Latest news with #WinterSports
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
AJ Ginnis, former U.S. Ski Team athlete, to be first 2026 Olympic torchbearer
AJ Ginnis, former U.S. Ski Team athlete, to be first 2026 Olympic torchbearer Greek Alpine skier AJ Ginnis, a world slalom silver medalist and former U.S. Ski Team member, will be the first torchbearer of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic torch relay that starts Nov. 26. Ginnis, who eyes his Olympic debut in February at age 31, will receive the flame in the ancient Olympic site of Olympia, Greece, to start the torch relay. A Greek athlete traditionally is the first torchbearer before an athlete from the Olympic host nation. Advertisement 'It is a great honor for me, something that I never imagined as a child," Ginnis said, according to the Greek Olympic Committee. The relay will culminate at the Feb. 6 Opening Ceremony at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. The relay typically spends multiple days in Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, before moving to the host nation. For Milan Cortina, the Italy portion of the relay will start Dec. 4 in Rome. Ginnis, 30, missed most of last season due to knee surgery. In 2023, he earned what is believed to be Greece's first world championships medal in any Winter Olympic program event when he took slalom silver. Advertisement The best Greek finish in any event at a Winter Olympics was 13th in women's skeleton in 2002. Ginnis previously raced for the U.S. at the 2017 Worlds, then was dropped from the national team after the 2017-18 season following several injuries and a best World Cup finish of 26th at the time. He switched to his birth nation of Greece, where he had learned to ski at Mount Parnassus, a 2 1/2-hour drive from Athens. He moved to Austria at age 12 and then Vermont three years after that. Ginnis has undergone at least seven knee surgeries in his career. He tore an ACL in summer 2021, ruling him out of the 2022 Winter Games. Advertisement He thought he was done with ski racing when he went to Beijing to work the 2022 Olympics for NBC. 'When I came back, I told myself, my goal is to go into the next Olympic cycle being a medal contender,' he said at the 2023 Worlds. 'Fighting back from injuries, getting cut from teams, trying to fundraise for what we're doing now. ... This is a dream come true on every level.' NCAA Photos Archive The Ivy League school that's intertwined with the Winter Olympics How Dartmouth put an athlete on every U.S. Winter Olympic team.
CTV News
19-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Canadian Ski cross team swap skis for a diving board
Canada's national ski cross team is used to soaring down a ski hill and catching air. This summer they're catching air in a new way, swapping their skis for a diving board. Jeremiah Barnert is the teams strength and conditioning coach and he says it's all part of cross training, trying something new to sharpen their skills. 'The biggest thing is it takes their out of their comfort zone,' said Barnert. 'It's safe and from a sports perspective it teaches them air awareness so when they're going off different jumps and different features this gives them more tools in their tool box.' Jeremiah Barnert Strength and conditioning coach Jeremiah Barnert says cross training in different sports teaches team members air awareness (Glenn Campbell) Cross training The hope is that cross training will help these athletes. Jared Schmidt, 28, believes diving can help him when he gets back to the ski hill. 'If there's something that you're working on for diving, you could take those skills that you're using to try and perfect it and then translate it into ski cross,' he said. 'Air awareness too,' he added. 'We're in the air a lot and just being comfortable and knowing where all of your part are and you're not flailing around too much and smacking the water hard because you'll probably be smacking the snow pretty hard too,' he said with a laugh. Schmidt's sister Hannah is also on the national ski cross team. She admits being in the water isn't her favourite thing but feels it will help get her out of her comfort zone. 'I'm good on my skis and in their air but diving into a pool head first isn't my strong suit. I did a little belly slop today,' she said with a laugh. 'But I think it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone and try different things throughout the summer.' Another sport Diving isn't the only sport the ski cross team will try this summer. Barnert says boxing is next. 'So in July and August, leading into the (2026 Winter) Olympics, we're actually going to be doing boxing as well,' he said. 'With boxing you get that tight quarters and competitive nature and feeling comfortable being uncomfortable again. It's safe, it's different and it's fun. It gets them out of the gym and it's great cross training.'
News.com.au
27-05-2025
- Climate
- News.com.au
Perisher's peaks dusted with more than 10cm of snow ahead of ski season
The ski season has started early with Australia's largest resort covered in fresh snowfall overnight. Less than two weeks ahead of its official opening, Perisher Ski Resort's seven peaks was covered by more than 10cm of snow as of 4pm on Tuesday. 'Overnight temps dropped to a fresh -3C and, combined with plenty of precipitation, Perisher is wearing some white this morning,' the resort said. 'We're stoked to have 10cm of fresh snow on the ground after a wild and windy 24 hours at Perisher. 'It's the perfect prelude to the season, and we're counting down the days until we're ripping in again.' The first snow of the season arrived in early and mid-May. Winter sport enthusiasts welcomed the woolly weather, hoping for more as Perisher's opening on June 7 – coinciding with the King's Birthday long weekend and three-day Peak Music Festival – gets closer. 'Please please please Mother Nature turn on the taps,' one wrote. 'Keep up the hard work ghosts of Perisher.' 'Keep it coming,' another said, while a third added: 'Love it'. The Bureau of Meteorology forecast a very high chance of snow showers across the day, expected to ease into the evening. A low of minus 4C is set to hit the slopes on Thursday.
