Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) and Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) skied to a hard-fought fifth-place finish in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship classic team sprint in Seefeld, Austria, Sunday.

“My goal was to be in a good position on the first lap and then push the pace on the next two laps to try to give some room for Jessie, but off the start I was in the back row and it was super hard to get to the front,” said Bjornsen, who was the lead-off skier for six-lap race on the 1.2km course. “At the start of my final lap I was a little separated and tried to use the downhill to get back with the group, but it was so high speed it was really hard to make any distance out there.”

“It wasn’t a course that suits our strengths, it wasn’t very long or overly challenging and we did the very best we could,” said Diggins. “It was hard because we both found ourselves stuck without a window to move so we weren’t able to use our best assets. You won’t find a team who wanted it or worked harder for it more than we did. It didn’t work out for us this time but it has in the past and it can again in the future. We are moving forward with a lot of positivity and preparing for the rest of the races.”

The race was won by Sweden, followed by the surprise Slovenia team in second, with Norway completing the podium in third.

“There were a couple of challenges out there, one was the curvature of the climbs so if you were on the inside line it was really hard to have enough speed to go outside and pass,” said U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Chris Grover. “The other was there were no big climbs and that makes it challenging for Jessie and Sadie, who have big engines, to find the space let it run.”

The U.S. men’s team of Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) and Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) finished eight in the strong World Championship field. Hamilton was the lead skier tagging off to Bjornsen on the six-lap, 1.6k course.

“It was tough out there, but we had great skis,” said Hamilton. “The pace was pushed out of the start and I was just thinking I didn’t want to burn up the match, I know I had a few more legs to ski.”

“I felt a bit better in the semis and in the finals, I let a little gap open up on the second lap thinking some of these guys are going to blow up, but they didn’t, so that was unfortunate,” said Bjornsen. “I didn’t have a very good corner on the second lap and went from a gap of a few meters to a gap of about 10 meters.”

“The big climb was so big and the course was so hard when you add six of those together it is very taxing,” said Grover.  “The guys were getting a little tired and we got gapped while the front group was turning up the heat and there is just not that many people that can stay with them at a World Championship level.

“I am really proud of the efforts of everyone,” Grover added. “The service team pushed really hard and made great skis with a great plan. The athletes pushed as hard as they absolutely could all day. Both teams easily qualified for the finals and put themselves in the right place, it just wasn’t our day in the end.”

The men’s race was won by Norway with Russia second, and Italy in third.

The World Championships continue Tuesday with the women’s 10k classic.

RESULTS
Men’s Team Sprint
Women’s Team Sprint

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

Tuesday, Feb. 26
9:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 10k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 10k - Seefeld, AUT - NBCSN*

Wednesday, Feb. 27
8:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 15k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Thursday, Feb. 28
1:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 15k - Seefeld, AUT - NBCSN**
7:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 4x5k relay - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, March 1
7:15 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 4x10k relay - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 4x10k relay - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*

Saturday, March 2
6:15 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 30k - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 30k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*

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

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.

Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) led three Americans into the second run, finishing ninth in Sunday's FIS Ski World Cup in Bansko, Bulgaria. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) was 16th, and Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) was 29th.

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen took the victory, his first World Cup GS win of the season, as Austria's Marcel Hirscher was second, followed by Thomas Fanara in third. 

Up next, the men race downhill and super-G in Kvitfjell, Norway, including a make-up downhill on Friday, March 1 from the canceled race in Garmisch, Germany earlier this season.
 

Merryweather 29th in Alpine Combined

Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) finished 12th in the opening run downhill, then charged the best she could in the afternoon slalom to finish 29th overall. Italy's Frederica Brignone won. Canada's Roni Remme picked up her first career World Cup podium in second, followed by Switzerland's Wendy Holdener in third.

Up next, the women compete in another speed series on the 2014 Olympic courses in Sochi, Russia, March 2-3.

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom
Women's alpine combined

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

Monday, Feb. 25
3:30 a.m. - Junior World Championships men’s giant slalom run 1 - Val di Fassa, ITA  - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Junior World Championships men’s giant slalom run 2 - Val di Fassa, ITA  - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Tuesday, Feb. 26
3:30 a.m. - Junior World Championships men’s slalom run 1 - Val di Fassa, ITA  - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Junior World Championships men’s slalom run 2 - Val di Fassa, ITA  - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, March 1
5:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Kvitfjell, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 2
2:30 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Sochi, RUS - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Kvitfjell, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 3
1:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Sochi, RUS - 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*

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.
 

The U.S. Freestyle Team will take two FIS Freestyle World Cup podiums with them from Japan as Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) dueled it out for second place in the dual moguls event on Sunday in Tazawako. This is Kauf's third World Cup podium of the season, which includes two wins in Thaiwoo, China. 

“I’m really happy to land on the podium this week,” said Kauf. “Yesterday I had my best result I’ve had in singles here in Japan so I was really happy with that. I definitely wanted to improve in duals today. Unfortunately, I kind of got caught up in a mogul in the finals run, but still really happy to land on the podium.”

Kauf had a small mishap during the big final, where she was matched up again against France’s Perrine Laffont. Australia’s Jakara Anthony rounded out the podium, finishing in third by default when Kazakhstan’s Yulia Galysheva opted not to ski in the small final due to a difference of opinion on the score she received in her semi-final run against Laffont.

“Jaelin carried some of her Worlds momentum through to this weekend,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “She’s always a tough competitor in duals. Her semi-final run was a great run. She had a little mishap in the final that cost her the top position."

Kauf and Laffont have been trading the yellow bib back and forth all season and were matched against each other at World Championships for the big final in dual moguls. “We seem to keep ending up against each other. But it’s good, it’s a fun rivalry. The girls out here are really talented and we push each other so it’s awesome.”

On the men’s side, Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury claimed another World Cup victory, Japan’s Ikuma Hiroshima came in second and France’s Benjamin Cavet finished third. Bradley Wilson (Butte, Mont.) was the top American, finishing in fifth, after putting up a strong fight against Cavet in the quarterfinal.

“Brad has gotten back into form here, he’s taken his momentum from Worlds too and has really carried it forward to this weekend,” said Gnoza. “He didn’t end up on the podium today but he skied great.”

Duals day is always fun, and adding to the excitement for the Americans were two rounds of “friendly fire.” Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) and Dylan Walcyzk (Long Beach, N.Y.) faced-off in the preliminary rounds. Walczyk beat Andringa and went on to finish seventh overall. Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.) and Olivia Giaccio (Redding, Conn.) competed against each other during the quarter-final. Johnson won that duel and went on to finish sixth overall, Giaccio finished ninth.

The U.S. Moguls Team heads to their final World Cup stop with another double event in Shymbulak, Kazakhstan. This is the inaugural moguls World Cup event for the nation.

“I think everybody is excited for Kazakhstan, for the new experience,” said Gnoza of ending the World Cup season in a new place. “It’s always good to add events to the World Cup tour. Kazakhstan stepped up and is holding this mogul/ dual mogul event. They’ve been a dominant team for the last couple of years so it’s good to see them give back to the sport too as event organizers.”

“I would say overall the team is finishing the season strong,” said Gnoza. “We’re still in second as a nation, trailing Canada closely - winning the Nations’ Cup is definitely doable.”

Results
Men's dual moguls
Women's dual moguls

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

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

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