U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today the return of Karin Harjo to the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team as head coach of the greatest alpine skier of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin.

The 23-year coaching veteran Harjo comes to the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team following a successful stint as the head coach of the women’s alpine national team at Alpine Canada. While with Alpine Canada, athletes she worked with had breakthrough seasons, highlighted by Valérie Grenier’s first World Cup victory in giant slalom and Laurence St-Germain’s first World Championship medal and podium ever—a gold in slalom. 

Harjo began her coaching career in 2000 with the Timberline Atomic Summer Ski Race Camps at Mount Hood, Oregon. She quickly ascended through the ranks, joining the U.S. Ski Team as Head Western Region Coach from 2011 to 2015, then as assistant women’s World Cup tech coach from 2015 to 2017, assistant women’s World Cup speed coach from 2017 to 2022, and most recently the head coach role for Alpine Canada. 

“I am beyond excited and humbled by the opportunity to work with Mikaela in this capacity,” said Harjo. “I started my World Cup coaching career working with the U.S. women’s tech team, and have always been impressed with Mikaela’s focus, resilience and dedication to the process. Her work ethic is second to none, and I’m looking forward to working with her in this next stage of her career. The thing that strikes me the most about Mikaela is that she has already achieved so much, but she still knows there’s still room for betterment. I like to think I approach my coaching career in this way, and I’m so looking forward to working together with Mikaela and the team.” 

Shiffrin is also looking forward to the new, yet familiar, path forward. “I’m really looking forward to working with Karin again, this time more directly as my new head coach,” she reflected. “For a large part of my career, I’ve gotten to work with her here and there with her positions on the women’s tech team and then speed team in more recent years. I’ve witnessed her exceptional work ethic, her ability to work well with other coaches, and most importantly her connection and dedication to her athletes. I believe she can add a huge benefit to my program in the coming years and will provide a fresh and new way of thinking as we move forward.”

This isn’t Harjo’s first time working with Shiffrin. In fact, Harjo was an integral part of the team that supported several of Shiffrin’s 87 World Cup victories and 136 podiums, including her alpine combined gold medal at the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. 

Shiffrin added, “Karin cultivates strong team dynamics everywhere she works. For sure it will be something new to get used to, but I’m not very worried about the transition since I’ve known Karin for so long and she has always been open and honest from day one. I’m also excited to further highlight female coaches and staff within my group with Karin working alongside my mom and physio Regan [Dewhirst].”

Harjo’s path on the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup circuit has been a storied one, as she’s broken several barriers in the sport. In 2016, she became the first woman to set a women’s World Cup technical course for the first slalom run in Flachau, Austria. In 2022, she became just the second woman to serve as a head women’s alpine coach when she joined Alpine Canada. She’ll join forces with Eileen Shiffrin—Shiffrin’s mother and longtime coach—as one of only a little over a handful of women coaches on the World Cup circuit. 

“We couldn’t be happier to have Karin back with the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team, now in this pivotal leadership role. She’s a great technical coach, connects well with athletes and pushes them to be their best, while creating a strong team environment,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport Anouk Patty. “Having two women coaching the best woman skier in history is momentous, and will hopefully pave the way for the future generation of women in coaching roles—in snowsports and beyond.”

Harjo and her husband Randy Pelkey are based in Underwood, Washington, near Timberline at Mount Hood, Oregon, a U.S. Ski & Snowboard Official Training Site. 

Harjo will finish the remainder of the World Cup season with Alpine Canada and then will join Shiffrin and the team in Kvitfjell, Norway in April for their upcoming spring testing camp.

On March 12th, the men's and women's snowboardcross team completed their second day of back to back races at the Sierra Nevada World Cup. After both teams had a respectable competition the day before, they were set to drop for day two under sunny and pristine conditions. 

Lindsey Jacobellis had just come off of a bronze medal the day before, and was hungry for another podium. Jacobellis was able to secure third place in the quarterfinals, but unfortunately just missed the cut to make it onto the semifinals. The quarterfinals saw Jacobellis racing against Eva Adamczykova of the Czech Republic, Jana Fischer of Germany, and Lara Casanova of Switzerland. Adamczykova and Fischer both moved on to the semifinals. 

