Ida Sargent (Craftsbury Green Racing Project / Craftsbury, Vt.) and Julien Locke (Black Jack Ski Team / Canadian National Ski Team) skied to classic sprint victories the 2019 L.L.Bean U.S Cross Country Championships at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont, Friday. Ben Saxton (SMST2 / Stratton Mountain, Vt.) finished second and was the top American in the men's race.

Sargent skied to her first national title as sunshine and outstanding snow conditions greeted athletes for the second day of the Championships. After posting the fastest qualifying time, Sargent cruised through quarterfinal round. In the semifinals, she narrowly defeated Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury Green Racing Project / ) and a hard-charging Hannah Halvorsen (Alaska Pacific University / Truckee, Calif) in the three-up sprint.

In the finals, Sargent skied alone to the line for the victory as Halvorsen and Julia Kern (SMST2 / Waltham, Mass.) sprinted for the final two podium positions with Kern just taking second by inches.

In the men’s race, Saxton entered the heats as the top qualifier while Locke ninth. However, Locke easily cruised through his quarter-final and semi-final heats to advance to the finals, while Saxton won his quarterfinal heat and finished second in the semifinals to advance to the final race of the day.

Locke skied away from the fields midway through the finals and cruised to victory as Saxton held off Logan Hanneman (APU Nordic Ski Center) down the stretch to take the U.S. title.

Kendall Kramer (NSCF-FXC) and James Kitch (Harvard University Ski Team) each won their respective junior women and men’s national titles.

RESULTS
Men and women’s classic sprint
Junior men and women’s classic sprint

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, Jan. 6.
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

The 2019 L.L.Bean U.S Cross Country Championships began Thursday with the men’s 15k classic and the women’s 10k classic at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont. More than 575 racers took to the start on a challenging course covered in two inches of fresh snow to battle for national titles.

The senior men’s race was won by Kyle Bratrud (Minneapolis, Minn.), followed by Adam Martin (Wausau, Wis.) in second and Kris Freeman (Waterville Valley, N.H.) in third.

Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, Alaska) took the junior men’s title with Ben Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.) second and Johnny Hagerbuch (Sun Valley, Idaho) in third.

The senior women’s race was won by Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury, Vt.) with Australia’s Jessica Yeaton in second and Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury, Vt.) in third.

The junior women’s race was won by Kendall Kramer (Fairbanks, Alaska.). Novie McCabe (Methow Valley, Wash.) was second and Molly Gellert (Fairbanks, Alaska.) finished third.

The L.L.Bean U.S Cross Country Championship continues Friday with the men’s and women’s classic sprint.

RESULTS
Men’s 15k
Women’s 10k

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Friday, Jan. 4
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Sunday, Jan. 6.
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) skied an all-out 10k pursuit to finish third and claw back valuable time on the leaders in stage 5 of the FIS Cross Country World Cup Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany, Thursday.

Diggins, as part of a trio that included Krista Parmakoski of Finland and Yulia Belorukova of Russia, did most of the work on the track and edged Beluorukova at the line by 0.1 seconds, and posted the fastest time of the day in the process. Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg of Norway won the stage, followed by Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia in second.

“It was really fun working with Krista today, I love skiing with her because we share the work of leading and end up having a great race overall,” Diggins said. “It was so awesome getting the time of day win today and third in the tour in front of my parents and sister who came all the way over to cheer for the last three stages of the tour!”

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was the only other U.S. starter and finished 11th for the day.

“Well, that’s a wrap for my Tour de Ski racing this season, signing out in 11th place,” Bjornsen said. “I decided to not complete the tour this year in order to get a good training block in without too much race fatigue. With my heart set on World Championships this year, my coach and I made a plan to only go through five stages. It’s one of the hardest things in the world to drop from the tour because it’s my favorite racing of the season, but I have big goals ahead in February.

On the men’s side, the only U.S. starter was Ben Lustgarten (Burlington, Vt.) moving up one spot and finishing 54th for the day. The day was won by Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo with Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov in second and Alexander Bolshunov also of Russia in third. Klaebo maintains the lead in the overall.

