Winter Sports

National Geographic reality star Jessie Holmes has claimed quite the accomplishment.

Holmes, who notably starred on the network's reality television show, Life Below Zero, won the 53rd Iditarod Dog Sled race on Friday.

Congratulations to our 2025 Iditarod Champion, Jessie Holmes!! 🐾🏆🐾 Holmes crossed the new Burled Arch just after 3:00 a.m. today, March 14th and both he and his team are looking incredible! Photos and official press release to follow shortly. 🏆CONGRATULATIONS, JESSIE!🏆 pic.twitter.com/sNLsZ5P4gH

— The Iditarod (@The_Iditarod) March 14, 2025

"It's been a truly amazing 10 days, and I soaked in every part of it -- the lows, the highs, the in-betweens," Holmes said, per the Associated Press. "I'm really proud of these dogs, and I love them. And they did it. They deserve all the credit."

The race began on March 10 and the start point was in Fairbanks. The race, which is normally set for 1,000 miles, became 1,129 miles due to a lack of snow in certain areas of the course. This necessitated a few changes in the route and resulted in the longest-ever distance in the race.

Holmes and his dogs finished the quest in 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds. He led for the majority of the race and described the victory as "magical."

"It's hard to put into words, but it's a magical feeling," Holmes said, per AP. "It's not about this moment now. It's about all those moments along the trail."

This was his eighth Iditarod race and his previous best finish was third-place. He was a cast member on Life Below Zero from 2015-2023.

A group of figure skaters from the United States and Russia were among the passengers onboard an airplane that was involved in a midair collision near Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night.

U.S. Figure Skating, the American governing body for the sport, issued a statement about the situation (h/t Jin Yu Young and Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times).

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," the statement said.

U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National…

— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) January 30, 2025

Dmitri S. Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, confirmed that Russian skaters and other citizens from the country were onboard.

A total of 14 members of the skating community were among those who died in the crash. International Skating Union president Jae Youl Kim announced Friday that all of the victims will be honored at the World Figure Skating Championships taking place at TD Garden in Boston from March 25-30.

Per CNN.com, a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration said a passenger aircraft collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C. around 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said during a press conference they "don't believe there are any survivors" and the operation has switched from a rescue operation to a recovery operation (h/t CNN).

The U.S. Figure Skating statement said the skaters were returning from a training camp for juvenile, intermediate and novice skaters following the national figure skating championships that were held last weekend in Wichita, Kansas.

The 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships started to wind down on Saturday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

Action continued with the Men's Short Program and Pairs Free Skate as well as the Ice Dance Final.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates secured their sixth U.S. ice dance title heading into March's world championships, while world champion Ilia Malinin took a large lead in the Men's Short Program before the Free Skate on Sunday.

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov also finished with a gold medal following an exceptional pairs free skate performance.

Here are the full results from Friday's competition as well as the remaining schedule for the U.S. Championships.

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Men's Short Program

1. Ilia Malinin: 114.08
2. Andrew Torgashev: 94.94
3. Jimmy Ma: 91.91
4. Camden Pulkinen: 88.76
5. Liam Kapeikis: 84.01
6. Jacob Sanchez: 82.64
7. Maxim Naumov: 82.41
8. Daniel Martynov: 81.89
9. Samuel Mindra: 75.57
10. Tomoki Hiwatashi: 75.21
11. Michael Xie: 74.19
12. Beck Strommer: 72.26
13. Lucius Kazanecki: 70.60
14. Emmanuel Savary: 70.48
15. Taira Shinohara: 61.49
16. Joseph Klein: 60.05
17. Kai Kovar: 59.15
18. Goku Endo: 58.99

Ice Dance Final

1. Madison Chock/Evan Bates: 223.52
2. Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko: 210.79
3. Caroline Green/Michael Parsons: 205.37
4. Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik: 204.17
5. Oona Brown/Gage Brown: 193.37
6. Emily Bratti/Ian Somerville: 193.28
7. Katarina Wolfkostin/Dimitry Tsarevski: 186.83
8. Eva Pate/Logan Bye: 183.24
9. Leah Neset/Artem Markelov: 183.12
10. Annabelle Morozov/Jeffrey Chen: 173.54
11. Raffaella Koncius/Alexey Shchepetov: 169.90
12. Vanessa Pham/Anton Spiridonov: 166.39
13. Amy Cui/Jonathan Rogers: 154.95
14. Grace Yi/Danila Savelev: 142.03
15. Michela Melillo/Karl Schapfel: 123.23

