Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah) earned her first world cup gold medal since 2004 in the women's skeleton race on Jan. 11 in Koenigssee, Germany. With a steady snow fall throughout the competition, Pikus-Pace had a combined time of 1:47.51 and beat the field by 0.41 seconds.
HOW SWEET IT IS
Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) surprised the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup field with a flawless downhill run to win her first world cup event on Jan. 12 in St. Anton, Austria. Coming out of the fourth starting position, McKennis posted a time of 1:14.62 and led three Americans into the top six.
BIATHLON
Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) finished 19th in the 15-kilometer world cup mass start on Jan. 13 in Ruhpolding, Germany. Burke completed the course in 37:46.6 and had two penalties in standing. Meanwhile, Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.) cleaned both stages at the range and completed the 10K in 24:59.5 to finish 26th. In the 4x7 relay, the team of Lowell, Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minn.), Russell Currier (Stockholm, Maine) and Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, Alaska) finished 14th with a time of 1:17:06.0.
BOBSLED/SKELETON
Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) and Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.) had a record- breaking result at the world cup in the women's two-man bobsled. The pair pushed the sled off the block in 5.22 to break the record in the first heat, and broke it again in the second run (5.20). USA-1 finished with a two-run total of 1:44.09 to place eighth on Jan. 11 in Koenigssee, Germany. On the men's side, Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) saw their streak of top-five finishes come to a close, as USA-1 posted a total time of 1:41.01 and finished eighth. In skeleton, John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) climbed seven spots in his final run to lead the U.S.Daly put together a total time of 1:44.49 and slid into 11th place, while teammate Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wis.) finished 17th.
The married couple of Brad Stewart (Hastings, Minn.) and Kimber Gabryszak (Park City, Utah) led the U.S. at the intercontinental cup on Jan. 12 in Altenberg, Germany. Stewart finished sixth in the first men's skeleton race, and climbed to fifth in his second race. Meanwhile, Gabryszak earned a fifth-place finish with a two-run total of 2:02.54.
Savannah Graybill (Denver, Pa.) had a pair of top-eight finishes in the women's skeleton races at the European Cup, which ran from Jan. 12-13 in Igls, Austria. In the first race, Graybill finished fourth with a total time of 1:52.75. The following day she placed sixth with a 1:52.24 two-run total.
BOXING
Boxers from eight states won 13 titles at the Junior World Team Open, held Jan. 11 in Reno, Nev. The winners earned the opportunity to represent the U.S. at the 2013 AIBA Junior Men's World Championships in Kiev, Ukraine.
CURLING
Heath McCormick (Hudson, N.Y.) and Allison Pottinger (St. Paul, Minn.) helped lead Team North America to a 37-23 victory over Team World at the 2013 World Financial Group Continental Cup on Jan. 13 in Penticton, British Columbia.
CYCLING
Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash.) won his eighth consecutive national championship on Jan. 12 in Verona, Wis. Owen outlasted the junior men's field and completed the course in 43:19. Other winners at the Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship included Yannick Eckmann (Boulder, Colo.) in the U-23 men's division and Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wis.) in the division I women's field.
EQUESTRIAN
Charlie Jacobs (Boston, Mass.) outlasted the field to win the $30,000 Mar-a- Lago Club Grand Prix during the first week of the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival on Jan. 13 in Wellington, Fla. Riding atop Flaming Star, Jacobs was the fastest rider of the clear jump-off rounds (37.163).
GYMNASTICS
Three gymnasts qualified for the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup through the Nastia Liukin Cup series over the weekend. Emily Schild (Huntersville, N.C.) qualified at the Atlanta Crown Invitational, while Kiera Brown (Newport News, Va.) and Sydney Doggette (Pickerington, Ohio) secured their spots at the Circle of Stars Gymnastics Invitational in Indianapolis.
LUGE
Julia Clukey (Augusta, Maine) finished sixth and Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.) placed seventh in women's singles at the world cup on Jan. 12 in Oberhof, Germany. Clukey, a 2010 Olympian, clocked the sixth fastest time in each heat and totaled 1:24.489, while Hamlin's posted a two-run total of 1:24.730. Meanwhile, Matt Mortenson (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Preston Griffall (Salt Lake City, Utah) had a combined time of 1:24.998 in the two-man competition to finish 17th.
