Latest news with #CortinaGames
France 24
5 days ago
- Sport
- France 24
Vonn appoints Svindal as coach ahead of 2026 Olympics
The former Olympic and serial world champion stunned the sports world when she returned to the US ski team last year aged 40, five years after retirement. She has her sights set on adding to the downhill gold she won at the 2010 Vancouver Games at Milan/Cortina next year with her close friend Svindal now on her coaching team. "Bringing Aksel onto my team for this season feels like a natural and incredibly exciting step," Vonn said on Wednesday. "We've shared so much history on the mountain, from training to winning World Cup titles, and there's a deep level of trust and respect that's developed over the years. "To have him officially on my team as we push for the Cortina Games is a huge boost." Svindal, a two-time former overall World Cup champion and double Olympic gold medallist, and Vonn will begin preparations for Milan-Cortina with a training camp in Chile "later this summer". Vonn, who has 82 World Cup wins to her name, was forced into retirement following a serious knee injury. But after undergoing a titanium reconstruction of her knee, she returned to competition last season, picking up the first podium of her return at Sun Valley in March.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nico Porteous will not defend Olympic halfpipe title, will remain active in skiing
Nico Porteous, one of two New Zealand athletes to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, will not defend his ski halfpipe title from 2022 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games as he focuses on other parts of his skiing career. 'I've loved representing New Zealand. Wearing the fern and competing for my country has been the most incredible experience and I'm so proud of what I've achieved," Porteous, 23, said in press release. "This wasn't an easy decision to make, but I'm excited to do something new, and I feel like the time is right for me to look for a new challenge and new opportunities.' Advertisement Porteous plans to stay active in skiing through filming, product development and other competitions outside of the halfpipe, such as Natural Selection. "I still love skiing, and I want to keep skiing to the best of my abilities and keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the sport," he said. "Ultimately, I'm ready for something new. What that looks like I'm not exactly sure, but over the past few seasons I've enjoyed filming and producing videos, as well as working on gear and product design." In 2018, Porteous took halfpipe bronze in his Olympic debut, becoming at 16 the youngest skier to win an Olympic medal and the youngest New Zealand athlete to win a Winter or Summer Olympic medal. In 2022, he landed back-to-back double cork 1620s on his first of three runs in the Olympic final. His 93-point score held up to take gold over Americans David Wise and Alex Ferreira, who had gone one-two in 2018. Advertisement Earlier in the 2022 Games, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott became the first New Zealand athlete to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, taking the women's snowboard slopestyle event. Porteous last competed at a September 2024 World Cup in New Zealand, placing 31st. He also won X Games Aspen titles in 2021 and 2022 and the World Championships in 2021, also in Aspen. Another man from New Zealand won the world title in ski halfpipe this past March — 18-year-old Finley Melville Ives — ahead of Americans Nick Goepper and Ferreira. FREESTYLE SKIING-CHN David Wise, after two gold medals, gears up for one last Olympic halfpipe bid Two-time Olympic gold medalist David Wise is competing in his last Olympic cycle before retirement.
NBC Sports
15-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Nico Porteous will not defend Olympic halfpipe title, will remain active in skiing
Nico Porteous, one of two New Zealand athletes to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, will not defend his ski halfpipe title from 2022 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games as he focuses on other parts of his skiing career. 'I've loved representing New Zealand. Wearing the fern and competing for my country has been the most incredible experience and I'm so proud of what I've achieved,' Porteous, 23, said in press release. 'This wasn't an easy decision to make, but I'm excited to do something new, and I feel like the time is right for me to look for a new challenge and new opportunities.' Porteous plans to stay active in skiing through filming, product development and other competitions outside of the halfpipe, such as Natural Selection. 'I still love skiing, and I want to keep skiing to the best of my abilities and keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the sport,' he said. 'Ultimately, I'm ready for something new. What that looks like I'm not exactly sure, but over the past few seasons I've enjoyed filming and producing videos, as well as working on gear and product design.' In 2018, Porteous took halfpipe bronze in his Olympic debut, becoming at 16 the youngest skier to win an Olympic medal and the youngest New Zealand athlete to win a Winter or Summer Olympic medal. In 2022, he landed back-to-back double cork 1620s on his first of three runs in the Olympic final. His 93-point score held up to take gold over Americans David Wise and Alex Ferreira, who had gone one-two in 2018. Earlier in the 2022 Games, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott became the first New Zealand athlete to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, taking the women's snowboard slopestyle event. Porteous last competed at a September 2024 World Cup in New Zealand, placing 31st. He also won X Games Aspen titles in 2021 and 2022 and the World Championships in 2021, also in Aspen. Another man from New Zealand won the world title in ski halfpipe this past March — 18-year-old Finley Melville Ives — ahead of Americans Nick Goepper and Ferreira. Nick Zaccardi,
