Giaccio Wins, Wendler Second in Return to World Cup Competition
For the first time in six years, the FIS Freestyle World Cup circuit returned to Japan for the Nanto-Toyama World Cup and Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Olivia Giaccio was firing on all cylinders, landing on top of the podium for the first time this season. Landon Wendler made his return to the podium for the first time since 2024, finishing second overall.
In the qualification round, four men and four women put on outstanding performances, landing them in the top 16 to advance to the finals. Tess Johnson took the top spot in qualification, leading the pack into finals. Joining her were Giaccio, recent Olympic silver medalist Jaelin Kauf and Kasey Hogg. Alli Macuga finished 24th. On the men’s side, Charlie Mickel led the way in qualification, taking the second-highest score after Ikuma Horishima of Japan. Asher Michel also had an impressive qualification run, qualifying third. Nick Page and Wendler also advanced. Cole McDonald took 17th, Dylan Walczyk 20th and Dylan Marcellini 24th.
In the finals round of 16, the U.S. landed three women in the top six to advance to super finals. Giaccio advanced in fourth, Johnson in fifth and Hogg in sixth. Kauf finished the day 10th. Wendler started to turn on the heat, earning an impressive score of 77, finishing just behind Ikkei Fujimura of Japan. Mickel also snagged a spot in the top six, advancing to super finals. Michel finished ninth and Page finished 15th.
Super finals brought a show from athletes across the board as they continued to battle tough conditions in Japan. Hogg was the first to drop for the women and put down a 68.32, finishing in sixth place. Johnson went next, earning 74.68 to take fourth overall. Giaccio was third to ski in the super final round and she perfectly mixed speed, precision and difficulty, earning 75.64. Hinako Tomitaka of Japan, Maia Schwinghammer of Canada and Perrine Laffont of France were all left to drop. One by one, the skiers raced down the spring-like course, and one by one, were unable to beat Giaccio. Tomitaka finished next on the podium in second, followed by Laffont in third. This is Giaccio’s fourth career win and 23rd podium. She now leads the overall season standings and is tied for first in the moguls standings.
The men continued the excitement with Mickel skiing first and finishing in fifth place overall. Wendler dropped in fifth after his thrilling finals run and bested his previous score with a 78.21, cementing his place on the podium. Matt Graham of Australia took the honors and the podium was rounded out by Horishima.
Tomorrow, the team skis their second dual moguls World Cup of the season in Japan. Tune in at 11:30 pm ET on Feb. 28 on skiandsnowboard.live.