Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) completed a historic clean sweep opening giant slalom victory in Soelden, Austria, a pair of downhill victories, and the super G win in Canada, Vonn now has four victories in the five races she's started this season.
DOUBLE GOLDS
Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) and Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) each won their second event of the meet to close out the final night of competition at the AT&T Winter National Championships in Atlanta on Dec 3. Soni won the women's 100m and the 200m breast, while Hansen captured titles in the men's 100m and 200m breast. Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) completed a sweep of the women's backstroke events, claiming the 100 in 100.10 and the 200 in 2:07.14. Tyler Clary won the men's 200 backstroke (1:46.41).
BIATHLON
Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.) posted 24:44.9 to finish fifth in the 10km sprint at the world cup event in Ostersund, Sweden. Bailey now sits fourth overall in the world cup standings following his ninth-place finish in the 20km opener on Nov. 30. Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) led Team USA's women on Dec. 3 with 28th place in the 7.5km sprint with a time of 23:45.1 (1+1). Meanwhile, Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) had an outstanding performance on Dec. 4, finishing in 34:17.2 (0+0+2+1) to finish ninth.
BOBSLED & SKELETON
Jamie Greubel (Newtown, Pa.) and Ida Bernstein (Cockeysville, Md.) were the sole representatives for the U.S. in the continuation of the bobsled Europa Cup circuit in Winterberg, Germany. Greubel, who is still en route to a full recovery following knee surgery, teamed with Bernstein to finish seventh and ninth in the women's competitions held from Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
Annie O'Shea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) led the U.S. in the women's skeleton world cup opener after finishing seventh on Dec. 2 at the Olympic Sliding Center in Igls, Austria. On the same day, Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) continued her medal streak with Katie Eberling (Palos Hills, Ill.) in the women's bobsled race with the bronze. On the men's side, Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) teamed with Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas) for a bronze-medal performance on Dec. 3. In the men's skeleton competition, Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wis.) tied for 10th to lead the U.S. team. The BMW Night Train four-man bobsled crew was back in world cup action for the first time this season, with Holcomb, Olsen, Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) teaming up to claim silver on Dec. 4.
The U.S. team wrapped up the first half of the America's Cup tour on home soil in Lake Placid, N.Y., with 13 medals on Dec. 4. Athletes in all five disciplines competed in two races from Dec. 1-4 in an effort to gain valuable points towards their international rankings.
BOWLING
Tommy Jones (Simpsonville, S.C.) surged to the lead, while Diandra Asbaty (Chicago, Ill.) maintained her second-place position after the fourth round of qualifying on Dec. 3 at the QubicaAMF World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Pam Oleinik (Brookfield, Wis.), along with teammates Julie Denten (Northbrook, Ill.) and Stephanie Martin (Barrington, Ill.), found her way back to the top of the podium as she clinched her third senior women's title on Dec. 4 with a 6-4 defeat of Sharon Vukich (Seattle, Wash.). Meanwhile, Ian Journeaux (Plover, Wis.) and teammates David Carlson (Portage, Wis.), Timothy Funk (McFarland, Wis.) and Ken Spatola (McFarland, Wis.) finished the competition with a perfect 7-0 record. Both teams will now compete at the 2012 World Senior Championships from April 14-21 in T���rnby, Denmark.
CYCLING
Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif.) won gold in the women's omnium at the UCI Track World Cup #2 in Cali, Colombia, on Dec. 3. Hammer finished no lower than fourth in the six races, dominating the most recent event added to the track cycling slate for the 2012 Olympic Games.
ICE HOCKEY
The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team fell to Canada 4-1 on Dec. 3 in the 2011 World Sledge Hockey Challenge championship game in Calgary, Alta. It marked the team's first silver medal in its five appearances in the tournament. Team USA finished the week with a 3-0-0-2 record, with its only losses coming against Canada.
Junior women's competitor Kate Hansen (La Canada, Calif.) and the men's doubles team of Jake Hyrns (Muskegon, Mich.) and Andrew Sherk (Fort Washington, Pa.) battled through the weather and a wind delay before staging second-heat rallies to claim bronze medals in each category at the Calgary Junior World Cup on Dec. 1. Tucker West (Ridgefield, Conn.) scored his second consecutive junior world cup bronze medal of the season on Dec. 2.
SAILING
US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics' Genny Tulloch (Sausalito, Calif.), Alice Manard Leonard (East Haven, Conn.) and Jenn Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) were the only Americans to race on Dec. 4 at the ISAF Sailing World Championships.The team, known collectively as "Team GETSailing", won their lone race against the Croatian team.