NBC Sports
10-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Alex Hall leads first four skiers to make U.S. Olympic team for 2026 Milan Cortina Games
Reigning Olympic slopestyle gold medalist Alex Hall is among the first four skiers to make the U.S. team for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. Hall is joined by Olympic silver medalists Alex Ferreira (halfpipe) and Jaelin Kauf (moguls), plus aerials skier Quinn Dehlinger in securing early qualification. Each made the team as the highest-ranked American who is also ranked in the top three in the world on International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) lists. Hall, 26, shares No. 1 on the FIS men's slopestyle list with Norwegian Birk Ruud, the 2022 Olympic big air gold medalist and two-time reigning world champion in slopestyle. Hall has won five World Cups between big air and slopestyle since his Olympic title in 2022. Ferreira, 30, shares No. 1 on the FIS men's halfpipe list with Finley Melville Ives, and 18-year-old from New Zealand who won the world title in March. Ferreira won Olympic halfpipe silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022. This past season, he took second at X Games and third at the world championships, each time placing one spot behind countryman Nick Goepper. In the 2023-24 season, Ferreira won all seven of his competitions and became the first U.S. male freestyle skier to have an undefeated World Cup campaign in an event that's on the Olympic program. Goepper, a three-time Olympic slopestyle medalist, is ranked third on the FIS list and this upcoming season can clinch his Olympic spot in his new event of halfpipe. Kauf, the 2022 Olympic moguls silver medalist, is coming off winning the World Cup season titles in moguls and dual moguls, plus winning the world championships title in dual moguls. She shares No. 1 on the FIS women's moguls list with 2018 Olympic gold medalist Perrine Laffont of France. While moguls has been on the Olympic medal program since 1992, dual moguls makes its Olympic debut in 2026, giving Kauf two medal chances. Dehlinger, 22, is tied for fourth on the FIS men's aerials list. For U.S. Olympic qualifying purposes, Dehlinger moves up one spot as Russian Maxim Burov retained his higher ranking while not being eligible to compete. FIS has excluded all Russian skiers from competition since shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Dehlinger is set to make his Olympic debut in 2026. At the last two world championships, he took gold in the mixed-gender team event and silver in the individual event behind Swiss Noe Roth. Dehlinger hails from the same small ski area as Goepper — Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Another aerials skier, 2022 Olympian Winter Vinecki, is ranked third on the FIS list but did not secure early qualification because she retained that ranking due to injury, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboard. She can still make the team — which is expected to include four total female aerialists — closer to the Games. The four skiers join four other athletes across all sports who have made the U.S. Olympic team already — snowboarders Chloe Kim and Red Gerard and the mixed doubles curling team of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin. The Olympic team will ultimately include around 200 athletes. Nick Zaccardi,
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chloe Kim wins snowboard halfpipe world title, closes in on 2026 Olympic berth
Chloe Kim won her third world championship in snowboard halfpipe on Saturday, moving closer to clinching a spot in her third Olympics in 2026. Kim, the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist, won with her score of 93.50 points in her first of two runs in Switzerland. Advertisement Japan's Sara Shimizu and Mitsuki Ono took silver and bronze. Kim's winning run included a switch double cork 1080 and a pair of 900s, according to commentators. "Today was definitely a big mental battle, I think for all the ladies," said Kim, who along with the other 11 women had to wait out a two-hour weather delay. "I definitely had a couple mental breakdowns during practice, so I'm just really happy I was able to land something." Her second run was a victory lap with the title already secured. She attempted a cab 1260, according to commentary, but didn't land it. Advertisement "My favorite part about a victory lap is trying to progress the sport and try to do the craziest run I've ever done," she said afterward. "I was really hoping to put that down here, but next time." The top American woman in the world rankings come Tuesday clinches a spot on the team for the Milan Cortina Games, should she also be in the top three overall. Kim went into worlds ranked first. She took one season off after winning her second Olympic gold medal in 2022. This season, she repeated as X Games champion and also became the first woman to land a double cork 1080 in competition. "I think I'm back," she said. "I really started to find the joy for the sport again, and I think that's been a really big change for me, a positive change." Advertisement NBC airs highlights of The Snow League, the new snowboard halfpipe competition series founded by Shaun White, on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Mark McMorris Mark McMorris' snowboard career has been record breaking and unbreakable Mark McMorris targets more Olympic glory in 2026 after a medal at the last three Games.