Pairs Final

1. Alisa Efimova/Misha Mitrofanov: 211.90
2. Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman: 190.57
3. Ellie Kam/Danny O'Shea: 189.57
4. Emily Chan/Spencer Howe: 183.95
5. Audrey Shin/Balazs Nagy: 182.67
6. Naomi Williams/Lachlan Lewer: 166.08
7. Ellie Korytek/Timmy Chapman: 165.85
8. Nica Digerness/Mark Sadusky: 159.31
9. Isabelle Martins/Ryan Bedard: 158.27
10. Sydney Cooke/Matthew Kennedy: 147.31
11. Linzy Fitzpatrick/Keyton Bearinger: 139.78
12. Grace Hanns/Danny Neudecker: 120.72

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Remaining Schedule

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Sunday, Jan. 26

Championship Men's Free Skate, 2:47 p.m. ET

Prevagen Skating Spectacular, 7 p.m. ET

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Ilia Malinin's quest towards a third consecutive U.S. title got off to a strong start on Saturday, jumping out to a 19.14-point lead over Andrew Torgashev at No. 2. Malinin broke his own record for the largest first-place margin following the short program, which he first set in 2024 (h/t NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi).

Malinin didn't show off his signature quad Axel, but he still pulled off a quadruple flip and a quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination to go along with a triple Axel.

After the performance, the 20-year-old explained that he didn't want to display his entire arsenal with the 2026 Winter Olympics approaching.

"I think that now that I have done the quad Axel, they want to see something more, bigger and better," Malinin said, per NBC Sports' Philip Hersh. "For me, since the (2026) Olympics are around the corner, I just want to play it safe for myself."

As he prepares for the free skate on Saturday, he's in position to capture his third straight U.S. championship.

After Madison Chock and Evan Bates sat atop the leaderboard following Friday's rhythm dance, they closed out their free dance to finish with a 223.52 score and clinch their fourth U.S. title in a row as well as their record-tying sixth U.S. ice dance championship.

They tied Olympic gold medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

The pair put together an impressive performance throughout the week, especially with Chock dealing with an illness during competition.

"Maddie has had a tough couple of days," Bates said, via The Guardian. "Wasn't really able to fuel much. She's so tough. She's never not going to go out there and not give it her best. It took all the little energy that she had. I just tried to give the love and support to her."

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov surged to capture their first pairs national title after sitting at No. 3 on the leaderboard following Thursday's short program. They beat out defending champions Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea in the free skate, who owned the best score through the short program.

Efimova and Mitrofanov also finished with a 12.73-point lead over Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman, who finished at No. 2.

The U.S. Championships will conclude on Sunday with the men's free skate.

The 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships continued on Friday, as the Rhythm Dance and Women's Free Skate events took place in Wichita, Kansas.

Athletes competed for national titles while also attempting to showcase themselves for a spot on the United States' team in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a large lead following the rhythm dance heading into Saturday's free dance, while Amber Glenn took home a gold medal after the Women's Free Skate.

Here are the full results from Friday's action as well as the remaining schedule for the competition.

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Rhythm Dance

1. Madison Chock/Evan Bates: 92.16
2. Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko: 82.86
3. Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik: 82.13
4. Caroline Green/Michael Parsons: 82.13
5. Oona Brown/Gage Brown: 77.38
6. Katarina Wolfkostin/Dimitry Tsarevski: 76.27
7. Emily Bratti/Ian Somerville: 75.25
8. Eva Pate/Logan Bye: 73.64
9. Leah Neset/Artem Markelov: 72.17
10. Annabelle Morozov/Jeffrey Chen: 70.64
11. Amy Cui/Jonathan Rogers: 68.78
12. Vanessa Pham/Anton Spiridonov: 64.00
13. Raffaella Koncius/Alexey Shchepetov: 63.48
14. Grace Yi/Danila Savelev: 53.21
15. Michela Melillo/Karl Schapfel: 47.02