After the event concluded, Jacobellis landed herself in ninth place. Following her was Faye Gulini and Stacy Gaskill both taking 13th overall, and Brianna Schnorrbush in 17th. 

On the men's side, both Senna Leith and Nick Baumgartner placed 17th overall and third in their heats, but unfortunately were not able to make it onto the semifinals. Jake Vedder finished fourth in his heat and 25th overall. Hagen Kearney, Connor Schlegel, Tyler Hamel, and Cody Winters each ranked third in their heats and finished the day off in 33rd. 

Results

Women's Results

Men's Results

River Radamus was the top Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete in the giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, finishing 17th. 

Tommy Ford and George Steffey also scored points, finishing 21st and 26th, respectively. It was Steffey's second career World Cup points score, after snagging points in the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup at the end of February. 

Brian McLaughlin did not qualify for a second run. 

It was another day of difficult conditions, seen through the times, as the snow in Europe has been minimal, leading to a lot of salting and minimal slipping of the track. It was easy to see how the skiers that typically ran in the top five to seven, had an advantage over the later starters. 

The podium was nearly identical to Saturday's giant slalom, featuring the same men in a different order. Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won the race again, with Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway in second and Alexis Pinturault of France was third. 

Next up, the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team members that finished the season in the top 25 of their discipline will head to Soldeu, Andorra for World Cup Finals. 

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

How does one summarize 87 victories over 11 years? 

It was always about just a few good turns—an approach initiated by her parents, Jeff and Eileen, and fostered and embraced by the whole family, including Mikaela Shiffrin’s older brother Taylor. Eventually, it would become the approach taken by her entire support team. And that approach would, unbeknownst to the family at the time, inspire the world and generations of skiers to come. 

It was never about 87. And it won’t be about 100 victories, if that feat ends up happening. It was always about, simply, a few good turns and the rest is history. History made. History in the making. History yet to be made. 

A two-time Olympic champion, seven-time World Champion and now, the winningest alpine ski racer of all time, Mikaela’s career can certainly be easily summed up by numbers—lots and lots and lots of them—but those numbers would never truly do her story justice. To know Mikaela’s story, one must attempt to fathom the years and years of blood, sweat and tears she has put into attempting to perfect her craft. And she is still well on her way in her journey for the quest for excellence. 

Like the most fluid poem or the most beautiful classical piano piece, Mikaela’s craft was always smooth and effortless. Her approach was sometimes criticized, but something many marveled at and learned from. How fast, how many disciplines, and how she could move forward after what could not so simply be summed up as a “tough few years,” but a debilitating period of suffering and heartache after the death of her father. And then, there was a public disappointment on the world stage in Beijing where Mikaela walked away capturing not gold medals, but the hearts of viewers around the globe. 

And here we are, where thousands upon thousands of a “few good turns” later, we’ve arrived at 87 in a magical place to Mikaela: Åre, Sweden. To happen here, in Åre, Sweden… 

• Where Mikaela won her first World Cup on December 20, 2012. 
• Where Mikaela met the young cancer survivor Emma Lundell, who made a lasting impact and is still a friend to this day, celebrating number 86 and 87 with Mikaela. 
• Where Mikaela suffered her first major injury in 2015. 
• Where she won three World Championships medals in 2019, and rose above exhaustion and illness to do the unthinkable and win her record fourth-straight slalom World Championships gold. 
• Where she would attempt to return to the World Cup following the soul-crushing agony after the loss of her father, Jeff — only for the return to be delayed and the season cut short due to COVID. 
• The home of Ingemar Stenmark. 
• The place where she equaled Ingemar’s record, and then just one day later, reset the record—a record that stood for 34 years and most people thought would never be broken. 

Mikaela doesn’t really believe in fate, but she does acknowledge there’s something fateful about all of this. Maybe it’s the magic of Åre, Sweden or it’s the magic of Jeff looking down and reminding her that the only numbers that really matter are a few good turns. 

