The U.S. women's national team claimed an Olympic berth final victory over Costa Rica on Jan. 27 at the CONCACAF Olympic 0.
U.S. HAS STRONG SHOWING AT WINTER X GAMES
Shaun White (Carlsbad, Calif.) closed out the Winter X Games on Jan. 29 in Aspen, Colo., by scoring the first-ever perfect 100 and winning gold in the men's snowboard superpipe. Also on top of the podium was Kelly Clark (West Dover, Vt.), who won the women's snowboard superpipe. Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, Calif.) slid to a snowboard cross title, while Bobby Brown (Breckenridge, Colo.) soared his way to a skiing big air championship. The U.S. swept both the women's superpipe and men's snowboard cross events.
BIATHLON
Four U.S. biathletes concluded the IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup with top-10 finishes on Jan. 29 in Cable, Wis. Sit-skiers Sean Halsted (Spokane, Wash.) and Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan.) placed eighth and 10th in the long course. In the women's competition, Kelly Underkofler (St. Paul, Minn.) finished fourth in the standing division and Sarah Edwards (Winter Park, Colo.) placed fifth in the sit-ski division.
BOBSLED & SKELETON
Bobsledders Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.) and Nic Taylor (Hayward, Calif.) led the U.S. squad at the 2012 Junior World Championships in Igls, Austria, on Jan. 28, placing 14th in the two-man division. In skeleton, Meghan Sullivan (Bluemont, Va.) clocked the fastest time for the U.S. women and finished 15th, while Austin McCrary (Colleyville, Texas) had the best finish for the men, placing 14th.
EQUESTRIAN
With a score of 83.7 percent, Steffen Peters (San Diego, Calif.) and horse Ravel took first place at the world dressage masters in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 29.
FENCING
Soren Thompson (New York, N.Y.) defeated Kazakhstan's Elmir Alimzhanov to earn a bronze medal at the Vito Noto Intercontinental Cup in Naples, Italy, on Jan. 23.
Fencing athletes Seth Kelsey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Cody Mattern (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Thompson opened the world cup season with a silver-medal finish in Legano, Italy, on Jan. 29.
Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) made history at the Paris Foil World Cup on Jan. 29, becoming the first U.S. fencers to receive medals at the event. Their bronze-medal performances also marked the first time two U.S. male fencers medalled at the same world cup.
Defending world champions Meryl Davis (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Charlie White (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) won their fourth straight ice dancing title at the Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif.Caydee Denney (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and John Coughlin (Kansas City, Mo.) won the pairs championship, while Ashley Wagner (Alexandria, Va.) won the ladies' gold and Jeremy Abbott (Aspen, Colo.) won the men's title.
Erin Hamline (Remsen, N.Y.) slid to a sixth-place finish at the world cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Teammates Christian Niccum (Woodinville, Wash.) and Jayson Terdiman (Berwick, Pa.) also finished sixth in the doubles event.
SAILING
Jen French (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and JP Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.) qualified for the London Paralympic Games after finishing third in the Skud-18 class at the 2012 Rolex Miami OCR on Jan. 28.
SKI & SNOWBOARD
Lindsey Vonn (St. Paul, Minn.) picked up her 48th and 49th world cup victories in the downhill and super-combined races in St. Mortiz, Switzerland. With those wins, Vonn now has 1,250 world cup points.
Freestyle skier Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt.) extended her world cup record streak to 12 with a win at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alta., on Jan. 28, while teammate K.C. Oakley (Piedmont, Calif.) climbed atop her first world cup podium with a third-place finish. In the men's races, Jeremy Cota (Carrabassett Valley, Maine) and Sho Kasima (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) finished second and third.
SPEEDSKATING
After finishing seventh in the 500-meter race and fifth in the 1000-meter race, Heather Richardson (High Point, N.C.) skated to a sixth-place overall finish in the Essent ISU 2012 World Sprint Championships on Jan. 29 in Calgary, Alta. Teammate Shani Davis (Chicago, Ill.) took fifth overall after placing second in the 1000-meter race and 18th in the 500-meter race.
TRACK & FIELD
After an injury-plagued 2011 season, Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Iowa) kicked-off the Visa Championships Series on Jan. 28 by running the fastest women's 50- meter hurdles time in the world since 2008.
TRIATHLON
Mike Wolfe (Helena, Mont.) and Rebecca Dussault (Gunnison, Colo.) claimed national titles at USA Triathlon's Winter Triathlon National Championship in Butte, Mont., on Jan. 29.
WRESTLING
In his first competition since 2004, heavyweight Rulon Gardner (Afton, Wyo.) won the 264.5-pound division title at the Kiki Cup dual-meet on Jan. 27 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. R.C. Johnson (Plymouth, Minn.) also went undefeated, winning the Greco-Roman title in the 211.5-pound division.
Team USA brought home four medals from the Yargin Memorial Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Freestyle wrestlers Tervel Dlagnev (Columbus, Ohio) and Jake Varner (State College, Pa.) earned silver and bronze medals in the 211.5- and 264.6-pound divisions, while teammate Erin Clodgo (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the silver medal in the 138.75-pound division. Also earning a spot on the podium was Jessica Medina (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who claimed bronze in the 112.25-pound division.
UPCOMING CALENDAR
1/28-2/4 Curling Madison, Wis. 2012 U.S. Junior National Championships
1/29-2/4 Bobsled & Skeleton Whistler, B.C. World Cup
1-30-2/4 Bobsled & Skeleton Calgary, Alta. Intercontinental Cup
2/3-4 Speedskating Moscow ISU Short Track World Cup 5
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