SKI/SNOWBOARD
The U.S. recorded 10 podium appearances at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup, which ran from Jan. 8-11 in Sestriere, Italy. Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.) paced the U.S. with three podium finishes, placing second in both the slalom sitting class one event and slalom standing two event, and third in the giant slalom standing one event.
Former U.S. Navy SEAL Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan.) finished second in the men's 10-kilometer LW 10-12 at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup on Jan. 13 in Cable, Wis. Cnossen completed the course in 24:13.5 and is the first U.S. athlete in recent history to make a cross-country podium at an IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup.
Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and Chas Guldemond (Reno, Nev.) won the snowboard slopestyle finals at the U.S. Grand Prix on Jan. 11 in Copper Mountain, Colo. Anderson landed her backside 540 mute-grab and earned a score of 83.00 to win the women's competition. Meanwhile, Guldmond posted a score of 92.50 and won the men's division after sticking his signature double 1260. Later that day, Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) captured the women's freeskiing halfpipe title. Bowman's second-run score of 84.60 featured a pair of 900s. Meanwhile, Aaron Blunck's (Crested Butte, Colo.) score of 87.00 earned him a second-place finish in the men's competition. The following day, Keri Herman (Breckenridge, Colo.) clinched her second consecutive women's freeskiing slopestyle win after posting a score of 87.00. On the men's side, the U.S. took four of the top-eight spots led by Bobby Brown's (Breckenridge, Colo.) fourth- place finish. On the final day of competition, Kelly Clark (West Dover, Vt.) and Luke Mitrani (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) led the U.S. with second-place finishes in the snowboard halfpipe. Clark's second run of 82.00 propelled her to second in the women's competition. Meanwhile, Maitrani locked up second with a score of 92.75, while teammate Louie Vito (Sandy, Utah) finished third (86.75).
John Teller (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) placed fifth at the Audi FIS Freestyle Ski Cross World Cup on Jan. 12 in Les Contamines, France.
Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) skied to his best classic sprint finish in three seasons, taking sixth place at the FIS Cross Country World Cup on Jan. 12 in Liberec, Czech Republic. On the women's side, Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) and Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) posted a time of 11:35.1 to finish seventh in the freestyle team sprint.
Reigning FIS World Cup ski jumping champion Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) finished second at the world cup on Jan. 13 in Hinterzarten, Germany. Hendrickson had jumps of 103.0 and 101.5 meters.
Brothers Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) paired up to finish seventh in the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup team sprint on Jan. 13 in Chaux-Neuve, France. The brothers jumped to 13th and methodically moved through the pack for the top-10 finish.
Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) extended his Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom lead with a win on Jan. 12 in Adelboden, Switzerland. Ligety posted a two-run total of 2:28.67 to win the race by more than a second.
Tyler Walker (Torino, Vancouver) finished third in the men's giant slalom sitting one event at IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup, which runs from Jan 13-16 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
SPEEDSKATING
Athletes competing at the North American/Oceania Regional Qualifier - which ran from Jan. 12-13 in Kearns, Utah - were competing for a chance to compete at the 2013 World Allaround Championships. Jonathan Kuck (Champaign, Ill.) finished second overall (153.192) and Joey Mantia (Ocala, Fla.) placed third (153.839) to secure a slot on the men's team. On the women's side, Anna Ringsred (Duluth, Minn.) finished fourth (167.172), Maria Lamb (River Falls, Wis.) placed fifth (168.137) and Jilleanne Rookard (Woodhaven, Mich.) secured sixth (168.622).
SQUASH
Olivia Blatchford (Brooklyn, N.Y.) won the WSA Tour 5 Liberty Bell Open on Jan. 13 in Philadelphia, marking her second WSA World Tour title. Blatchford was two games down but rallied for an 8-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 victory.
TAEKWONDO
Sixteen athletes earned spots on the 2013 USA Taekwondo National Team after winning their respective weight classes at the 2013 USAT National Team Trials, which ran from Jan. 12-13 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
TENNIS
Venus Williams (Palm Beach, Fla.) and Ryan Harrison (Shreveport, La.) opened with wins at the 2013 Australian Open on Jan. 14 in Melbourne, Australia. Williams defeated Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1, 6-0, while Harrison earned a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.
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