Aaron Gwin And Four Other Americans Qualify for Final of Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Event in Fort William

Aaron Gwin was third fastest in the qualifying round on Saturday at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill event in Fort William, Scotland, leading a group of five Americans who will take part in Sunday’s final. Gwin was joined in the top 10 by Luca Shaw who finished sixth. The other three Americans to make the final were Mitch Ropelato (26th), Dakotah Norton (44th), and Shane Leslie (72nd).  Notably missing the final were Cole Picchiottino who finished 82nd and missed the final by less than a second and Eliot Jackson who has a top 15 finish this year and was less than a second and a half from qualifying as he finished 85th.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Coverage:
Fort William Preview

Lee Kiefer Snatches a Silver on Saturday in Shanghai

For the second straight weekend an American woman won a silver in a fencing grand prix event. Last weekend it was Mariel Zagunis in sabre in Moscow, this weekend it was Lee Kiefer in foil in Shanghai. Kiefer started off in dominant fashion with 15-6, 15-7, and 15-5 before a close, if you can call it that, 15-11 win to reach the semifinals. Kiefer again breezed 15-5 in the semifinals but finally ran into trouble in the final where she was defeated 15-8 by Arianna Errigo of Italy. Also finding some success for the US was Nzingha Prescod. She won her first two matches 15-12 and 15-10 but lost 15-7 to France’s Ysaora Thibus in the round of 16. Getting upset in the first round was Nicole Ross 15-13 by Colombia’s Saskia Loretta Van Erven Garcia and also losing was Madison Zeiss 15-15 to Hungary’s Fanny Kreiss.

On the men’s side advancing from the preliminary competition was a 50-50 proposition for the Americans. Drew Johnston and Axel Kiefer both advanced from pool play but had diverging paths in their knockout match. Both were scored 15-10 but Johnston was on the wrong end to Austria’s Johannes Poscharn Ig and Kiefer was victorious over Japan’s Daiki Fujino. Kiefer joins the four other Americans, Alexander MassialasGerek MeinhardtRace Imboden, and Miles Chamley-Watson, in the table of 64 for Sunday’s competition.

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Moscow Recap
Day 1 Update

40 US Women to Compete in Philadelphia International Cycling Classic

Another large field of Americans will compete in the second of the two Women’s WorldTour events held in the US this year, the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic on Sunday. Fresh off her wins in the Amgen Tour of California and the US National Championship Megan Guarnier is the headliner but she’s joined by plenty of other top competitors. Evelyn Stevens was third in California, Leah Thomas was fifth, Katie Hall was seventh, Coryn Rivera was ninth, and Lauren Stephens was tenth. The race is 73.8 miles long.

Previous UCI Women’s WorldTour Coverage:
Amgen Tour of California Recap

Six Americans to Compete in Criterium du Dauphine

Six Americans are in the field for the Criterium du Dauphine as it gets underway in France on Sunday. The race will begin with a 2.4 mile prologue on Sunday before seven more stages over the next week. The last three stages will all involve mountains so there could be a lot of excitement in the final stages of the race. The Americans in the field are headlined by Alex Howes who was 21st in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race and Brent Bookwalter who was 35th in the Tour de Romandie.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Recap

Corey Cogdell Wins Silver at ISSF World Cup in San Marino

2016 Olympian Corey Cogdell made a statement Friday in San Marino that she will be a contender for a women’s trap medal in Rio. Cogdell missed her first target in the semifinals but hit twelves of the next fourteen to get into a shoot-off where where qualified for the gold medal final. Cogdell would miss four times and finish with the silver but it was a big showing for the 29-year-old who is looking for her second Olympic medal in Rio. In qualifying Cogdell had a 22 in her third round that nearly cost her a semifinal berth but she finished in a tie for 6th with 70 and won a shoot-off to stay alive.

With no men’s trap competitors the next US action will be when Joshua Richmond and Walton Eller, both 2016 Olympic qualifiers, compete in the double trap on Monday. Both the qualifiers and final are on Monday. Both are contenders with Richmond having two top ten finishes but yet to reach a final in 2016 while Eller won bronze in Rio.