The Tour de Ski resumes with stage 6 Saturday in Val di Fiemme, Italy, with a 10k mass start for the women and 15k mass start for the men. 

RESULTS
Men’s 15k pursuit
Women’s 10k pursuit

STANDINGS
Men’s overall (through 5 stages)
Women’s overall (through 5 stages)

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

Friday, Jan. 4
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Saturday, Jan. 5
8:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 women’s 10k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:10 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com &NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 6
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 women’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
8:45 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV

Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Editor's Note:
​Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID) sustained an ACL tear in September that has sidelined her for the 2019 season. Throughout Johnson's road to recovery, she'll be sharing the ups and downs of rehabilitation here in a column of her own, entitled "Patient Notes," in hopes that you will follow along for the journey to learn how challenging it is both physically and mentally to return to snow at the elite level. Being an injured athlete can be challenging and lonely, and we're hoping that by writing this column, Johnson will be able to stay connected to the community and her sponsors.

Johnson kicked off her series with a poignant pre-surgery piece with Patient Notes: Volume 2, she brought you all the post-op nitty gritty, and with Patient Notes: Volume 3, she talked about ferocity and frustration. She's thankful for your support and invites you to follow along on her Instagram. All of the words below are Johnson's thoughts, straight from her journal to your computer screen.

Enjoy the journey,

Megan Harrod 
Alpine Communications Manager

------------------

12/11/2018: 82 days post-Op, 99 days post injury

Dichotomies

Perhaps this has been the hardest installment of this series to write. That is part of why it has taken me so long. It seems I have hit the middle stage of recovery: the in between part where I am both progressing and content and also anxious and depressed. It’s difficult to say how this could be, but as I write it I find it to be undeniably true. I have reached a point of juxtapositions, where I am both happy and unhappy, worried and calm, lost and moving toward an obvious goal. My mind is trying to make sense of these dichotomies, but like quicksand, that often just ensnares me further.

I feel good. That has been both a blessing and a curse as it did prior to surgery. My knee hardly causes me discomfort, perhaps less than some of my body’s other aches and pains. This is good - swelling and pain are never things that you want to deal with. But the relief from my body has frustrated my mind. I want to run. I want to jump. I can feel the lack of strength and I crave to banish it as soon as possible. And yet I cannot, bound as I am to a set of rules that I hardly understand and that seem to constantly tell me no. I also feel distinctly not good. My impatience and insatiability for progress is one part of this. The start of the World Cup speed tour is another part. A big part.

I thought I would be fine. I had watched previous recordings of Lake Louise and Garmisch. I watched, and even looked forward to, Levi and Killington. But watching your peers carry on without you is a whole different battle. Watching your races is something else. I didn’t watch Lake Louise live. I couldn’t. At the time I was in Beaver Creek watching the men and I quickly found watching the ladies to be more challenging than it ought to have been considering we were at a ski race. I heard the results. It stung to be sure.

I love my fellow competitors on the World Cup, but it is difficult to not feel like I could have, would have, beaten them. But when I watched the race a whole different problem occurred: I could practically feel my muscles trying to jump out of my skin and into my television screen. I physically itched to get back there. I watched Mikaela’s run in both Lake Louise and St. Moritz and it was as though I was skiing it. It was amazing for those blissful moments when I could forget that I was sitting on the couch and not rocketing off of jumps, feeling my stomach jump into my throat. And then I would come crashing back to reality, to reality that I was not in fact there, that her runs, her amazing runs, were not in fact my own. That I was at home and could not go get swiss chocolate afterwards, and I felt farther from my return to the White Circus than ever.

We ski racers are sprinters. A maximum of two minutes of pure adrenaline and we’re done. Injury perhaps is better designed for marathoners, an aerobic endeavor to be sure. Perhaps I’m just not built for a recovery that takes months; I’m more of a minute-to-minute gal. The amount of time I have taken on my recovery both reminds me of how far I have come, which I am grateful for, but also serves to tell me just how long the remainder will take. Even though I am hoping to get back on snow in a relatively short time frame, my time until I am back on a race course, until I truly get to live the feeling I saw Mikaela living in Lake Louise and St. Moritz, seems an ungodly amount of time still left ahead of me.

