By U.S. Ski and Snowboard

A strong and deep U.S. Olympic Freeski Team is headed to PyeongChang for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Jan. 22 announced the selection of 15 halfpipe and slopestyle freeski athletes who will compete at the Games beginning Feb. 9.

Highlighted among the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team athletes are defending halfpipe gold medalists David Wise (Reno) and Maddie Bowman (Meyers), defending slopestyle silver medalists Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo.) and Devin Logan (W. Dover, Vt.), and defending bronze medalist Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.). The selections will be confirmed by the United States Olympic Committee when it formally names Team USA this Friday.

“My first trip to the Olympic Games was a true lifetime highlight. If anything, qualifying for the team this time was even harder. It is an unbelievable honor to be among this great team of Americans going to South Korea to represent our country,” Wise said.
 
Athletes qualified for the team through a series of five selection events beginning in February and concluding at Mammoth Mountain this past weekend.

Logan, who won silver in slopestyle at Sochi, will return in both slopestyle and in halfpipe.

Of the 15 athletes named to the team, 10 were members of the debut Olympic squad at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, including six of the eight halfpipe team members named.

The freeski team will have its first competition on Feb. 18, with women’s slopestyle qualifications. Finals are on Feb. 19. 
 
Team facts

• The team won six medals in 2014.
• Wise and Bowman return for their second Olympics to defend their halfpipe skiing Olympic gold medals from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
• Voisin will be returning to the Olympics with redemption on her mind. She injured her ankle in Sochi during training and was unable to compete. This will be her second chance to make an Olympic podium.
• Logan, who competed in slopestyle at Sochi, will be representing Team USA for the first time in halfpipe – the only dual event Olympians for the U.S. Freeskiing Team.
• After nearly missing the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team, Alex Ferreira found redemption by locking in an objective position in halfpipe at Mammoth Mountain.
• Torin Yater-Wallace will be returning to the Olympics, this time healthy and as an objectively qualified athlete vs. a discretionary pick in 2014.
• 2014 slopestyle medalists Kenworthy and Goepper qualified for the 2018 Games on the final day of the selection period, with Kenworthy coming from behind in dramatic style, winning in Aspen-Snowmass and then taking second in the Mammoth Mountain finale.

2018 U.S. Olympic Freeski Team

Slopestyle 
Men:

Nick Goepper, Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Alex Hall, Salt Lake City,
Gus Kenworthy, Telluride, Colo.
McRae Williams, Park City, Utah

Women

Caroline Claire, Manchester Center, Vt.
Devin Logan, W. Dover, Vt.
Darian Stevens, Missoula, Mont.
Maggie Voisin, Whitefish, Mont.

Halfpipe
Men

Aaron Blunck, Crested Butte, Colo.
Alex Ferreira, Aspen, Colo.
Torin Yater-Wallace, Basalt, Colo.
David Wise, Reno

Women

Maddie Bowman, Meyers
Annalisa Drew, Andover, Mass.
Devin Logan, West Dover, Vt.
Brita Sigourney, Carmel.