Previous ISSF World Cup San Marino Coverage:
Preview

Jing Yu Hong and Beiwen Zhang Win Opener at US Badminton National Championships

Most of the top competitors at the US Badminton National Championships didn’t have to play at all on Friday night to open the event. That wasn’t the case for Beiwen Zhang and Jing Yu Hong in women’s doubles. The defending national championships faced Ariel Lee and Sydney Lee and emerged with a 21-10, 21-9 win. The women’s doubles field is just six deep so there is a round robin competition going on while the other competitions are elimination tournaments.

Things continue on Saturday with the rest of the top competitors getting in to action.

Previous US Badminton National Championships Coverage:
Preview

Leaders Established on First Day of Air Shooting Olympic Trials

Leaders emerged in all four competitions after the first day of the Air Shooting Olympic Trials but none stood out more than Lydia Paterson in women’s air pistol. Paterson dominated the field shooting a 387, nine better than anyone else, and then went on to win the final to end the day up 10 points on Courtney AnthonyAlexis Lagan is 15 points back in third.

The closest competition comes in the men’s air pistol where Will Brown had the top score in qualifying with a 574 but came in third in the final and only leads James Hall and Jason Turner by two points. Alexander Chichkov is well within striking range three points back as is Nickolaus Mowrer who is four back.

In the women’s air rifle Sarah Scherer was the only one of the three Americans with top 15 world cup finishes this year to really shine on day one. Scherer had the top qualifying score of 417.3 and finished second in the final to hold a 2.9 point lead. Sarah Beard was within 1.5 of Scherer in qualifying but finished last in the final and is over seven points back. Emily Holsopple was further back than Beard in qualifying and her second to last place finish in the final has her over eight points back. Scherer does have some competition however from Rhiann Travis, who is in second after winning the final, Amy Sowash, who was third in the final after a solid qualifying round, and Elizabeth Gratz, who sits 4.9 points back in fourth.

In the men’s rifle competition, where two spots are up for grabs, Lucas Kozeniesky posted the top qualifying score of 628.5 and finished third in the final to finish in front after the first day by 3.4 points. Daniel Lowe is in second after posting the second best qualifying score and finishing fourth in the final. Ivan Roe won the final to make up for a weaker qualifying score and is in third just 0.3 behind the second qualifying spot. Matthew Rawlings makes it one more in contention as he sits 4.9 behind Lowe in fourth place. Dempster Christenson had a disappointing day with a qualifying score that missed out on the final by 0.8 and he is now 12.5 points out of qualifying position, a real uphill challenge.

Previous US Air Shooting Olympic Trials Coverage:
Preview

Two Americans Advance to Semifinals at ICF Slalom World Cup in Ivrea, Italy

Two of the seven Americans competing in the ICF Slalom World Cup event on Friday in Ivrea, Italy were able to advance to Saturday’s competition. Zachary Lokken advanced in the men’s C1 event by finishing 20th, the final qualifying spot, in the first heat. Lokken took just two penalties points for a total of 100.16 and finished 0.99 ahead of the first competitor to miss qualifying for the final. Tyler Smith and Tren Long finished 34th and 35th, both over 17 behind Lokken, and had to go to the second qualifying heat. In the second heat Smith was 18th and Long 19th with only the top 10 advancing. Smith was 13 back of 10th place with a 119 score while Long had a 121.42 score.

The other American to advance was Richard Powell who finished 25th in the first heat of the men’s K1 competition. The top 30 were advanced and Powell in 92.16 was just over a second clear of the first man not to advance. Tyler Westfall was 43rd and Smith 53rd as they both had to go to the second qualifying heat. Neither came close to the ten qualifying positions from the second heat as Westfall was 28th and Smith 30th both over nine seconds behind the qualifiers.

The other American competing on Friday was Anna Maria Ifarraguerri in the women’s K1. Ifarraguerri finished 38th in the opening heat, over 60 back after taking a 50 point penalty, and was closer in the second qualifying heat but finished 13th with the top ten advancing and 15 back of the final qualifier.

