Japan’s Kobayashi among favorites in wide-open ski jumping
Even athletes who compete in ski jumping and a former Olympian paid to analyze the sport on TV have no idea who will win gold at the Beijing Games. That’s because more than a dozen men seem to have a shot. The list of contenders, though, might be reduced by one. Three-time Olympic champion Kamil […]
Olympic champion Ledecka leads Czech team at Beijing Games
PRAGUE (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Ester Ledecka will spearhead a record number of Czech athletes at the Winter Games in Beijing. Ledecka made history at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games by becoming the first person to win gold medals in both skiing and snowboarding, claiming the snowboard parallel giant slalom and the super-G in skiing. […]
Kilde edges Odermatt in duel for World Cup downhill win
WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — The rivalry between Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt emerged again Friday in a World Cup downhill. Kilde edged Odermatt by 0.19 seconds to win one day after his Swiss friend had won a super-G in another duel on the storied Lauberhorn hill. Beat Feuz was third Friday, 0.30 behind the […]
Downhill racer Johnson skips World Cup meet with knee injury
ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria (AP) — Olympic downhill medal contender Breezy Johnson is skipping World Cup races this weekend in Austria to let a knee injury heal. Johnson, who has been runner-up in all three World Cup downhills this season, said Friday she has taken medical advice over a cut and bruised knee from a training crash […]
Norway’s Riiber dominant soaring, skiing into 2022 Olympics
Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber has been so dominant in World Cup competitions that other Nordic combined athletes are studying how he soars past the competition in ski jumping to often take a huge lead into the cross-country skiing leg of the events. They hope the homework pays off next month at the Winter Olympics in […]
Ex-World Cup ski champion Carlo Janka retires due to injury
WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Once crowned the world’s best all-around men’s alpine skier, Swiss racer Carlo Janka ended his injury-hit racing career at his home country’s most storied venue on Thursday. Janka’s career peaked in 2010 when he was the overall World Cup champion in a stacked lineup that included Bode Miller, Aksel Lund Svindal, […]
Shaun White all but wraps up spot in his 5th Olympics
LAAX, Switzerland (AP) — Shaun White all but wrapped up a spot in his fifth Olympics on Thursday when he qualified for the finals of a contest in Switzerland and his nearest American pursuer failed to move on. White finished fifth in the qualifying round, while Chase Blackwell failed to make it to Saturday’s 12-man […]
Odermatt beats Kilde for super-G win in World Cup rivalry
WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Marco Odermatt first. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde second. Their 1-2 finish in Thursday’s World Cup super-G could be repeated at next month’s Beijing Olympics and on the professional circuit for years to come. Odermatt, a 24-year-old emerging Swiss star, beat his Norwegian rival by 0.23 seconds. Matthias Mayer, the 2018 Olympic champion […]
Wise eyes a three-peat, Gu eyes history in freestyle skiing
David Wise is playing with house money. And he knows it. So, ask the only man to ever win Olympic gold in the halfpipe if he feels pressure bidding for a three-peat in China and the free-spirited 31-year-old freestyle skier just laughs. “I really, truly feel like I’m going to be the hardest guy (to […]
Vlhova leads night race, closes in on World Cup slalom title
SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) — Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova closed in on the women’s World Cup slalom season title Tuesday by posting the fastest first-run time in a night race. Racing on the challenging Planai course, Vlhova led Lena Dürr of Germany by 0.27 seconds, while Canada’s Ali Nullmeyer and Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener both finished 0.35 […]