I wish I could write a happy-go-lucky post. I wish I could just feel that all is well because there are things that are going great and I am very excited about that. I’m moving into plyometrics and I had good strength test results, which are good signs. But I am always seeking to get better, I constantly want more, and I struggle with being content with what is. Somehow I get in front of this page and I suddenly write down my deepest struggles. I come here and my mind becomes strung between feeling as though I ought to be happy and fine and the reality which is that I feel conflicted and bitter sometimes but also pleased and fortunate. And I don’t know if that is likely to change in the near future. And I know now that “near future” is a very relative term.

Perhaps the only thing keeping these chaotic thoughts from swelling up and engulfing me whole has been the friends I have created, mostly in the PT room at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah. Almost weekly, we all meet up for dinner to laugh and joke and both forget about our injuries and discuss them. We take pictures and hang out and my friends make me feel less alone.  They distract me and comfort me and remind me that while we are not on the tour, our injuries are just a detour on our way back to the World Cup.

The 2019 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships begin Thursday at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont. The event runs through January 8 and will attract the nation’s top junior and senior athletes, including many coming back from World Cup competition as the event is a qualifier for the upcoming World Championships in Seefeld, Austria, as well as several Junior championships.

“We are excited to have Craftsbury Outdoor Center host the 2019 L.L. Bean U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Cross Country Sport Development Manager Bryan Fish. “Craftsbury has shown time and again that they are willing to go the extra mile to plan and prepare even when adverse weather conditions potentially strike by making and stockpiling snow. We are confident that Craftsbury will host a great championships.”

Events at the L.L. Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships will include for the men: 15k classic, sprint classic, 30k freestyle mass start, sprint freestyle, and for the women: 10k classic, sprint classic, 20k freestyle mass start, sprint freestyle. The full event schedule is available here and all race results will be posted here.

Senior athletes will be competing for World Championship and World Cup berths. U.S. National Championships are weighted as double Super Tour points, and therefore have a significant impact on who represented the United States at 2019 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria.

The L.L. Bean U.S. National Championships are also the selection events for the World Under 23 Team and Junior World Team in Lahti, Finland, Under-18 Nordic Nation’s Championships in Otepaa, Estonia, as well as 2020 Youth Olympic Games on Lausanne, Switzerland.

The 2019 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships will be Pay-Per-View. The overall goal of live-streaming is to increase exposure to our sport, strengthen the fan base and target future support to our Super Tour hosts with the intent to help offset a portion of the athlete prize money. Please tune and spread the word that US Nationals can be viewed here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/2019-us-cross-country-championships-streaming

SCHEDULE

Thursday, January 3
10/15k classic individual start

Friday, January 4
Classic sprint

Sunday, January 6
20/30k freestyle mass start for seniors, 5/10k classic for juniors

Tuesday, January 8
Freestyle sprint

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Thursday, Jan. 3
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic individual start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Friday, Jan. 4
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Sunday, Jan. 6
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

With only one month to go, athletes, officials and fans from around the world are into their final preparations for the kick-off of the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota taking place at Utah's Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain, both in Park City, and Solitude Mountain Resort, February 1-10, 2019.

Hosted by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and U.S. Ski & Snowboard and in partnership with the Utah Sports Commission, the event will attract approximately 1,400 athletes from 40 countries to Utah, the state of sport, for the biggest winter sports event to take place in the state since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

The next three weeks are critical, as each nation will select their 2019 FIS World Championship Teams. FIS has established that a maximum of 36 athletes representing any one nation may compete in the 2019 World Championships in freestyle/freeski as well as in snowboarding. The maximum quota for a nation in any one event will be four per gender up to the max total per gender of 20 athletes and max total team size of 36 athletes. Athletes named to the team will start in the event from which they qualified.

