ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (March 18, 2016) – Out of the 11 teams entered in the World Cup Finals team event, Switzerland put on a show in front of the home crowd for a win. Team USA made it through the first round, but did not move past the quarterfinals, tying for fifth place.
READ MORE: WHAT EXACTLY IS A TEAM EVENT?
The race is a dual paneled slalom, complete with a skicross-like start gate, set up in bracket style. Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR), David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO), Resi Stiegler (Jackson, WY) and Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) joined together for the team event on a warm day in St. Moritz, with the bright sun heating up the snow quickly. USA faced off against the Czech Republic in the opening round of 16, winning and qualifying for the quarterfinals to race the French team. But even with a solid win by Chodounsky, it wasn’t enough for the Americans, as Ross, Stiegler and Jitloff could not beat their dominating French opponents.
“It’s pretty sweet to have this as an Olympic event now,” said Chodounsky after the race. “The program could be tweaked a little to make it more fair, but otherwise it’s a lot of fun. Spectators can see directly who’s faster and who’s not. I skied well today and I’m happy.”
The flags flew high in the crowds, as supporters from each country came out to cheer. (Getty Images/Agence Zoom-Alexis Boichard)
Led by Wendy Holdener—who won the similarly formatted 2016 Stockholm city event—Switzerland was victorious at World Cup Finals for the second year in a row, squeaking out a win by just .04 seconds over Germany. Sweden was third.
With the team event a part of the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, the coaches and athletes look for every chance to test out the discipline. “The main thing, going forward on this event, is finding the athletes that see the passion and opportunity here and identifying those early,” said Head Men’s Coach Sasha Rearick.
Next up, the World Cup Finals heads into tech events with the men’s giant slalom and women’s slalom taking place Saturday.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Switzerland won the World Cup Finals team event for the second year in a row. Germany was second and Sweden third.
- Team USA did not move past the quarterfinals, tying for fifth.
- The alpine team event will be included in the 2018 Olympics.
- The World Cup Finals continues with a men’s giant slalom and women’s slalom on Saturday.
Broadcast and Streaming Schedule (all times EDT)
Saturday, March 19
3:30 a.m. – Women’s slalom 1, St. Moritz – LIVE – NBC Sports Live Extra
4:30 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom 1, St. Moritz – LIVE – NBC Sports Live Extra
7:00 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom 2, St. Moritz – LIVE – NBCSN
1:00 p.m. – Women’s slalom, St. Moritz – NBC
NOTE: No live streaming of women’s second run slalom; full coverage on NBC at 1 p.m. EDT
Sunday, March 20
3:30 a.m. – Men’s slalom 1, St. Moritz – LIVE – NBC Sports Live Extra
4:30 a.m. – Women’s giant slalom 1, St. Moritz – LIVE – NBC Sports Live Extra
6:00 a.m. – Men’s slalom 2, St. Moritz – LIVE – NBCSN
7:00 p.m. – Women’s giant slalom 2, St. Moritz – LIVE – NBCSN
QUOTES
David Chodounsky
The event is cool. I’ve been doing it for a few years now. I like it. I do well in it. For me, it’s pretty sweet to have this as an Olympic event now. Because it’s one run on each course, fairness is kind of an issue. One course is almost always faster than the other. The program could be tweaked a little to make it more fair, but otherwise it’s a lot of fun. Spectators can see directly who’s faster and who’s not. I skied well today and I’m happy. It’s a beautiful day.
Sasha Rearick, Men’s Head Coach
Daver skied really well. He was looking for the fastest time and was still able to compete and showed his skiing was there. Jitloff, who hasn’t trained this event at all recently, performed OK. He had to go on the slower course and he fought well. He made a mistake on the second run, but was good.
[On team event being in the 2018 Olympics]
The main thing, going forward on this event, is finding the athletes that see the passion and opportunity here and identifying those early to work through a prep period. On the men’s side right now, we’ve got a couple of young guys who have done really well in this event—in particular AJ Ginnis on the Europa Cup. He’s got a lot of power. These guys are not established in slalom or GS, but they have the opportunity to go out and win a medal. We have to pull together a team like that—six, seven or eight athletes and really prepare for that.
[On team event’s fairness]
The event is made for TV. When you want to make it for TV, you want it quick, no dead time. There’s a delicate balance there—making it quick and efficient, but at the same time, making an event that’s fair. Typically, the faster team does advance. Hats off to France for pushing us out. Looking at World Cup slalom ranks, they had a better team, a higher ranked team than we do. It shows that the system is OK with competition fairness. Of course the athlete would love to have two opportunities to go on each course and battle the other athlete head-to-head on both courses, but that’s part of the game. It’s been established this way and the routine is working.
RESULTS
Team event