"It was a beautiful day to make history," said Hailey Swirbul.

It was a historic day on the World Cup with the women racing the first ever 50k and 2023 World Champion Jessie Diggins crossed the finish line in third place. 

The Holmenkollen 50k is one of the longest running cross country ski races in the world and is known to be one of the most grueling courses on the circuit - and historically, only the men raced this course. This year, it was the women's turn. 

Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Hailey Swirbul and Alayna Sonnesyn were the four athletes to represent the U.S. on the historic start line and through the 31 miles, with over 6,000+ feet of vertical gain, contributed to one of the most exciting races we have seen all season. 

From the start, it was a test. With six total laps around the course in the metropolis of Oslo, with tens of thousands of fans camped out on the side of the trail, 32 women representing countries all around the world did what has never been done before - race the Holmenkollen 50k.

“Today was a victory for women's skiing and a victory for skiing in general," said Chad Salmela and former U.S. Cross Country Ski Team and Olympic champion Kikkan Randall said during the live broadcast. 

Through the time markers, Diggins and Brennan were in the lead pack, showcasing their strengths and pushing a fast pace. Diggins continued to pick skiers off and stayed consistent in the top three, supported by her efforts on the downhills and strong tempo on the flats and climbs. Unlike many of her competitors and supported by Randall's commentary, Diggins tuck on the downhill is lower than anyone else in the field, making her more aerodynamic and ultimately faster. With the course playing to her strengths, with a 1.5k downhill into the finish, Diggins had the tools to  finish on top.

At the halfway point in the race, there were no ski exchanges meaning that all athletes were still skiing on their original racers. But, that quickly changed on the next lap through the stadium, when the majority of the field skied into the exchange zone for a fresh pair of skis. Diggins and Brennan both exchanged quickly and gained some time on their competitors, putting nearly five seconds from the next racer.

"I was excited and honored to be part of this historical moment where women were able to do a 50k, and not just a 50k but a 50k on the hardest course we race," said Brennan. "It certainly was challenging but we did it and that was really cool."

With American fans lining the course with the signature 'USA' face paint drawn on their faces, the vibes were high and the cheering could be heard for miles. The Holmenkollen has been called one of the most electric places to race on the World Cup circuit and the athletes can agree, saying that racing this course is an unforgettable and once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

With the atmosphere surely inspiring the skiers on course, Brennan, Swirbul, Sonnesyn and Diggins gave it everything they had. 

With a couple of kilometers left, the highlights of the day center around several points, including Diggins winning nearly every sprint bonus on course and earning more points and time toward the FIS crystal globe, to Brennan skiing a gutsy and hard race while helping set a fast pace for over 30 miles, to the younger Sonnesyn and Swirbul skiing on the biggest stage on the World Cup. 

"You have to be so methodical and confident over the long run to find success as this level," said Randall. "And today's race was about as good as it gets in ski racing."

In the end, Diggins took the advantage by tucking and drafting into the finish lane, to which she then sprinted into the finish and toed the line only .5 seconds from second and third. The day was ultimately won by Ragnhild Haga of Norway. In second was Astrid Oeyre Slind of Norway and third was our very own Diggins. 

"I was out for bonus points and skied a smart and controlled race," said Diggins. "I did the very best job I could in preparing for this race, but I did start cramping at 25k, which is pretty early on! But, I knew that I would feel this, it was not unexpected and instead I focused on what I could control. I was thrilled to find myself in the sprint-out fighting for the win, especially to battle back after all of the muscle spasms. It was such a cool thrill and stoked for the women that were on the podium with me!" 

Coming off a packed World Championships, where she competed in every race, Brennan was 13th overall. Swirbul, crossing the finish line with a huge smile across her face was 25th and Sonnesyn, who expressed how incredible it was to be on this historic start-line, was 30th. 

