Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) climbed to the top of the podium at a world cup event for the 58th time in her career on Jan. 19 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Vonn, who has battled illness all season, won the women's downhill race by nearly half a second. Vonn also finished seventh in the women's super-G, just behind teammate Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.), who placed fifth.
A RICH(ARDSON) WEEKEND
Heather Richardson (Salt Lake City, Utah) stole the show at the ISU World Cup, held Jan. 19-20 in Calgary, Alberta. Richardson struck gold in the 1,000-meter on Jan. 19, before placing second in the 500, where she set a U.S. record. The following day, she repeated the feat, winning the 1,000 and earning silver in the 500. Shani Davis (Chicago, Ill.) also won the 1,000 on Jan. 19, before earning silver in the same event on Jan. 20.
BIATHLON
Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.) led the way for Team USA, finishing seventh in the men's 10-kilometer sprint at the IBU World Cup on Jan. 18 in Antholz- Anterselva, Italy. The women's 4x6K relay team - featuring Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, N.Y.), Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.), Sara Studebaker (Boise, Idaho) and Hannah Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt.) - raced to a season-best 10th on Jan. 20. On Jan. 19, Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) finished 14th in the men's 12.5K pursuit, while Cook placed 37th in the women's 10K.
Andy Soule (Pearland, Texas) and Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan.) finished on the podium in the men's 12.5-kilometer event at the IPC World Cup in Cable, Wis. Soule posted a time of 38:30.3 with one penalty to take silver, while Cnossen was just behind him in 38:55.3 with four penalties.
BOBSLED/SKELETON
The U.S. capped the world cup event in Igles, Austria with a bronze-medal performance in the team relay on Jan. 19. Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) notched the second fastest women's skeleton time to position the U.S. for the medal stand. Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wis.) raced the men's skeleton leg, before Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) and Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Iowa), and Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and Nic Taylor (Hayward, Calif.) finished off the bobsled portion to place third. In other competition, Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah) navigated the Igles track to a silver-medal finish, posting a combined time of 1:50.73. The women's bobsled team of Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne, N.J.) and Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.) used a great final heat to claim bronze on Jan. 18. John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) was the top U.S. men's finisher on Jan. 19, placing 16th with a total time of 1:48.07. Meanwhile, Holcomb and Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) debuted their new BMW prototype sled, finishing 14th in the men's two-man race. Teammates Cory Butner (Yucaipa, Calif.) and Andreas Drbal (Belmont, Calif.) were the top U.S. men's two-man team, finishing fifth. In the four-man race, Holcomb, with teammates Tomasevicz, Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah), finished outside the top-10 for the first time in five years, placing 17th.
The U.S. skeleton team posted three top-10 finishes at the European Cup tour stop in Altenberg, Germany, on Jan. 19. Savannah Graybill (Denver, Colo.) and Allen Blackwell (Jackson, Miss.) each finished in ninth, while Annie O'Shea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) crossed the line in 2:02.70 in the first women's race to place 10th.
CYCLING
In the final UCI Track World Cup of the year on Jan. 20, Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif.) raced to gold in the women's omnium in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Hammer finished with 14 points, seven fewer than the next closest competitor.
FENCING
Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas) began the cadet men's foil competition at the January North American Cup in Louisville, Ky., as the No. 1 seed, and finished the day with the gold medal on Jan. 19. Riya Dave (Ardsley, N.Y.) won the cadet women's saber, while Robin Cheong (San Antonio, Texas) was victorious in the Y-14 men's epee. The following day, Catherine Lee (Elizabethtown, Ky.) won the junior women's epee, Calvin Liang (Phoenix, Ariz.) topped the podium in cadet men's saber, Maia Chamberlain (Menlo Park, Calif.) claimed the Y-14 women's saber title and Sam Moelis (Hewlett, N.Y.) won the Y-14 men's foil.
2012 Olympian Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y.) fought his way to a sixth-place finish at the Plovdiv Saber Grand Prix on Jan. 20 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Fellow U.S. Olympian Tim Morehouse (New York City, N.Y.) finished 10th.
FIELD HOCKEY
The U.S. Junior Men's National Team defeated Malaysia, 5-4, in a shootout to capture the bronze medal at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival on Jan. 20 in Sydney. The victory came a day after losing to Great Britain, 6-0. Meanwhile, the U.S. Junior Women's National Team also advanced to the bronze-medal match. After losing to Great Britain, 5-0, on Jan. 19, the women rebounded to push Great Britain to overtime, before falling, 2-1, and claiming fourth.
LUGE
Julia Clukey (Augusta, Maine) posted the two fastest starts of the week en route to a seventh-place finish at the Winterberg World Cup in Winterberg, Germany, on Jan. 20. Matt Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Preston Griffall (Salt Lake City, Utah) teamed up to finish 11th in the doubles competition, while Jake Hyrns (Muskegon, Mich.) and Andrew Sherk (Fort Washington, Pa.) placed 16th. In the men's singles competition, Chris Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) and Taylor Morris (South Jordan, Utah) finished 17th and 25th.
SKI/SNOWBOARD
Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) earned his first world cup medal, finishing third at the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup on Jan. 20 in Seefeld, Austria. Fletcher was 21st after the ski jump, but proceeded to post the fastest cross-country time to claim bronze.
Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) won her third slalom world cup event of the year on Jan. 15 in Flachau, Austria. The 0.85-second margin of victory puts the 17-year-old 81 points ahead of any other competitor in the overall standings.
Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) finished 13th in the slalom at the FIS World Cup in Wengen, Switzerland, on Jan. 20. Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, Calif.) finished 13th in the men's downhill.
Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, Vt.) led the U.S. Ski Team in the 10-kilometer classic mass start, finishing 15th at the world cup on Jan. 19 in La Clusaz, France. Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; 24th), Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.; 28th) and Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.; 29) all joined Stephen in the top 30. Meanwhile, Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) led the U.S. men in the 15K, finishing 28th.
Sixteen-year old Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) captured gold in the halfpipe at the FIS Snowboard World Championship on Jan. 20 in Stoneham, Quebec. She is the second youngest athlete to win the title. Teammate Ty Walker, just 15, finished fifth in the women's slopestyle on Jan. 18.
Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt.) returned from injury to capture moguls gold on Jan. 17 at the USANA Freestyle Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y. Pat Deneen (Cle Elum, Wash.) also found himself on the moguls podium with a second-place finish. In aerials, Emily Cook (Belmont, Mass.) jumped to a bronze-medal finish on Jan. 18 and Kiley McKinnon (Madison, Conn.) finished a career-best 10th, while on the men's side, Nevin Brown (Streetsboro, Ohio) tied his career-best result with a seventh-place finish on Jan. 19.
John Teller (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) battled tough weather conditions to win the Audi FIS Freestyle Ski Cross World Cup on Jan. 16 in Megave, France. Teammate Joe Swensson (Niantic, Conn.) finished seventh.
SWIMMING
2012 U.S. Olympians dominated the pool during the USA Swimming Arena Austin Grand Prix, held Jan. 18-20 in Austin, Texas. Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) won four times, including setting a pool record in the 200-meter backstroke, finishing in a time of 2:07.31. Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash) beat Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jimmy Fiegen (San Antonio, Texas) in the 100 freestyle, as the trio finished 1-2-3. Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Matt Grevers (Forest Lake, Ill.) were also both victorious on the weekend.
TENNIS
Serena Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) is rolling through her competition at the Australian Open, which runs from Jan. 14-27 in Melbourne, Australia. She defeated Russian Maria Kirilenko, 6-2, 6-0.
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