U.S. Olympic Freeski And Freestyle Teams Announced

A strong and deep U.S. Olympic Freeski Team is headed to PyeongChang for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced the selection of 15 halfpipe and slopestyle freeski athletes who will compete at the Games beginning February 9. Highlighted among the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team athletes are defending halfpipe gold medalists David Wise (Reno, Nev.) and Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.), defending slopestyle silver medalists Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo.) and Devin Logan (W. Dover, Vt.), and defending bronze medalist Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.). The selections will be confirmed by the United States Olympic Committee when it formally names Team USA this Friday (January 26).

 

Athletes qualified for the team through a series of five selection events beginning in February 2017 and concluding at Mammoth Mountain, California this past weekend. Athletes qualifying by objective criteria were honored at Mammoth Mountain as a part of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Nomination Ceremony presented by Visa.

Logan, who won silver in slopestyle at Sochi, will return in both slopestyle and in halfpipe.

Of the 15 athletes named to the team, 10 were members of the debut Olympic squad at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, including six of the eight halfpipe team members named.

The Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games is set for February 9. The U.S. Olympic FreeskiTeam will have its first competition on Saturday, February 18, with women's slopestyle qualifications. Finals are on Sunday, February 19. 

 

NBCUniversal will present more than 2,400 hours of coverage across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app - the most ever for a Winter Olympics.

 

Nick Goepper, Lawrenceburg, Ind. (3/14/1994) *

Alex Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah (09/21/1998)

Gus Kenworthy, Telluride, Colo. (10/01/1991) *

McRae Williams, Park City, Utah (10/23/1990)

Caroline Claire, Manchester Center, Vt. (02/02/2000)

Devin Logan, W. Dover, Vt. (02/17/1993) *

Darian Stevens, Missoula, Mont. (10/29/1996)

Maggie Voisin, Whitefish, Mont. (12/14/1998) *

Aaron Blunck, Crested Butte, Colo. (04/12/1996) *

Alex Ferreira, Aspen, Colo. (8/14/1994)

Torin Yater-Wallace, Basalt, Colo. (12/02/1995) *

David Wise, Reno, Nev. (6/30/1990) *

Maddie Bowman, South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (1/10/1994) *

Annalisa Drew, Andover, Mass. (05/28/1993) *

Devin Logan, West Dover, Vt. (02/17/1993)

Brita Sigourney, Carmel, Calif. (1/17/1990) *

• At 24 years old, Ashley Caldwell carries the most Olympic experience on this team, having competed in both Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. The reigning World Champion has progressed from double jumps to throwing some of the highest degree of difficulty triple-twisting triple flips on the women’s World Cup tour. In 2017, she becomes the first woman to successfully land a quadruple-twisting triple flip called “The Daddy.”
• Mac Bohonnon and Kiley McKinnon grew up in the same town. Both have seen success at the World Cup and World Championship level. McKinnon brought home a World Championship silver medal in 2015. She and Bohonnon shared overall World Cup titles that same season.
• Bohonnon has trained “The Hurricane,” a quintuple-twisting triple flip that won Jeret “Speedy” Peterson a silver medal at the 2010 Games. It hasn’t been completed since Speedy and Bohonnon could potentially compete with it in PyeongChang.
• After proving her prowess in dual moguls, Jaelin Kauf has dominated single moguls competitions this season with four podium finishes, including two wins. Her parents both competed on the pro mogul tour. The course in PyeongChang will play to Kauf’s strengths of clean, fast skiing.
• 20-year-old Morgan Schild spent 22 months recovering from an ACL injury. She returned to competition in January 2016 and has been one of the strongest U.S. women’s mogul skiers ever since.
• Casey Andringa burst onto the World Cup scene just one month ago, placing in the top 10 in his first two starts. He and his brother lived in a tent in Steamboat Springs, Colorado this summer to supplement costs and train on the water ramps there.