The U.S. National Junior Hockey Team defeated Sweden, 3-1, to capture gold at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship on Jan. 5 in Ufa, Russia. The team rebounded from two early-tournament losses to Russia and Canada, winning its final four games to claim the championship. The run to gold included a 5-1 victory over Canada in the semifinals, avenging the earlier defeat.
WIRE TO WIRE
Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) dominated the FIS Alpine World Cup slalom event in front of an overflowing crowd in Zagreb, Croatia, winning by an astonishing 1.19 seconds. Shiffrin became the first American to win two world cup races in a single-season before the age of 18. David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) led the U.S. men with an 18th-place finish.
BIATHLON
The U.S. relay team of Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.), Russell Currier (Stockholm, Maine) and Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minn.) skied through fog, wind and rain to finish fifth in a time of 1:22:20.3 (0+8 0+3) at the IBU World Cup, which ran from Jan. 3-6 in Oberhof, Germany. In the sprint races, Sarah Studebaker (Boise, Idaho) finished 29th in the 7.5- kilometer sprint with a time of 23:18.1, while Burke was the top-U.S. men's finisher in the 10K, finishing 26th in a time of 26:24.3/1+1. Burke also led the way for the U.S. in the pursuit, finishing a U.S.-best 30th in a time of 35:58.1 with four penalties.
BOBSLED/SKELETON
Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) and Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah) kicked off 2013 with medal-winning performances at a world cup race, held Jan. 4-6 in Altenberg, Germany. Uhlaender finished 0.01 behind the winner to claim silver, while Pikus-Pace used a strong final run to move into third. Brad Stewart (Hastings, Minn.) made his world cup debut in Altenberg, sliding to a 19th- place finish. Stewart's time of 2:03.56 put him just ahead of teammates John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Kyle Tress (Ewing, N.J.), who finished 20th and 21st.
Mike Dellemann (Oregon, Wis.) and Annie O'Shea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) led the U.S. skeleton team at the Intercontinental Cup in Igls, Austria, in races held on Jan. 5-6. Dellemann had the top showing for the U.S., finishing seventh with a time of 1:50.21, while O'Shea also notched a top-10 finish, placing 10th in a time of 1:53.64.
BOWLING
Danielle McEwan (Stony Point, N.Y.) and John Szcerbinski (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) rolled into the lead at the 2013 United States Bowling Congress Team USA Trials. At the trials, held Jan. 3-7 in Henderson, Nev., McEwan and Szcerbinski have successfully accumulated the fewest amount of points heading into the final day of competition.
CURLING
Craig Brown (Madison, Wis.) - a two-time U.S. champion - teamed with Kroy Nernberger (Madison, Wis.), Matt Hamilton (McFarland, Wis.) and Jon Brunt (Portage, Wis.) to defeat Brady Clark (Seattle, Wash.) and Washington-based Granite Curling Club at the USA Curling Men's Challenge Round in Hibbing, Minn., on Jan. 5, earning a berth to the 2013 USA Curling National Championships. Greg Persinger (Anchorage, Alaska) and teammates Nick Myers (Mansfield, Texas), Sean Murray (Watertown, Minn.) and Tim Gartner (St. Paul, Minn.) also qualified for the national championships.
Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.), Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm, Minn.), Joe Polo (Bemidji, Minn.) and Ryan Brunt (Portege, Wis.) posted a 2-3 record at the World Curling Tour Mecure Perth Masters, held Jan. 3-6 in Perth, Scotland. Team Fenson, the only U.S. competitors in the 32-team field, won two of its first three games before dropping its final two and being eliminated.
CYCLING
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) secured her overall victory in the 2012-13 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup with a second-place effort in the penultimate round on Jan. 6 in Rome. The second-place finish gives Compton 390 points in the world cup standings, 136 points ahead of the next competitor. Teammate Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo.) finished the race in 16th, while Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash.) finished fourth in the junior men's race.
