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K.C. Oakley breaks through with Deer Valley moguls title (video)

By Nick ZaccardiJan 10, 2015, 7:38 AM EST
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American K.C. Oakley beat the Olympic gold and silver medalists to bag her first World Cup moguls victory at the Visa Freestyle International in Park City, Utah, on Friday night.

Oakley, who was injured last year and did not make the U.S. Olympic team for Sochi, posted an 82.53 in her last run, topping a podium over the first- and second-place finishers in Sochi — Canadian sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe — who tallied 79.46 and 79.28, respectively.

“I’m like freaking out right now,” said Oakley, 26, who had nerve entrapment surgery and broke a fibula along with torn ligaments last year. “A new confidence that I’ve never had.”

Sochi bronze medalist Hannah Kearney did not make the final and remains three wins behind the World Cup victories record held by 1992 U.S. Olympic champion Donna Weinbrecht.

In the men’s final, Canadian Olympic silver medalist Mikael Kingsbury prevailed with 90.25. Australian Matt Graham was second with 85.49, followed by two-time U.S. Olympian Patrick Deneen.

Olympic champion Alexandre Bilodeau retired after last season.

The Visa Freestyle International continues with dual moguls finals Saturday at 9 p.m. ET, streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra.

The world’s best moguls skiers reconvene in Austria next week for the World Championships.

Video: Ashley Caldwell leads historic U.S. 1-2 in aerials final

Tommy Ford ends U.S. men’s World Cup drought at Beaver Creek

By OlympicTalkDec 8, 2019, 3:56 PM EST
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More: Olympics

Katie Ledecky wins race by 30 seconds, takes back No. 1 ranking Mikaela Shiffrin runner-up in Lake Louise downhill Alena Kostornaia leads historic Russian medal sweep at Grand Prix Final

Tommy Ford earned his first World Cup win at age 30 and ended the U.S. men’s longest victory and podium droughts in two decades.

Ford won the giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colo., on Sunday, the last North American race on tour this season. He prevailed by eight tenths of a second combining times over two runs.

“It doesn’t beat doing it here. I’ve been working hard,” Ford, in his 86th World Cup start dating to 2009, said on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. “No secret, just kept it simple and really trusted what I was doing.”

Norwegians Henrik Kristoffersen and Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen were second and third. American Ted Ligety, fourth after the opening run, finished 11th.

Full results are here.

Ford became the first U.S. man to win a World Cup since Travis Ganong took a downhill on Jan. 27, 2017. He also became the first U.S. male podium finisher since Ligety in January 2018. Both were the longest droughts for the program since the late 1990s.

Ford, a 2010 and 2018 Olympian who missed the 2014 Olympics due to a broken femur, had been working toward this moment.

He finished a World Cup career-high fourth at the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 27. Last season, the Oregon native and former Dartmouth student had a pair of fifths.

The men’s World Cup moves to Val d’Isere, France, next weekend for a giant slalom and slalom.

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Katie Ledecky wins race by 30 seconds, takes back No. 1 ranking

By OlympicTalkDec 7, 2019, 8:46 PM EST
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More: Olympics

Tommy Ford ends U.S. men’s World Cup drought at Beaver Creek Mikaela Shiffrin runner-up in Lake Louise downhill Alena Kostornaia leads historic Russian medal sweep at Grand Prix Final

In her last race of the year, Katie Ledecky ensured she would finish 2019 as the world’s fastest 1500m freestyler.

Ledecky clocked 15:35.98 at the U.S. Open in Atlanta, winning the longest event on the Olympic pool program by 29.97 seconds. Typical for Ledecky, who owns the nine fastest times in history. This one came in at No. 8. Full meet results are here.

Ledecky scratched the 1500m free final at the summer world championships due to illness. Italian Simona Quadarella went on to win that title in 15:40.89, which was the world’s fastest time this year until Saturday night.

“I didn’t have time on my mind at all today. I just wanted to have a consistent swim,” Ledecky, undefeated in 1500m free finals for nine years, said on NBCSN. “That’s probably the best mile that I’ve had in a while.”

The women’s 1500m freestyle debuts at the Olympics in Tokyo. Ledecky is expected to add that to her Rio Olympic individual lineup of 200m, 400m and 800m frees, assuming she is top two in each event at the June Olympic trials.

In other events Saturday, Erika Brown handed Simone Manuel a rare defeat in the 100m freestyle. Brown, a University of Tennessee senior, clocked 53.42 and lowered her personal best by .71 between prelims and the final. Brown moved from sixth to fourth in the U.S. rankings this year, upping her stock as a contender to make the Olympic 4x100m free relay pool via a top-six finish at trials.

Brown previously lowered her personal best in the 50m free on Thursday. She ranks third in the U.S. this year in that event.

Emily Escobedo dealt Lilly King a rare domestic defeat in the 200m breaststroke. Escobedo lowered her personal best by .87 and clocked 2:22.00, moving to seventh fastest in the world this year and remaining fourth among Americans.

In the men’s 200m breast, Olympic champion Dmitriy Balandin of Kazakhstan was beaten by Cody Miller, the Olympic 100m breast silver medalist. Both were slower than their best times this year.

The next significant swim meet is a Tyr Pro Series stop in Knoxville, Tenn., from Jan. 16-19.

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