SHOOTING
Sgt. 1st Class Daryl Szarenski (Seale, Ala.), Cpl.M Matt Rawlings (Wharton, Texas) and Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.) have leads after part one of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials came to an end on Dec. 4 in Anniston, Ala. The second part of the trials will be held in Camp Perry, Ohio, from Feb. 23-26.
SKI & SNOWBOARD
Bode Miller completes another blistering run at Audi Birds of Prey to win the FIS Alpine World Cup downhill race in Beaver Creek, Colo., on Dec. 2.
Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) skied a brilliant final in the freestyle sprint on Dec. 3, making a critical pass in the homestretch to win her fourth career FIS World Cup sprint in Duesseldorf, Germany. Randall posted a second podium finish when she teamed up with Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) for a historic FIS World Cup finish in a sprint relay on Dec. 4.
Teen Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) soared with the pride of one of women's ski jumping's pioneering nations on Dec. 3 as she won the inaugural FIS World Cup ski jumping competition for women in Lillehammer, Norway. Women's ski jumping will make its Olympic debut in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
SPEEDSKATING
Team USA's short track skaters had a solid opening day at the Korean Air ISU World Cup in Nagoya, Japan on Dec. 2, when Jessica Smith (Melvindale, Mich.) won her 500m heat (45.803) and took third in her 1500m heat (2:25.261) to advance to the quarterfinal rounds. Smith finished eighth overall in the 500m on Dec. 4, while Lana Gehring (Glenview, IL) finished sixth overall in the 1000m (2) and Emily Scott (Springfield, Mo.) placed 11th in the 1000m (2) in the C final. On the men's side, J.R. Celski (Federal Way, Wash.) finished second in the 1000m (1) final on Dec. 3. Kyle Carr (Peachtree City, Ga.), Jonathan Garcia (Houston, Texas), John-Henry Kruger (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Travis Jayner (Midland, Mich.) finished fifth in the 5000m A final on Dec. 4.
Heather Richardson (High Point, N.C.) led Team USA's long track team on Dec. 4 in the final day of world cup competition in Heerenveen, The Netherlands. The reigning 1000m world cup champion posted a time of 1:16.23 to take sixth place. Tucker Fredricks' (Janesville, Wis.) gold-medal performance in 500m on Dec. 2 was the highlight for Team USA in Heerenveen. Fredricks finished fourth in the 500m (2) event on Dec. 3 . The 2011 U.S. Long Track World Cup Team has now won a total of five medals during the fall season.
VOLLEYBALL
The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team ended its 15-day, 11-match 2011 FIVB World Cup campaign with a loss to Serbia, 25-23, 25-17, 25-19 on Dec. 4 in Tokyo. The U.S. men, ranked fourth in the world, finished sixth with a 6-5 record. Serbia, ranked fifth in the world, finished eighth. The United States' next opportunity to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games will be at the NORCECA Continental Qualifier in May 2012.
WRESTLING
Two-time All-American Tyler Graff (Loveland, Colo.) delivered a strong performance by winning the Men's Freestyle Olympic Trials Qualifier on Dec. 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Graff downed past world bronze medalist Martin Berberyan, 2-0, 2-3, 1-0, in the finals at 60 kg. Graff was named Outstanding Wrestler and qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
DECEMBER CALENDAR
6-11 - Biathlon Hochfilzen, Austria IBU World Cup 2
9-11 - Bobsled & Skeleton Altenberg, Germany Europa Cup
7-11 - Curling Wayland, Mass. U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship
11-18 - Field Hockey Chula Vista, Calif. USA Women's National Team vs. Great Britain
8-11 - Figure Skating Quebec City, Canada 2011 Grand Prix Final and Junior Grand Prix Final
10-14 - Figure Skating East Lansing, Mich. 2012 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships
8-9 - Skeleton Lillehammer, Norway Intercontinental Cup #1
7-10 - Ski & Snowboard Copper Mountain, Colo. Sprint Snowboard Grand Prix #1
8-16 - Softball Cape Twon, South Africa ISF IX Jr. Women's World Championships (19-Under)
9-11 - Speed Skating Shanghai, China ISU Short Track World Cup 4
8-10 - Swimming Austin, Texas Speedo Short Course Junior Championships
9-11 - Synchronized Swimming Beijing, China 2011 FINA World Trophy
7-15 - Table Tennis Beijing, China Ping-Pong Diplomacy 40th Anniversary Celebration
10 - Track & Field Seattle, Wash. USATF National Club Cross Country Championships
10 - Track & Field Myrtle Beach, S.C. USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships
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