Team USA collects record-matching 17 ski and snowboard medals in Sochi
SOCHI, Russia – A record-matching 17 Team USA skiers and snowboarders left the Sochi Olympic Winter Games with medals, including a record eight gold. The medal total matched those collected in the 2010 Vancouver Games. From Sage Kotsenburg’s opening day slopestyle snowboarding gold to teen Mikaela Shiffrin’s brilliant slalom win under the lights Friday night, the American athletes electrified Sochi fans and television viewers worldwide.
“Sochi 2014 was a remarkable Olympics with efficient organization and a contagious spirit from the Russian people,” said USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt. “We brought a team that was well prepared to compete for medals with athletes who distinguished themselves as outstanding Olympians. The new events in freeskiing and snowboarding were a positive addition. The mix of great performances from our sport heroes plus the introduction of new stars will inspire a new generation of Olympians.”
The performances were punctuated by five athletes winning alpine medals along with eight of 18 medals in new freeskiing and snowboarding events. The new events were received well by the International Olympic Committee for bringing a relevant, youthful feel to the competition program.
“The success of our entire team, especially our 17 Olympic medalists, is a tribute to the hard work each of them put in leading up to Sochi and their innovation in performing on tough courses against athletes who were equally motivated. It’s a real credit to our high performance team, and the U.S. Olympic Committee, for the work that was done to ensure we had the right advance training and proper infrastructure here in Sochi to provide those athletes with the opportunity,” remarked Luke Bodensteiner, USSA’s Executive Vice President of Athletics. “Now it’s time to learn from our experiences and set our sights on PyeongChang.”
Bode Miller won his sixth Olympic medal, putting him second on the all-time U.S. Winter Olympians list (Apolo Anton Ohno leads with eight) and second on the all-time skiing list (Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway leads with eight). Julia Mancuso extended her record with the most Olympic medals by a U.S. woman skier or snowboarder now with four, and Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest women’s slalom Olympic champion.
“The Olympics is a magnificent showcase for athletes – the toughest courses, the closest competition, the highest stakes. Time and time again we see that amidst all the political discussions and turmoil, it is the athletes who rise above and put on a show,” concluded Bodensteiner.
ALPINE SKIING
Gold – Ted Ligety, giant slalom
Gold – Mikaela Shiffrin, slalom
Silver – Andrew Weibrecht, super G
Bronze – Julia Mancuso, super combined
Bronze – Bode Miller, super G
FREESKIING/FREESTYLE
Gold – Joss Christensen, slopestyle
Gold – Maddie Bowman, halfpipe
Gold – David Wise, halfpipe
Silver – Gus Kenworthy, slopestyle
Silver – Devin Logan, slopestyle
Bronze – Nick Goepper, slopestyle
Bronze – Hannah Kearney, moguls
SNOWBOARDING
Gold – Jamie Anderson, slopestyle
Gold – Kaitlyn Farrington, halfpipe
Gold – Sage Kotsenburg, slopestyle
Bronze – Kelly Clark, halfpipe
Bronze – Alex Deibold, snowboardcross
Release courtesy of USSA