Winter Olympics

American ski jumper Patrick Gasienica died Monday at the age of 24 after he was involved in a motorcycle crash in Illinois, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com).

USA Nordic Sport and U.S. Ski & Snowboard issued a joint statement saying their "thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends and the ski jumping community."

USA Today's Jordan Mendoza reported blunt force trauma was identified as the preliminary cause of death and that an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Gasienica's death remain ongoing.

Gasienica represented the United States in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He placed 49th in the individual normal hill and 53rd in the large hill events. He was also on the men's large hill team that finished in 10th.

The McHenry, Illinois, native also competed in the 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and twice participated in the FIS Junior World Ski Championships.

Mikaela Shiffrin capped off the 2022-23 World Cup season in appropriate fashion, winning Sunday's giant slalom event in Soldeu, Andorra.

Shiffrin now has 21 giant slalom victories for her career, surpassing Vreni Schneider for the women's record. Her 138th podium finish is also one more than American legend Lindsey Vonn.

The 28-year-old compiled a time of one minute, 55.88 seconds across her two runs, 0.06 seconds better than Thea Louise Stjernesund. She was slightly slower than the Norwegian during the second go-round, but her blistering first run (56.60 seconds) helped carry her to first place.

With the season concluded, Shiffrin can take a break and reflect on a campaign filled with notable achievements. In January, she won her 83rd World Cup race to move ahead of Vonn for the all-time women's record. She claimed the overall record from Ingemar Stenmark in March when she earned her 87th career victory.

"I don't know, you guys tell me," the three-time Olympic medal winner said about the next record to fall. "Just keep moving right along."

Looking ahead to 2023-24, Shiffrin might have another one of Stenmark's feats in her sights. The Swede retired with 46 first-place finishes in the giant slalom.

One day after tying the all-time record for most World Cup victories, Mikaela Shiffrin has broken the record with her 87th career win on Saturday.

The American skier made history with a victory in the slalom. Her 86th career World Cup win on Friday tied the record set by Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark in 1989.

Shiffrin put herself in position to win with a dominant first run on the track. She went on cruise control during the second run with a fifth-place finish for a total time that was 0.92 seconds faster than runner-up Wendy Holdener from Switzerland.

Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson was the only other competitor who finished within one second of Shiffrin.

"Pretty hard to comprehend," Shiffrin said in her post-race interview after the win (h/t CNN's Ben Church). "My brother and sister-in-law are here. I didn't know they were coming so that makes it so special."

Following her disappointing turn at the 2022 Olympics, in which she failed to medal in five races, including three she did not finish, Shiffrin has been dominating during the World Cup season.

Saturday marked Shiffrin's 13th victory since November. Twelve of those 13 wins have come in the slalom or giant slalom. The 27-year-old already secured the overall World Cup title for the fifth time in her storied career.

Stenmark won 86 World Cup events from 1975 to '89. He also has three Olympic medals, including two golds from the 1980 Games at Lake Placid.

Shiffrin's 87 wins have come in just over 10 years dating back to December 2012. She also has three Olympic medals (two gold, one silver). Saturday was the 53rd World Cup win in the slalom.

Mikaela Shiffrin has tied the record for most World Cup victories by an alpine skier in history.

The American superstar's victory in the giant slalom on Friday gave her 86 career wins, tying the mark set by Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark in 1989.

Shiffrin had a dominant first run on the course, finishing in the top spot and 0.58 seconds ahead of the field. She picked up steam in her second run with a final time of 1:54.64.

Italy's Federica Brignone (+0.64 seconds) and Sweden's Sara Hector (+0.92) were the only two competitors who finished within one second of Shiffrin's winning time.

Friday's record-tying win came less than 11 years after Shiffrin's first World Cup victory in December 2012. Both her first career win and the record-tying win took place in Åre, Sweden.

"At the start of the season, I didn't think I was coming close to this 86 number [this year], so my goal was the overall globe," Shiffrin told reporters about her quest for the record last weekend. "Now that I'm so close, the unfortunate thing is if I don't get it [the record] this season, it could be that many people say it's disappointing, but for me, I'm trying to keep everything realistic and maybe not get so greedy about it, because it might not happen this season."

Stenmark's 86 wins came from 1974 to '89. His final victory was in the giant slalom at the 1989 World Cup in Aspen. All of his wins came in the slalom and giant slalom.

The majority of Shiffrin's victories have come in those two disciplines (72), but she also has wins in the Super G (five), downhill (three) and combined (one) among others on her resume.

Shiffrin can set the all-time World Cup wins record on Saturday in the slalom. The event is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Men's figure skating in the United States has a new star, and his name is Ilia Malinin.

The 18-year-old won the men's championship Sunday, finishing second in the free skate with an unofficial score of 177.38 to earn the championship.

Paired with his 110.36 score in the free skate, tops among the men, he finished with a total unofficial score of 287.74, easily topping Jason Brown (277.31) in second place. Andrew Torgashev finished a distant third (256.56), with Maxim Naumov (249.14) and Jimmy Ma (243.09) rounding out the top five.

Malinin put together an incredible program to become a national champion:

No surprises there—he was attempting a legendarily difficult program:

While he fell on his quadruple axel attempt and didn't complete two other quad attempts, the young man nicknamed the Quad God still brought the goods on Sunday.

The future of figure skating has arrived.

"It's a very big leap from last year," Malinin told USA Today's Christine Brennan earlier this week. "I feel like nobody really knew me until after nationals [in 2022]. It was almost like this random guy showed up, and then he came out here and he surprised everyone. And I think that now that I'm a big name out there, I really hope that I can keep it like that."

They know his name now. And Malinin may not stop at quads, saying last week that a five-revolution quintuple "is definitely in the back of my mind right now. After the season, I think maybe we'll see one."

Brown, the silver-medal winner Sunday, doesn't doubt it.

"I have no doubt," he said. "To watch him and to watch him train, there is room in these jumps. I have no doubt, talking to him, so confident, he knows it, he has that kind of arrogance in a great way, he knows himself and knows, 'I'm capable.'"

Quad God for now. But five may arrive soon enough.

United States skier Mikaela Shiffrin is now two World Cup wins away from history.

Shiffrin won her 85th World Cup race on Saturday in the slalom to move just one behind Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark for the all-time record.

She told reporters Saturday she wasn't focused on the record:

"I don't feel a lot of pressure to get this record because now I'm so close that it's, like, just take a breath and enjoy the moments we're in now. It's unbelievable to me how this season has gone already, and I'm trying to take the moment to enjoy it. FIS [International Ski Federation] posted on Instagram, 'Is she going to do it this weekend?' Finally, I saw all the comments, and people were like, 'We don't care. We just want to see good skiing.' I was like, 'Oh, finally people get it.' I'm not worried about it. It might not happen tomorrow."

Shiffrin came into the week tied with former teammate Lindsey Vonn, but her three wins between Italy and the Czech Republic vaulted her into striking distance of Stenmark.

She beat Germany's Lena Durr by 0.60 seconds on Saturday.

"I knew it would take some risk and there's a chance that I don't finish at all, but I have to do my best turns to have a chance because these women are so strong," