| It was an historic weekend of skimo racing for US athletes. Solitude Mountain Resort in Utah played host to the first ISMF World Cup on American snow. Snow conditions changed rapidly in the week leading up to the event; starting from bare ground, Solitude Mountain Operations worked day in and day out to get the terrain covered and groomed before a classic Wasatch storm dumped 30cm of fresh snow on the morning of the race and left organizers hustling to reset the course and keep the event on schedule. With the Olympic Quota on the line for the victor between USA and Canada in the Mixed Relay, all six Americans went full gas in the qualification round. Cam Smith and Anna Gibson had the top time qualifying them for the Final A. The teams of John Gaston with Jessie Young and Griffin Briley with Hali Hafeman both qualified for the Final B. The two US teams in Final B had a number of lead changes with Briley making a pass on the final climb to edge out Gaston to finish first and second. In the A Final, a fast start by Sweden, Poland, Italy, and Canada was matched by Gibson and only 13 seconds separated the US team from the Italians at the first handover. Smith steadily closed the gap on his first climb and after the skins on transition, exited with a lead that would not be relinquished giving Gibson and Smith World Cup GOLD! The replay for the Mixed Relay can be found here. |
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