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≡ STAT BLITZ ≡
This was one of the busiest winter-sport weekends of the year, with events in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and American athletes were everywhere, earning 23 medals in all.
Alpine Skiing: FIS World Cup at Zauchensee (AUT):
● Women/Downhill ~ Gold: Lindsey Vonn
● Women/Downhill ~ Bronze: Jacqueline Wiles
Vonn won her fourth medal in four Downhill starts this season, amazing even herself:
“I honestly thought with my start number I had no chance, because there’s so much snow and there wasn’t really a track at no. 6. I thought I had no chance so I just swung really hard.
“I felt within myself, I didn’t feel like I was doing anything crazy, but definitely it was a much different line than everyone else was taking, and that’s why I was able to ski a little bit faster than the rest.
“I’m a pretty stubborn and driven person. I have an intense amount of competitiveness in me, it’s just how I’m wired, so I’m thankful I have that ability.”
Wiles won her fourth career World Cup medal and first in almost two years, taking advice from Vonn on the line to follow.
Bobsled & Skeleton: IBSF World Cup in St. Moritz (SUI):
● Two-Woman ~ Gold: Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Jasmine Jones
● Women/Skeleton ~ Silver: Kelly Curtis
Armbruster Humphries won her third Two-Woman medal in six races and a second win, this time with Jones instead of Emily Renna. After two golds with Canada in this event, she appears primed for another medal shot in Italy.
Freestyle Skiing: FIS World Cup at Aspen, Colorado:
● Men/Halfpipe ~ Silver: Hunter Hess
● Men/Halfpipe ~ Bronze: Matthew Labaugh
● Men/Slopestyle ~ Gold: Mac Forehand
Forehand, 24, said afterwards:
“This one means a lot. We have a big Olympic spot that we’re all battling for now, and the win definitely helps for me. I don’t even know what that means, if I qualified or not, but I was so stressed out.
“The Olympics is always in everyone’s head and all I’ve been thinking about these past couple of months and I haven’t had the results that I’ve wanted to do and today it just all clicked and I am so happy.”
He had been fourth and 28th in the two Big Air events in December, so the win was a big relief.
Freestyle Skiing: FIS World Cup at Lac-Beauport (CAN):
● Men/Aerials I ~ Bronze: Quinn Dehlinger
● Women/Aerials I ~ Gold: Winter Vinecki
● Women/Aerials II ~ Silver: Vinecki
Vinecki said after her win, “It’s an amazing feeling being back on top of the podium, especially after coming off an injury last season. I took a pretty hard crash in Ruka at the first comp, and it didn’t go my way the second time [at Secret Garden].”
Freestyle Skiing: FIS World Cup at Lake Placid, New York:
● Women/Aerials I ~ Bronze: Kalia Kuhn
● Women/Aerials II ~ Gold: Kuhn
Kuhn got her first World Cup gold after winning the 2025 Worlds Aerials gold and was ecstatic:
“Winning the World Championships gave me the confidence it took to go out and do this jump today. It’s indescribable. I’m so happy, especially going into the Olympics, this is the cherry on top of the World Cup season.”
Freestyle Skiing: FIS World Cup at Val St. Come (CAN):
● Men/Moguls ~ Bronze: Nick Page
● Women/Moguls ~ Silver: Tess Johnson
● Women/Moguls ~ Bronze: Olivia Giaccio
● Women/Dual Moguls ~ Gold: Jaelin Kauf
● Women/Dual Moguls ~ Silver: Elizabeth Lemley
● Women/Dual Moguls ~ Bronze: Johnson
In the men’s Moguls event, Canadian star Mikael Kingsbury got his 100th career World Cup win, far ahead of everyone else and another career first for the 2018 Olympic champ and nine-time World Champion.
Kauf, 29, who always seems to be in the thick of things when the biggest events come up – she won the Moguls silver at Beijing 2022 – “I love Duals. I just came out to have fun, ski as hard as I could, and I did just that.”
Nordic Combined: FIS World Cup at Otepaa (EST):
● Women/Compact 97 m-5 km ~ Bronze: Alexa Brabec
This was Brabec’s fourth World Cup medal of the season, but women’s Nordic Combined is not yet in the Games.
Snowboard: FIS World Cup at Aspen, Colorado:
● Men/Halfpipe ~ Bronze: Alessandro Barbieri
● Men/Slopestyle ~ Gold: Jake Canter
● Women/Halfpipe ~ Silver: Madeline Schaffrick
Canter got his first World Cup win and had no doubts, saying “Pressure is a privilege. Have as much fun as possible while you’ve got it. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Schaffrick is an amazing story. Now 31, she got out of the sport at age 20 due to injuries, went into coaching in 2022 and then returned to competition in the 2024-25 season, winning a World Cup medal in December 2024. Her silver in Aspen is her best finish ever.
Even with one of the busiest weekends of the year, 23 medals is a lot, as is seven golds, with many of the top American stars either done with World Cup events prior to the Olympic Winter Games, or in domestic events, such as the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships that nominated a strong team.
The coming weekend is not as heavy, but has more events in alpine, biathlon, bobsled, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing, luge, nordic combined, skeleton, ski jumping, ski mountaineering and snowboard.
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