"I am really stoked to have checked that goal off the list," said Swirbul as she reflected on racing the 50k. "My coach calls these long distance races the 'races of royalty' and I think that really sums up what the feels like to me. I feel like a race like the 50k really embodies the spirit of nordic skiing as a whole and what it's really all about." 

"It definitely was a tough day out there but so happy for Jessie and the team!" said Sonnesyn. "I had a really good first three laps and unfortunately not everything was dialed but really proud of the effort I gave out there considering everything. So cool to be a part of the historical day - and there were so many American fans out there cheering which was really cool to hear my name being yelled, so that was really cool."

Now that the 50k is in the bank, there are two weeks left of the World Cup season. Diggins is a top contender for the overall World Cup crystal globe and the distance overall, only a few points behind Norway's Tiril Udnes Weng. Brennan is in fourth in the overall points standings, in both distance and overall. 

To cap off the day, Diggins reflects on the importance of this race. "I think it absolutely is the right message we want to send to young girls all over the world that you work just as hard as the guys, you train just as hard, you should get to race the same exact races. Today, we got a chance to show that we absolutely can do this and it was awesome." 

The team will rest before the Drammen city sprints this Tuesday, March 14. 

RESULTS
Women's 50k Skate Results
Overall World Cup Results

Two-time Olympic champion Lindsey Jacobellis scored a third place finish in Sierra Nevada, Spain at the FIS Snowboardcross World Cup. This is her first podium of the 2022-23 season. 

The women's big final saw Jacobellis racing Charlotte Bankes of Great Britain, Chloe Trespeuch of France and Eva Adamczykova of the Czech Republic. Jacobellis fought throughout the entire run as the lead continued to change to snag third. Bankes took the win with Treshpeuch in second.

Jacobellis is fresh off a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia just over two weeks ago.

Rounding out the U.S. Snowboard Team women, Faye Gulini finished ninth, Stacy Gaskill 13th and Brianna Schnorrbusch 17th.

On the men's side, Senna Leith was the top American, making is to the quarterfinals and finishing in ninth place overall. Hagen Kearney did not qualify out of the 1/8 finals and took 25th. Jake Veddder, Nick Baumgartner, Connor Schlegel and Cody Winters did not qualify out of the 1/16 finals.

RESULTS
Women's snowboardcross
Men's snowboardcross

On Saturday, Mikaela Shiffrin became the greatest skier of all time, surpassing the record she tied the day prior, and now has the most World Cup of any alpine skier with 87 wins. She won her 87th race in the slalom in Åre, Sweden, the same location of her first ever World Cup win and exactly 12 years after her first World Cup start.

“I can’t put a name with the numbers,” said Shiffrin. “I don’t know how to define that. When you have these special moments like being on the podium with Paula Moltzan in Semmering, seeing my brother and Kristi and my mom in the finish today-–that’s what makes it memorable. I’m so proud of the skiing I did both runs today and so proud of the team this whole season. Every step of the way, being strong and focused and positive and having the right goals and helping me manage my own focus and distractions. It’s been incredible. It’s been incredible to be part of that. I’m just really thankful.”

It was also a tremendous day for teammate Paula Moltzan who landed just off the podium in fourth place. Moltzan and Shiffrin shared a podium in December in Semmering, Austria. Notably, Moltzan achieved this massive result coming out of hand surgery just a few weeks ago.

“I think I need to bring more intensity this run, but the same mindset to go as hard as I can,” said Moltzan after her first run that landed her in fifth. “The conditions were awesome so it’s nice to see it holding up for everyone.”

Second place went to Swiss skier Wendy Holdener, and third place Sweden’s own Anna Swenn Larsson. Rounding out the top five was 2023 World Championship slalom gold medalist Laurence St. Germain of Canada. This result marks her best World Cup result of her career. She is also a former University of Vermont teammate of Moltzan. 

The top 25 women in slalom will now head to Soldeu, Andorra for World Cup Finals, which runs March 15-19.