On Saturday Lokken and Powell will compete in the semifinals of their events with hopes of advancing to the final later in the day. Powell and Westfall will also compete in the debut of the men’s K1 Cross, where athletes will go head to head in a race down the course. The event begins with a time trial for seeding before advancing through quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final.

Previous ICF Slalom World Cup Coverage:
Ivrea Preview

Maggie Hogan Reaches Final of K1 1000m at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Montemor

Maggie Hogan opened her competition at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Montemor, Portugal on the right foot as she finished second in her five-woman heat to reach Saturday’s final in the K1 1000m. Hogan was 1.07 seconds behind the heat winner as she finished in 4:16.39.

In the men’s K1000m Shawn Kaho’okele advanced to the semifinals finishing seventh in his heat with a time of 3:58.94 while Timothy Burdiak was eighth in his heat in a time of 3:58.18 and was eliminated. Kaho’okele needed a top three finish in his semifinal to reach the final A and finished seventh in 4:08.79 to fall into final B.

In the men’s C1 1000m Ian Ross advanced to the semifinals with a seventh place finish in his heat in 4:16.82. Needing to finish top three in those semifinals to reach the final Ross was close in a time of 4:30.33 but finished fourth, 1.2 seconds behind the final qualifier.

In the final solo event on Friday Ariel Farrar-Wellman and Emily Wright both qualified for the semifinals of the women’s K1 200m. Farrar-Wellman was sixth in her heat in 49.288 to grab a semifinal spot while Wright was sixth in 47.664 in her heat to advance. Competing in separate semifinals Farrar-Wellman and Wright each finished eighth with the fourth through seventh place finishers going to the final B. The best eighth place finisher would also advance and that was Wright who finished in 47 flat compared to Farrar-Wellman’s 49.08.

Wright and Farrar-Wellman teamed up in the K2 200m and finished seventh in their heat in 43.6 as they were guaranteed a semifinal spot. They finished fifth in the semifinal in 44.68 and were eliminated as only the top three advanced, the final spot being a second ahead of them. In the men’s K2 200m Aaron Mullican and Burdiak were eliminated in the heat after finishing eighth and missing out on the best time spot by over four seconds with a time of 40.96 while Christopher Miller and Stanton Collins advanced with a time of 36.57 and a seventh place finish in their heat. Miller and Collins were eliminated in the semifinals when they finished eighth in 36.63. The race was very competitive as they were just 1.1 seconds behind the final qualifier in third place.

Miller and Collins also took part in the K2 1000m where they advanced to the semifinals with a fifth place finish in 3:45.86. They missed out on a spot in the final A by over six seconds but finished fifth in the semifinals in 3:45.92 to reach the final B.

In addition to those in the finals on Saturday several Americans will be beginning their competitions. Ross and Gavin Ross are competing in the C2 200m which begins directly in a final. Kaho’okele and Timothy Hornsby will compete in the men’s K1 200m. The top finishers reach the final while the others have semifinals on the mind.

In the men’s C1 200m Ian Ross and Benjamin Hefner will face the same situation with only the top finisher advancing straight to the final while Burdiak sees that scenario in the men’s K1 500m and Hogan and Farrar-Wellman see it in the women’s version.

Gavin Ross and Ian Ross both compete in the C1 500m where the top three reach the final and the others have a single semifinal to aim for and they face the same scenario together in the C2 1000m. Kaho’okele, Burdiak, Collins, and Miller all team up in the K4 1000m where they’ll need a top three finish to reach the final or will be looking at a semifinal berth.

Previous ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup Coverage:
Montemor Preview

Aaron Gwin Leads 10 Men Into Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Event in Fort William

Aaron Gwin will go for his third straight top five finish in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill events this weekend in Fort William, Scotland. Gwin won the season opening event in Lourdes, France but came up fourth in Cairns, Australia. Gwin is joined this weekend by six Americans who did not take part in either of the opening events as well as two who finished in the top 15 in Cairns, Luca Shaw who was 13th and Eliot Jackson who was 14th. Saturday will be the qualifying round for Sunday’s final.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Coverage:
Cairns Recap