The U.S. will select up to three athletes per discipline per gender based on objective criteria, which varies by sport. After the allocation of objective criteria between all World Championship disciplines, any remaining nation quota positions for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes in each discipline will be filled by selection from the head coaches and sport director based on the discipline/gender with the highest medal potential.

U.S. athletes are coming into 2019 with strong results in early selection events. In freeski, defending FIS Halfpipe World Champion Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.) and double-Olympic gold medalist David Wise, finished in first and third place respectively at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado. For the women, PyeongChang Olympic bronze medalist Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) also made the podium with a third-place finish.

For the U.S. Snowboard Team, PyeongChang Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim kicked off the 2018-19 competition season at the U.S. Grand Prix with a victory, while teammate Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) finished just behind Kim in second-place. For the men, Toby Miller (Mammoth, Calif.) and Chase Josey (Sun Valley, Idaho) finished second and third respectively.

On similar note in the snowboardcross world, defending FIS World Champion Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) as well as 2018 Junior World Champion Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.) started strong at the first World Cup of the season. Jacobellis claimed a first and second place across a two race program at the Cervinia, Italy FIS World Cup as well as earned her 30th career World Cup victory. In addition, Vedder claimed his his first ever World Cup podium.

“To get my first ever World Cup podium at a World Championship qualifying event makes it that much more special,” said Vedder. “The whole team is riding at such a high level and it really helps me push myself to be better everyday we are on snow. I really look forward to coming back to the US and compete for our hometown crowd.”

In freestyle, Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) is also setting herself up for World Championships success. She won back-to-back FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls and dual moguls events in Thaiwoo, China Dec. 15-16. Kauf is currently ranked as the top female moguls skier in the world and leads the World Cup tour. As the reigning World Champion in aerials, Jon Lillis (Rochester, N.Y.) has an automatic competition spot outside of the U.S. Team and will be a force to watch. The aerials FIS World Cup season kicks off in Lake Placid, N.Y. Jan. 18-19.

It’s not only the athletes preparing for the World Championships, but also the host venues getting ready for a robust competition schedule (see below). However, there are no resorts better prepared to put on an event of this magnitude as Solitude Mountain Resort, Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Resort. In fact, Olympians Alex Deibold (Manchester, Vt), Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.) and Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.) had tremendous comments of praise for these world class venues.
 

With 10 days of world class competition be sure to tune-in and watch as history is made. NBC Sports will showcase more than 25 hours of 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championship programming, including more than 10 hours of live coverage, on NBC and the NBC Sports networks.

Additional coverage will also be available on NBC Sports Gold – NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer live streaming product – and the OlympicChannel.com digital platform. A full broadcast schedule will be available on both USSkiandSnowboard.org and  2019WorldChamps.com.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Preliminary broadcast schedule, subject to change
Streaming schedule TBA
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Friday, Feb. 1
1:00 p.m. - Men and women's snowboardcross finals - NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 2
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - Olympic Channel
8:30 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - NBCSN*

Sunday, Feb. 3
1:00 a.m. - Men and women’s freeski big air finals - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Team snowboardcross - Olympic Channel
4:00 p.m.-  Team snowboardcross - NBCSN*

Monday, Feb. 4
3:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard giant slalom - Olympic Channel
7:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard giant slalom - NBCSN*

Tuesday, Feb. 5
3:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard slalom - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard big air - NBCSN

Wednesday, Feb. 6
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s freeski slopestyle finals - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Olympic Channel
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - NBCSN*

Thursday, Feb. 7
9:00 p.m. - Team aerials - NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 8
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard  halfpipe - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 10
2:00 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - Olympic Channel
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - NBC*

Monday, Feb. 11
10:30 p.m. - Women’s freeski halfpipe finals - NBCSN**
 

For the 38th year, the world’s best elite freestyle skiers will descend on New York state for the 2019 FIS Lake Placid Freestyle Cup, January 17-19, 2019. Catch all of the high-flying action with moguls at Whiteface on Thursday and Friday and aerials under the lights at the Olympic Jumping Complex on Saturday.