Women's Final

1. Amber Glenn: 216.79
2. Alysa Liu: 215.33
3. Sarah Everhardt: 207.36
4. Bradie Tennell: 199.94
5. Sherry Zhang: 188.48
6. Starr Andrews: 185.97
7. Josephine Lee: 182.69
8. Elyce Lin-Gracey: 179.22
9. Sonja Hilmer: 178.54
10. Logan Higase-Chen: 175.82
11. Mia Kalin: 168.43
12. Lindsay Thorngren: 159.88
13. Alexa Gasparotto: 151.46
14. Brooke Gewalt: 147.69
15. Alina Bonillo: 144.28
16. Michelle Lee: 139.60
17. Ting Cui: 126.63
18. Alex Evans: 121.71

Remaining Schedule

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Saturday, Jan. 25

Championship Men's Short Program Groups 1 and 2, 10:58 a.m. ET

Championship Free Dance Groups 1 and 2, 12:50 p.m. ET

Championship Men's Short Program Group 3, 2:36 p.m. ET

Championship Free Dance Group 3, 3:38 p.m. ET

Championship Pairs Free Skate, 7:35 p.m. ET

Sunday, Jan. 26

Championship Men's Free Skate, 2:47 p.m. ET

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Two-time defending world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates took a 9.3-point lead over Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko after Friday's competition, an impressive feat considering the second and seventh-place finishers were separated by 7.61 points.

They were able to stand atop the leaderboard despite Chock feeling under the weather during the event.

"Experiences like today really help us a lot," Bates said afterwards, via NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi. "I mean, it's not fun to skate when you're not feeling your best, but knowing we can still go out and perform well under any circumstances is such a confidence boost."

Amber Glenn sat at No. 3 on the leaderboard following Thursday's short program, trailing 2022 Olympian Alysa Liu and 2018 Olympic team bronze medallist Bradie Tennell.

Glenn made up ground in Friday's free skate performance that was highlighted by a triple axel, ultimately defending her U.S. crown.

Liu finished second, while Sarah Everhardt sat at No. 3. Tennell just missed the podium, finishing fourth.

The U.S. Championships will continue on Saturday, starting with the men's short program.

The 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships continued with the Women's Short Program as well as the Pairs' Short Program in Wichita, Kansas on Thursday.

Athletes obviously looked to win their events, but also attempted to show that they deserve a spot on the United States' team in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Defending national champions Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea stood atop the leaderboard at the end of the day in the Pairs' Short Program, while Alysa Liu held the top spot in the Women's Short Program heading into Friday's free skate.

Here are the full results from Thursday's action as well as the remaining schedule for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

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Women's Short Program

1. Alysa Liu: 76.36
2. Bradie Tennell: 71.23
3. Amber Glenn: 70.91
4. Sarah Everhardt: 70.72
5. Sherry Zhang: 67.42
6. Logan Higase-Chen: 63.23
7. Mia Kalin: 62.07
8. Elyce Lin-Gracey: 61.47
9. Lindsay Thorngren: 60.99
10. Josephine Lee: 60.10
11. Sonja Hilmer: 59.57
12. Starr Andrews: 59.45
13. Alina Bonillo: 56.42
14. Brooke Gewalt: 52.84
15. Alexa Gasparotto: 52.61
16. Michelle Lee: 48.71
17. Alex Evans: 45.43
18. Ting Cui: 43.94

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Pairs' Short Program

1. Ellie Kam/Danny O'Shea: 77.19
2. Emily Chan/Spencer Howe: 69.10
3. Alisa Efimova/Misha Mitrofanov: 69.03
4. Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman: 62.92
5. Audrey Shin/Balazs Nagy: 62.06
6. Isabelle Martins/Ryan Bedard: 61.83
7. Naomi Williams/Lachlan Lewer: 58.90
8. Ellie Korytek/Timmy Chapman: 57.54
9. Nica Digerness/Mark Sadusky: 57.02
10. Sydney Cooke/Matthew Kennedy: 55.43
11. Grace Hanns/Danny Neudecker: 45.74
12. Linzy Fitzpatrick/Keyton Bearinger: 44.25

