PARK CITY, Utah (Sept. 22, 2017) – U.S. Ski Team moguls and aerials athletes will be looking to secure the final results needed to compete at 2018 Olympic Winter Games during this season’s FIS Freestyle World Cups at Deer Valley Resort, Utah and Lake Placid, New York. Deer Valley will host the Visa Freestyle International Jan. 10-12 and Lake Placid will be the site of the Putnam Investments Freestyle Cup Jan. 19-20. The Olympic teams will be named the week of January 22.
All events at Deer Valley will serve as the second to last round of Olympic selection events for the U.S. athletes. This year’s iteration of the Visa Freestyle International features two moguls competitions on Wednesday and Thursday nights followed by aerials on Friday. It will also be the last World Cup hosted by the resort before the FIS Freestyle, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships come to Park City in 2019.
U.S. Ski Team athlete Troy Murphy finishes his mogul run in front of a packed house at Deer Valley Resort. (Steven Earl)
“We’ve historically seen great success from our moguls and aerials athletes at the Deer Valley events and, with the Olympics just a few weeks away, they’ll be looking to perform their best and get one step closer to making their respective Olympic teams,” said Eric Webster, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Senior Director, Events.
The aerials team will travel to Lake Placid the following week for the final two nights of Olympic selection competition. The U.S. team saw tremendous success at the event last season with 2017 World Champion Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.) landing a win and 2014 Olympian Mac Bohonnon (Madison, Conn.) taking second.
Ashley Caldwell trains ahead of the 2017 World Cup competition in Lake Placid. (Bucholz/FIS)
“It is a great honor to make the Olympic team and having those last spots secured on home snow will make the experience even more meaningful for our aerials athletes,” said Luke Bodensteiner, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief of Sport. “We are very fortunate to have resort partners like Deer Valley and Lake Placid who’re committed to putting on great events for our athletes as they work towards their goal of being Best in the World at the Games.”
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is once again partnering with NBC and NBC Sports Network to televise the competitions at Deer Valley Resort and Lake Placid. A final TV schedule will be finalized in the coming weeks. Additional event and media accreditation information is available at ussa.org/media-center.
2018 VISA FREESTYLE INTERNATIONAL
Deer Valley Resort, Utah
Wednesday, Jan. 10: Men’s and women’s moguls qualifications and finals
Thursday, Jan. 11: Men’s and women’s moguls qualifications and finals
Friday, Jan. 12: Men’s and women’s aerials qualifications and finals
2018 PUTNAM INVESTMENTS FREESTYLE CUP
Lake Placid, N.Y.
Friday, January 19: Men’s and women’s aerials qualifications and finals
Saturday, January 20: Men’s and women’s aerials qualifications and finals