“Lake Placid is one of the most exciting events of the season-long World Cup, showcasing moguls and aerials at one of the tour’s highest-quality competition arenas, and with some of the greatest spectators on the tour. Lake Placid has been the site of many breakout performances from U.S. athletes, who’ve gone on to establish themselves at the top of the sport, and on many occasions has helped the U.S. Team to generate the momentum to go on to win medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games. This year’s event will be no different, with the World Championships beginning just two weeks later in Utah. The events in Lake Placid will determine the World Championship team in aerials and will be a key selection event in moguls. Our team has its sights set on best in the world performances at the World Championships in Utah, and their performance at the World Cup in Lake Placid will set the tone for what they aim to achieve,” said Chief of Sport for U.S. Ski & Snowboard Luke Bodensteiner.

There will be more than 150 athletes competing across 15 nations. The 2019 Lake Placid Freestyle Cup is an important stop on the FIS Freestyle World Cup circuit for American athletes, as results from this event will impact the 2019 World Championship Freestyle Team nominations. Aerials athletes will be named to the team based on results from this World Cup event, in addition to U.S. Nationals, taking place at Lake Placid on January 26. Moguls athletes will be named to the team based on World Cup standings through January 28, 2019. The Lake Placid Freestyle Cup is the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team’s only domestic stop before the 2019 FIS World Championships in Utah in February.

“We are thrilled that this World Cup event continues to come back to Lake Placid year after year,” added New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) President/CEO Mike Pratt. “Whether it’s moguls at Whiteface or the aerials at the Olympic Jumping Complex, these athletes provide breathtaking excitement that’s hard to match.”

A complete schedule of events can be found at https://www.whiteface.com/events/world-cup-freestyle. Spectators and competitors are encouraged to join in the conversation on social media with #LPWorldCup.

New this year is a VIP experience for Saturday night’s aerials event. Tickets are $75 and will include premier indoor and outdoor viewing areas, dinner and two drinks. A cash bar will also be available. Must be 21 and older to purchase. For all ticketing information, please visit https://www.whiteface.com/events/world-cup-freestyle.

For more information on the 2019 FIS Lake Placid Freestyle Cup, please contact Lara Carlton at lara.carlton@usskiandsnowboard.org.

Members of the media may apply for an event press credential athttps://www.whiteface.com/sites/default/files/public/forms/2019_Lake_Placid_World_Cup_Freestyle_Media_Credential_Application.pdf. 

The life of a winter sport athlete is busy, chaotic and simply tiring. Between training, eating properly, packing the right equipment, competing and traveling all over the world, these athletes have to put in 100-percent to making their dreams a reality.

But Lauren Salko (Larchmont, N.Y.) seems to defy all odds by putting in 110-percent into her ski career. Salko is a 27-year-old skicross athlete with dreams of making the U.S. Freeski Team. Unlike her teammates, Lauren has to think about packing, eating and training a lot more when she is on her way to the mountain.

When Salko was young, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a form of diabetes where your body doesn’t produce insulin and in turn causes low energy. For a skicross athlete, having Type 1 diabetes can be a major set-back and force an athlete to stop training or competing.  

“It may seem like it’s not a big deal because I don’t talk about it, but when we are packing for the hill everyone is like ‘Okay do I have my helmet, my boots, my goggles, and my skis.’ and I am like ‘Okay do I have my helmet, boots, goggles, skis, extra insulin, extra snacks, and extra everything,’” says Lauren, “and there have definitely been some training struggles too.”

Luckily, Lauren has supportive teammates and coaches that will help her carry extra things and be there if she needs help. Her top supporter, however, is not someone you’d typically expect.    

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because everyone needs someone to cuddle with sometimes... My #mcm is the best cuddler around #silas #diabeticalertdog #dogsthatsavelives #chocolatelab #labsofinsta #labsofinstagram #servicedog #mansbestfriend

A post shared by Lauren Salko (@skiersalko) on Apr 13, 2015 at 3:12pm PDT

Meet Silas, a four-year-old lab designated as Lauren’s personal diabetes alert dog. He has been trained to smell Lauren’s blood sugar levels and alert her when they get too low or too high at any point in the day. “Before I had him, I was checking my blood sugar three or four times in the middle of the night so that I could make sure it was in a good place before I woke up for training and competing to be optimal.”  

