for Wilson, who just claimed his second consecutive World Championships silver medal in duals. “Brad is always dangerous here,” said Gnoza. “He’s a fan favorite.”

Currently, the U.S. is in hot contention for the Nation’s Cup, sitting in second place. If the team finds success in Tazawako they will very much be in striking distance of the Cup, a feat not accomplished in recent memory for the moguls team.

Tazawako will provide the perfect opportunity for the Americans to focus on skiing and skiing well. The venue sets athletes up for success with a well-organized event, from the hotel and meal accommodations to shuttle services and enthusiastic crowds. “The atmosphere here is second to probably only Deer Valley, it’s the best international stop on the tour,” said Gnoza. “There’s always high energy from the crowd, with music and horns and cheering. U.S. moguls skiers are fan favorites here.”

Starters
Women

• Jaelin Kauf
• Tess Johnson
• Olivia Giaccio
• Nessa Dziemian
• Hannah Soar
• Alex Jenson

Men

• Bradley Wilson
• Casey Andringa
• Jesse Andringa
• Hunter Bailey
• Dylan Walczyk
• Tom Rowley
• George McQuinn

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Friday, Feb. 22
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Tazawako, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 23
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls - Tazawako, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
 

While alpine athletes were busy competing on the world stage at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Åre, Sweden, a crop of our young, talented junior athletes were competing in events at both Poka Loka, Slovenia, and the prestigious OPA Cup - formerly known as the “Seven Nations Cup” - in Meiringen, Switzerland.

Pokal Loka, Slovenia

Nestled in the Ljubljana Valley, bordered by the Alps, Pokal Loka made for a prime location for a European opportunity and experience to top U16 athletes from the United States, who had qualified through the National Performance Series (NPS) at Burke Mountain in Vermont from January 5-11.

“My goal was to create an environment that was team-orientated, positive, and fun! Every day, as a team, we reflected on the positives and processed the disappointments (although there were not many),” noted Eastern Youth Development Coach Kathy Okoniewski. Prior to the competition, the group through training/skiing goals that consisted of creating an environment that would foster confidence and positive memories.

This environment would ultimately lead to Justin Bigatel’s (Western Region, Park City Ski Team) giant slalom victory. “It was positive on so many levels,” reflected Okoniewski. “It was a clear message to the whole team that they could compete with the Europeans. We felt, too, that it also bridged a few cultural gaps with the other European teams and coaches. Justin is the most easy going, thoughtful, team orientated, friendly athlete, and his teammates were so proud and happy for him.”

At over 6-feet tall, Bigatel’s athleticism and great touch for the snow, along with his fundamental skills and love for competition were all factors in his win. “His skis were so clean in the snow and he intuitively carried speed where his competition did not,” Okoniewski noted. The overall experience was completely positive and worthwhile, and they left Pokal Loka feeling accomplished and able to have heard the National Anthem at awards - a memory that will last forever.

Athletes:

• Chloe Aust – Burke Mountain Academy
• Max Bellino – Burke Mountain Academy
• Justin Bigatel – Park City Ski Team
• Carley Elsinger – Green Mountain Valley School
• Kjersti Moritz – Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
• Camden Palmquist – Buck Hill

Staff:

• Kathy Okoniewski – Eastern Youth Development Coach
• Urska Rabic-Bevc – Ski & Snowboard Club Vail

OPA Cup - Meiringen, Switzerland

The OPA Cup is considered to be the most competitive event in the world for ski racers ages 14-15, taking place in Meiringen, Switzerland, this year. Emma Resnick (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) won the giant slalom, while Cooper Puckett (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) was fifth. In slalom, Dasha Romanov (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) was 10th, Sebastian Kohlhofer (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) 11th and Bayli McSpadden (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) 12th.

The OPA Cup is the premier U16 competition in central Europe, with all the best athletes from Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Germany, Liechtenstein, Czech, Spain, and Andorra in attendance. Alpine Development Director Chip Knight noted that we use this event to expose some of our best athletes to a higher level of racing and to raise the bar for our domestic system. “It’s great to see our U16s compete in this environment, against a deep high-quality European field” Knight said. “This event is a good measuring stick for us as a country, and a great signal for everyone back home as we head into U16 Nationals at the end of the season.”