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Remaining Schedule

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Friday, Jan. 24

Championship Rhythm Dance, 5:19 p.m. ET

Championship Women's Free Skate, 7:53 p.m. ET

Saturday, Jan. 25

Championship Men's Short Program Groups 1 and 2, 10:58 a.m. ET

Championship Free Dance Groups 1 and 2, 12:50 p.m. ET

Championship Men's Short Program Group 3, 2:36 p.m. ET

Championship Free Dance Group 3, 3:38 p.m. ET

Championship Pairs Free Skate, 7:35 p.m. ET

Sunday, Jan. 26

Championship Men's Free Skate, 2:47 p.m. ET

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Kam and O'Shea are attempting to become the first pair to repeat as national champions in 11 years, and their title defense got off to a strong start on Thursday.

They scored 77.19 points for their skate, more than four points better than their best in international competition (via Dave Skretta of the Associated Press). Kam and O'Shea now hold an 8.09-point lead over Emily Chan and Spencer Howe heading into the free skate on Saturday.

"Very proud to go out there and put together a strong performance like we train at home," O'Shea said, per Skretta. "Lot of pressure coming back after we won last year and I was pretty happy with how we handled that as a team today."

As for Liu, she's searching for her third U.S. championship and her first since 2020. She retired in April 2022 at the age of 16, but she came out of retirement in Oct. 2024.

Liu didn't show many signs of rust on Thursday, landing a triple flip-triple toe loop combination and a double Axel as well as a triple Lutz.

She revealed that her return to nationals was an emotional moment for her.

"I almost cried before my name was even called," Liu said, via NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi.

Liu holds a 5.13-point lead over a stacked field that includes two-time U.S. champion Bradie Tennell at No. 2 and defending champion Amber Glenn at No. 3.

Mikaela Shiffrin is making her return to the slopes for the World Cup event in Courchevel, France, on Jan. 30.

See you in Courchevel @MikaelaShiffrin 🤩👑👋 #stifelusskiteam pic.twitter.com/y8v97kTHvU

— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) January 23, 2025

It will be her first competitive event since her crash in November.

"It's going to be a little bit nerve-wracking, to be honest," she said to the Associated Press' Pat Graham. "These past six weeks, every step it's like, 'Geez, should this be hurting less? Should I be better at this? Should I be more tolerant of the pain?' There are so many questions that come up in your mind of basically whether or not you're doing well enough."

During her second run at a World Cup race on Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont, Shiffrin lost her balance and skidded to the ground. She collided with a gate before sliding into the protective fencing.

The 29-year-old suffered a puncture to her right abdomen and "severe muscle trauma." Per Graham, she also needed preventative surgery for an infection in her puncture wound.

Shiffrin told Graham the crash was "a millimeter from pretty catastrophic" since she avoided any damage to a major organ.

Because of her layoff, Shiffrin sits ninth in the slalom standings and 16th overall for the 2025 World Cup standings. She had earned back-to-back victories at events in Finland and Austria prior to the crash.

The all-time wins record-holder said to Graham that her focus in Courchevel will be getting herself back into performance shape and less about climbing onto the podium again already.

Lindsey Vonn had a successful return to the slopes in her second competitive race since 2019.

The legendary skier finished sixth in the World Cup downhill race in St. Anton, Switzerland, on Saturday. Her time of 1:16.66 was .58 seconds behind the winner, Federica Brignone of Italy.

WOW! Lindsey Vonn into 5th in her first DH back!! pic.twitter.com/AkRyAlpz5g

— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) January 11, 2025

Vonn originally announced her retirement after the 2019 World Championships. She wrapped up what was thought to be the end of her career with a bronze medal women's downhill, making her the oldest female racer to medal at the event (34 years old).

Shortly after her 40th birthday in October, Vonn announced she was coming out of retirement to rejoin the U.S. ski team. The decision came six months after she had knee replacement surgery.

The Athletic's Zack Pierce noted Vonn was the top American finisher in her discipline on Saturday.

"I feel a little bit more confident and comfortable in downhill than I do in Super-G," Vonn said after her run (h/t Pierce), "and I know this hill really well, so I knew the challenges that it had today and with the snow conditions, where I needed to execute. I still made a couple of mistakes, I know I can be faster. But I think for the first downhill race in six years, it was a pretty good start."