FENCING
Gracie Stone (Chicago, Ill.) topped the podium in just her second-ever junior world cup, winning the women's saber, held Jan. 4-5 in Udine, Italy. Meanwhile, Michael Woo (Wayne, N.J.) took bronze in the junior men's foil, losing to the eventual champion from Italy, and Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.) finished 12th in the junior men's saber.
Isabel Ford (Salem, Ore.) placed seventh at the Dijon Junior Epee World Cup on Jan. 6 in Dijon, France. Nina Van Loon (Boulder, Colo.), Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C.) and Jennifer Horowitz (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished ninth, 10th and 11th.
FIELD HOCKEY
The U.S. women's indoor team captured gold at the Rohrmax Cup in Pershtoldsdorf, Austria, which was held Jan. 4-6. The championship run included a 6-1 victory over host-nation Austria.
HOCKEY
The U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team fell to Canada, 2-1, on Jan. 5 in the gold-medal game of the 2013 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in Heinola, Finland. Jenny Ryan (Victor, N.Y.) put the U.S. up 1-0 in the first period, but Canada rallied late, tying the game with 13 seconds remaining, and scoring the winning goal just 58 seconds into overtime. The loss was the only of the tournament for the U.S. team, which went 4-0-1-0 and outscored opponents, 36-2.
LUGE
Julia Clukey (Augusta, Maine) slid to a sixth-place finish at the world cup event on Jan. 5 in Koenigssee, Germany. Clukey's aggregate score of 1:43.023 left her just 0.4 off the podium, while teammate Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.) finished 10th with a total time of 1:43.713. Chris Mazdzer was the top U.S. men's finisher on Jan. 6, finishing 22nd. Clukey returned to the track for the team relay, joining with Taylor Morris (South Jordan, Utah) and the doubles team of Jake Hyms (Muskegon, Mich.) and Andrew Sherk (Fort Washington, Pa.) to finish fifth.
MODERN PENTATHLON
Margaux Isaksen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Eli Bremer (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the USA Modern Pentathlon World Cup Qualifier, held Jan. 4-7 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
SKI/SNOWBOARD
Emily Cook (Belmont, Mass.) and Dylan Ferguson (Amesbury, Mass.) each grabbed fifth-place finishes at the FIS World Cup aerials competition in Changchun, China, on Jan. 5. Mike Rossi (Long Valley, N.J.) finished 14th in his first- ever international world cup.
Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Billy Demong (Vermontville, N.Y.) charged back onto the podium, finishing third at the FIS World Cup Nordic Combined event on Jan. 6 in Schonach, Germany.
Torin Koos (Wenatchee, Wash.), Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) and Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) headlined the 2013 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships, held Jan. 3-8 in Soldier Hollow, Utah. Koos claimed national titles in the classic sprint and 30-kilometer classic, while both Bjornsens claimed a national championship, Erik in the 15K freestlye and Sadie in the 20K classic. Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) won the 10K freestyle, while Jennie Bender (Johnson, Vt.) won the classic sprint title.
Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) soared into fifth place at the FIS World Cup ski jumping competition, held Jan. 4-6 in Schonach, Germany. Hendrickson posted jumps of 96 meters and 94 meters to move into fifth; the score moved her into fourth place in the overall world cup standings.
Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) finished 12th at the Tour de Ski, which ran between Jan. 5-8 in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Teammate Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, Vt.) used a brilliant final stage to move from 22nd to 15th place, giving the Americans two top-15 finishes.
Stephanie Jallen (Harding, Pa.) had a breakthrough weekend at the NorAm Adaptive National Championships in Winter Park, Colo. The 16-year old won two silver medals in super-G races, while collecting a gold in the giant slalom and another in the slalom.
TRACK & FIELD
Bobby Mack (Winston-Salem, N.C.) captured gold at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country race on Jan. 5 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mack finished the 8- kilometer race in 24:27, edging out Ayad Lamdassam of Spain by one second. On the women's side, Mattie Suver (Boulder, Colo.) finished third in the 6K race in a time of 21:00.
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