Athletes:

• Sebastian Kohlhofer - Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
• Bayli McSpadden - Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
• Jay Poulter - Stratton Mountain School
• Cooper Puckett - Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Emma Resnick - Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
• Dasha Romanov - Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation

Staff:

• Mike Prado - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Western Region Coach
• Ben Brown - Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

RESULTS
Pokal Loka, Slovenia

City event slaloms are like a slug-fest on snow as racers punch through the gates. But as any good fighter knows, opening a match with a fist bump is a sign of respect, even when you’re the reigning champion.

“Before the second run, we did a little fist bump, like ‘yeah, come on,” said the undisputed five-time World Slalom Champion Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.), who punched her way to FIS Ski World Cup victory no. 14 this season after knocking out Germany’s Christina Geiger in Tuesday night’s city event big final in Stockholm, Sweden. “It was a different feeling at this race. Just a little bit more focus, but I enjoyed it. And it was nice to share with Anna and (Chris)Tina.”

Coming off her World Championships slalom victory Saturday in Åre, Sweden, Shiffrin was still battling a nasty chest cold that almost KO’d her. “It was a push tonight. I don’t think I could have done better if I was healthy,” she said. “My skiing was good, and I was attacking and doing everything that I could do for this evening, and it worked out just fine. So sickness, or no sickness, I’m really happy about that.”

While she maintained her focus on the city event slalom, a record sixth World Cup slalom title was on the card as the main event, which she would secure if she led the slalom standings by more than 200 points at the end of the night over the challenger from Slovakia - Petra Vlhova.

In the opening round of 16, Shiffrin’s beat Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel to advance to the round of eight, where she defeated Austria’s Katharina Truppe. But it was Geiger who delivered the knockout punch - defeating Vlhova in the round of eight and set Shiffrin up to secure the World Cup slalom title by night’s end. But, Geiger wasn’t done swinging yet. She continued her impressive skiing by defeating Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter to advance to the finals against Shiffrin, who defeated Sweden’s Anna Swenn-Larsson to set up an all-Sweden battle for third.

After the fist bump, it was game on as Shiffrin took the first run by the smallest of margins - 0.01-seconds!

“It was really, really close,” Shiffrin said of her 1/2 final match up with Swenn-Larsson, as well as her big final match up with Geiger. “I was training a bit yesterday at the same time as her (Anna Swenn-Larsson)...and watching her doing this blocking style and I thought ‘whoa, she’s really, really good at it.’ I think she’s faster than what she was able to show in the race tonight.”

In the second run, with the World Cup slalom title on the line, Shiffrin took the victory by 0.27-seconds and matched the World Cup season win record of 14 victories held by Austria’s Vreni Schneider. Swenn-Larsson defeated Hansdotter for third.

Shiffrin has wrapped up her sixth slalom Crystal Globe as she now leads Vlhova by 203 points with only two races remaining. Shiffrin also leads the overall World Cup standings by more than 700 points over Vlhova, as well as teh giant slalom and super-G standings.

Up next, the women’s World Cup circuit with a pair of downhills and an alpine combined event Saturday and Sunday.

RESULTS
Men’s city event
Women’s city event

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Men
Women

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

Tuesday, Feb. 19
11:30 p.m. - Men and women's city event - Stockholm, SWE - NBCSN*

Wednesday, Feb. 20
5:00 a.m. - FIS World Junior Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Val di Fassa, ITA - OlympicChannel.com

Friday, Feb. 22
3:30 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 1 - Bansko, BUL - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 2 - Bansko, BUL - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 23
4:15 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Crans-Montana, SWI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Men’s super-G, Bansko, BUL - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Feb. 24
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Bansko, BUL - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined run 1 - Crans-Montana, SWI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Bansko, BUL - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined run 1 - Crans-Montana, SWI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:30 p.m. - Women’s alpine combined run 1 - Crans-Montana, SWI - NBCSN*

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.