RESULTS
Women’s slalom 

Exactly 12 years after she began racing on the World Cup, Mikaela Shiffrin of the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team won her 87th World Cup in the Åre, Sweden slalom on March 11, 2023, breaking the tie of 86 wins set by Ingemar Stenmark in 1989 to become the winningest alpine skier in history.

For the second day in a row, Shiffrin dominated the Swedish course to take her second win in two days and officially break the record. She held the lead in the first run by .69 seconds and skied an aggressive and smart run second run to win the race by .94 seconds. As she crossed the finish line, she took a moment to let her historic win soak in, and then she saw her brother Taylor and sister-in-law Kristi, who surprised Shiffrin by flying in from the U.S. to celebrate with her, and swept her up in a hug. 

“I can’t put a name with the numbers,” said Shiffrin. “I don’t know how to define that. When you have these special moments like being on the podium with Paula Moltzan in Semmering, seeing my brother and Kristi and my mom in the finish today—that’s what makes it memorable. I’m so proud of the skiing I did both runs today and so proud of the team this whole season. Every step of the way, being strong and focused and positive and having the right goals and helping me manage my own focus and distractions. It’s been incredible. It’s been incredible to be part of that. I’m just really thankful.”

Just off the podium was Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team teammate Moltzan in fourth place, who recently had hand surgery after breaking it during the World Championships. But she ignored the three plates and 25 screws in her hand, and attacked the slalom course to secure a banner finish.

Shiffrin won her first World Cup at the same venue in Åre, Sweden in 2012 and has been on a streak since then, winning 87 Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cups throughout her 12 years on the circuit. Her dominance has been unmatched, winning 35% of the races she starts and podiuming in nearly 60%. The win places her securely in the history books and makes her the greatest of all time in the sport of alpine ski racing. 

“It’s been hard to describe,” said Shiffrin of her record. “It’s not over yet, which is even more ridiculous! I still had the same feeling at the start of this run that I have every race—I shouldn’t feel pressure, but somehow I feel something in my heartbeat. That’s the anticipation we want to feel as ski racers and I have it—it’s stronger than ever. I’m just getting started.”

Shiffrin tied the World Cup wins record on March 10 in Are, Sweden with 86 wins, which had been held by Sweden’s Stenmark for 34 years. Shiffrin also tied and then broke Lindsey Vonn’s women’s record of 82 wins in January in Kronplatz, Italy. She has been unstoppable this season, winning 13 races so far, securing three World Championship medals in slalom, giant slalom and super-G and clinching the slalom, giant slalom and overall crystal globe for the 2022-23 season. 

Shiffrin’s 87th win is just 12 years after she started her first race on the World Cup in 2011 when she was only 15. She won her first World Cup nine months later in December 2012, becoming the second-youngest American to win an alpine World Cup. Since then, she has won three Olympic medals—including two golds—and 14 World Championship medals—the record for World Championships medals in the modern era—and has 15 crystal globes, including the three that she will receive at World Cup Finals.

Out of her 87 wins, 53 of them are slalom wins, the most of any skier, man or woman, in one discipline. But while she started off as a slalom specialist, she quickly expanded her repertoire to win a race in each of the World Cup’s six disciplines and became the first skier in history to do so: slalom (53), giant slalom (20), super-G (5), downhill (3), combined (1) and parallel (5). She holds the record for the most slalom wins and is tied for a women’s record for the most giant slalom World Cup victories. 

“It is truly magnificent to be able to watch Mikaela Shiffrin write her name into history,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard President & CEO Sophie Goldschmidt. “She is the definition of a champion, both inside and out, and the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team couldn’t be happier to celebrate this massive achievement with her. We can’t wait to watch Mikaela win even more in the future!”

Shiffrin and members of the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team who have finished in the top 25 of a discipline will now head to World Cup Finals in Soldeu, Andorra next to wrap up the season. 

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

In the first day of the two-day giant slalom series in Kranjksa Gora, Slovenia, River Radamus led the way for the Americans with a 15th place finish.

The conditions were warm with very soft snow underfoot with course workers salting the course the day prior to try and keep a strong surface for the World Cup racers.

Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won the race to clinch the overall World Cup title for the second year in a row. He also extended his lead over Kristoffersen in the giant slalom standings with 140 points to go with two more races: Sunday's giant slalom and the World Cup Finals GS. In second place was French skier Alexis Pinturault, and in third was Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen.

George Steffey (37th) and Brian McLaughlin (45th) also raced but did not qualify for a second run. Tommy Ford did not finish.

The giant slalom men will now look to Sunday for another crack at the giant slalom.

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH
times in ET

Sunday, March 12
3:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Men's Slalom, Run 1, Kranjska Gora, SLO, watch on skiandsnowboard.live
6:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Men's Slalom, Run 2, Kranjska Gora, SLO, watch on Peacock/NBC, skiandsnowboard.live
3:00 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Women's Slalom, Giant Slalom, Are, SWE, watch on CNBC**

**Encore presentation

The Holmenkollen mass start 50k race is one of the most attended and popular races on the World Cup circuit. Held in downtown Oslo, the race dates back to the early 1900s and officially became part of the FIS World Cup circuit in 1981. Since then, it is a staple on the calendar and brings tens of thousands of spectators to the long, windy course to cheer on the best ski racers in the world. 

Today, March 11, just a week after many of these athletes raced in the 2023 World Championships 50k race in Planica, Slovenia, lined up to the finish line in Oslo. Representing the U.S. was Scott Patterson, Hunter Wonders, Gus Schumacher and David Norris. Just last week, Patterson led the team in 16th in Slovenia, while Norris was seconds behind in 22nd, Schumacher in 28th and Wonders in 31st. Today, results were similar, but better!

On the 31 mile track, with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain, Norris led the way in 17th, Patterson was 18th, Wonders was 23rd and Schumacher was 28th - all landing within the top 30 and adding more World Cup points to their 2022-23 season resume. 

The sun was out, the fans were ready and you could feel the excitement even on the furthest part of the course. With great conditions, the course was fast and the pace never slowed. 

Norris led the team for the day and taking a deeper dive into his splits, he never ventured from the top 20. At the 27.9k marker, Norris was in 12th place, in the chase pack. From there, he fell a few spots to 19th at 36.2k but stayed consistent in his pace and crossed the line in 17th in a time of one hour and 58 minutes. His 17th place marks a career best World Cup 50k result. 

"Today went well for me," said Norris. "No major mishaps and I have pretty good energy considering my schedule. Third 50 in three weeks! I'm so grateful that the Steamboat Winter Sports Club allowed me to come here for two weeks. This has been a great experience. The team here has been wonderful to join back up with."

For Patterson, he finished right behind Norris. In the start of the race, Patterson was keeping position within the top 15. At the 3k to 19k markers, Patterson was moving between 12th place and 14th place, taking turns leading the chase pack. At the end of the day, Patterson still broke into the top 20 and finished only three minutes behind the leader. 

"It was an interesting tactical race," said Patterson. "It was a so-so day, hoping for a little more but we still have two more weeks of the World Cup and looking to finishing off the season strong!"

For Wonders, the story was similar to that of his teammates. Wonders never ventured far from the top 25. He was 13th going into the first marker and then in the mid 20s through the rest. The pace was fast around the tight corners of the course and Wonders stuck his ground and crossed the line in 23rd, a career-best individual World Cup 50k result. 

Schumacher skied right with Wonders nearly the entire race, going back and fourth with him and his teammates in the 20-28th place range. For Schumacher, he crossed the line in 28th and will leave this race with a career-best individual World Cup 50k result. 

"it was a crazy day!" said Schumacher. "I am psyched on it. It felt really good for the first four laps. The atmosphere was great and it was just really fun. I wouldn't trade it for the World, my first time was all I expected it to be and I am looking forward to the rest of the season!"

At the end of the day, Norway took over the podium. Simen Hegstad Krueger took first, Hans Christer Holund was second and ML Nyenget was third. 

Now, the men will rest before heading to Drammen for Tuesday's race. 

RESULTS
Men's 50k