This was actually Vonn's second event since coming out of retirement. She previously competed in the super-G at the World Cup last month, finishing 14th.

"This was the perfect start," Vonn said about her return event. "Today is just the first step and I'm not looking for more. Today I really needed to get to the finish. I wanted to have a solid result. And that's exactly what I did."

Vonn has said her ultimate goal is to represent the United States at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. She has competed at the Winter Games four times, winning three medals. The crowning achievement of her career was winning gold in the downhill at the 2010 Olympics.

Lindsey Vonn is attempting a comeback at the age of 40.

The United States Ski Team confirmed on Friday that Vonn will compete in a pair of super-G events at the World Cup in St. Moritz.

Vonn has been dropping hints for the past couple of months that she was preparing to ski in competitive events again.

"It's been an incredible past few weeks," Vonn wrote in a post on Instagram in October (h/t Peggy Shinn of SkiMag.com). "Being back in the mountains is where I find so much joy. It's my natural habitat…even if I hate being cold lol. Excited to share more (soon)."

The Olympic gold medalist hasn't competed in a formal event since the 2019 World Championships. She won a bronze medal in the women's downhill, becoming the oldest woman to medal at the event (34 years old).

Vonn also became the first woman to medal at six different World Championships. She said afterward that she was looking forward to retirement to give her mind and body time to heal and live life away from the slopes.

"I'm looking forward to just chilling out a bit and recovering everything, including my mind. It's been a lot to process. The nice thing is that, in the real world I'm actually pretty young. I have felt really old for a long time, because I'm racing with girls that are like 15 years younger than me. So now, in the real world, I'm normal. Thirty is the new 20 so I'm super young. I've got a lot to look forward to."

Vonn was dealing with a series of physical ailments at that time, including a knee injury. She announced in April that she had knee replacement surgery due to "severe tri-compartment degeneration" in her left knee.

The course at St. Moritz has been the site of five of Vonn's World Cup victories. Her 82 career wins in World Cup competition ranks second all-time among female skiers, trailing only Mikaela Shiffrin (88).

Super-G competitions will take place at St. Moritz on Dec. 21 and 22.

The United States Ski and Snowboard Team provided a health update for Mikaela Shiffrin on Sunday after she suffered multiple injuries during a crash in a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont.

According to the update, Shiffrin suffered "a puncture wound into the right side of her abdomen and severe muscle trauma."

An update from @MikaelaShiffrin ⬇️

Following her crash in yesterday's giant slalom at the Stifel Killington Cup, Mikaela was taken down by sled and transferred by ambulance to be evaluated at Rutland Regional Medical Center.

- There was no ligament damage assessed.
- Bones and…

— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) December 1, 2024

However, there was no noticeable ligament damage and her "bones and internal organs look OK."

The update also said there is no set timetable on her return and more information will be released accordingly.

The latest information from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team comes after Shiffrin herself provided an update Saturday.

She said there was "not really too much cause for concern at this point. I just can't move. I have a pretty good abrasion and something stabbed me."

Shiffrin also said she was "so sorry to scare everybody."

The crash came during her second run of the World Cup giant slalom race. She was leading after the first run and appeared well on her way to the 100th World Cup win of her career. She was also near the finish line on the second run when the crash occurred.

"Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her," Peggy Shinn of the Associated Press noted. "She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation."

Sweden's Sara Hector won the race, while Croatia's Zrinka Ljutić and Switzerland's Camille Rast took home second and third, respectively.

"It's just so sad, of course, to see Mikaela crash like that and skiing so well," Hector said on the broadcast (h/t Shinn). "It breaks my heart and everybody else here."

Shiffrin is arguably the greatest skier of all time with a resume that includes two Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, five overall World Cup titles and seven world championships. She passed Lindsey Vonn's women's record of 82 World Cup victories in January 2023 and then broke Ingemar Stenmark's overall record when she won her 87th title.

She also rarely doesn't finish a race.

As Shinn noted, she DNF's just 18 times in 274 World Cup starts and hadn't done so since January 2018.