Silas is nothing short of extraordinary. He is accurate in smelling Lauren’s levels, making him a necessity during her training and competing.  “I have a continuous glucose monitor on my phone and he normally alerts me 10 to 15 minutes before that goes off. He is pretty amazing.”

Since Lauren travels all over the world for training, Silas has also learned to be an easy travel companion. When flying, Silas sits under the seat in front of Lauren and stays there until the flight is over, no sleeping drugs required. “He doesn’t even go to the bathroom on the plane. I even give him the option to on a potty pad but he has never taken me up on the offer,” remarks Lauren.

Getting onto the plane is a different story. According to the Air Carriers Act, which is the law that governs service dogs on airplanes, it is not legally required to have any documentation for service dogs. However, airlines have started to request more information, which has led Lauren to preparing a lot more than she is used to. She typically needs to send a form to the vet to get it signed, as well as declare Silas trained prior to flying. When traveling to Europe specifically, there is a health certificate required every time.  

The airport security is also a challenge. “He walks through with all his stuff on and sets the alarm off every time,” says Lauren, “Sometimes they pat him down and scan my hands for explosives and sometimes they won’t.”

Despite these few traveling struggles, Lauren is beyond thankful for having Silas in her life. “It is nice just having a constant companion,” Lauren says, “Even when he isn’t working and doesn’t have his vest on, he is fun because he is just a normal puppy and has a lot of energy.”  

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas may be hot, but #silaspup and I are ready to race! Super fun hanging out at the #IMAustin703 village! #feedyouradventure #clifbar #roit1d #silasandsalko

A post shared by Lauren Salko (@skiersalko) on Oct 28, 2016 at 4:58pm PDT

Salko gives a lot credit to Silas for her advancement as a skicross athlete and is able to further improve her skiing skills because of him. Her main goal for this upcoming season is to compete in the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships presented by Toyota in Park City, Utah.

“It’s going to be challenging to make the team, but if I am not able to race I want to forerun so that I can get some time on the track,” she says. Lauren also hopes to get more comfortable in the air and improve on her placement in the Europa Cup.  

In addition to skiing, Salko is a Life in Full Color speaker for Tandem Diabetes Care. She has spoken at a multitude of summer camps for kids with diabetes, as well as events for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDFR), which is a major research funding organization for Type I diabetes. Salko loves to talk to the kids at these events and inspire them to be who they want to be. “I was really lucky because when I was diagnosed with Type 1 as a kid, nobody told ‘me you can’t do this, you can’t do that,’ but I am kind of in the minority in that,” says Lauren. “I really enjoy talking to the kids and showing them that you can do whatever you want you just have to plan it out and want it.”

Salko is a true inspiration to aspiring skicross athletes and to all who have been diagnosed with diabetes. With the help of her teammates, her loved ones, and her companion Silas, there is no doubt she will go far.

Follow Lauren and Silas on social media to follow along with their adventures: https://www.instagram.com/skiersalko/?hl=en

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) and Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) battled through an incredibly challenging classic 10k Wednesday to finish 11th and 15th respectively in the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany. Unfortunately, the U.S. Team and many other teams missed the kick wax selection and were forced to fight with icing skis.

Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg of Norway took the win by 0.1 seconds over Russia's Natalia Nepryaeva in second, and Anastasia Sedova in third.

“We missed the boat on the wax today, but I fought as hard as I could and I know I’m in great shape right now,” said Diggins. “I did everything I could with what I had today.  And now the pressure of the leader's bib is 100 percent off, and I'm just going to ski as hard as I can tomorrow and recover as smart as I can.”

Diggins now sits fourth in the Tour overall with Bjornsen sitting in 10th. The women’s Tour de Ski is now led by Oestberg.

“It’s a bummer to have a day like today because my body felt really good, and I really like this course for classic skiing, but that’s life,” said Bjornsen. “Sometimes you have to just laugh it off and hope you can learn something as a team from the experience. Thursday will be the last race of my tour, as I have planned to not complete the full tour this year and try to do a training block without too much-accumulated race fatigue.”

On the men’s side, Ben Lustgarten was the lone American in the 15k classic race and skied a gutsy fight in a very tight field to 57th in an event won by Emil Iversen of Norway. In second was Italian Francesco De Fabiani with Sergey Usitiugov of Russia third. The men’s tour is led by Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo who finished ninth for the day.

The Tour de Ski stays in Oberstdorf for Thursday’s pursuit stage and will then head to Val di Fiemme, Italy, for the final two stages.

RESULTS
Men’s 15k Classic
Women’s 10k Classic

STANDINGS
Men’s Overall (through 4 stages)
Women’s Overall (through 4 stages)

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Thursday, Jan. 3
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 5 men’s 15k pursuit - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic individual start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
9:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 5 women’s 10k pursuit - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Jan. 4
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Saturday, Jan. 5
8:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 women’s 10k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:10 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com &NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 6
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 women’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold 
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
8:45 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV

Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova simple bashed her way to victory over Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) in Tuesday’s FIS Ski World Cup city event in Oslo, Norway.

In the big finals of the parallel slalom race, Vlhova used the two-handed cross-blocking technique to come away with her second victory in five days, defeating Shiffrin in both runs to deny the defending overall World Cup champion her third-straight city event victory. Shiffrin won the past two city events she participated in - Stockholm, Sweden, in 2017 and Oslo in 2018.

“Finally, I did it,” Vlhova said. “I beat Mikaela.”

Shiffrin, who entered the event as the top-ranked skier, advanced to the finals by defeating Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel in the opening round, then Canada’s Erin Mielzynski in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she defeated Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener to advance into the big final against Vlhova.

The second-ranked Vlhova defeated Switzerland’s Aline Danioth in the opening round, Italy’s Irene Curtoni in the second round, and Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson in the semifinals to advance to the finals against Shiffrin.

"I have pretty mixed thoughts about today...I felt pretty off when the race started and in warm-up run we took," reflected Shiffrin after her race. "I barged in the start, and then preceded to barge about 50% of my runs in the race. My feeling in the first few runs was really strange...it wasn't quite 'on'. On one hand, I'm a little bit relieved, surprised, and pretty psyched to be on the podium, but by the time I got to the big final, I was feeling a lot more myself. I was still not timing my starts very well, but I was pushing on my skis the way I know that I can, so that was better. Petra skied disciplined, fast, and she skied smart. She took the risk in the first run when she needed to, and she was smart in the second run when she needed to be."

Vlhova, using her height to her advantage, and therefore the more aggressive double-blocking technique, opened a quarter-second advantage over Shiffrin in the first run. The technique allowed Vlhova to find valuable hundredths on the top and bottom of the course when it was straight and not turny. She applied the same technique in the second run to ski away with her sixth career World Cup win, and first city event victory. Holdener defeated Swenn Larsson in the small final for third.

Shiffrin also weighed in with thoughts about the cross-blocking technique Vlhova used, "I don't think that's why she won. I think it can be an advantage, and especially because she's tall, but that's not why she won. She won because she skied more disciplined and smarter on the two turns in the course where it counted the most. Sometimes you nail it and sometimes you don't. It's a learning experience either way." 

In the men’s event, Austria’s Marco Schwarz defeated Great Britain’s Dave Ryding for the victory. In the small final, Switzerland’s Ramon Zenhaeusern defeated Sweden’s Andre Myhrer for third.

With the victory, Vlhova took back 20 points from Shiffrin’s overall World Cup lead. However, Shiffrin still holds a commanding lead with 1,114 points to Vlhova’s 668 points in second.

Up next, the World Cup continues in Zagreb, Croatia, as the men and women will compete in a pair of night slaloms Saturday and Sunday for the coveted “Snow Queen Trophy“ 2019.

RESULTS
Men’s city event slalom
Women’s city event slalom

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

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 5
7:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Zagreb, CRO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2 - Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com& NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 6
6:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Zagreb, CRO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold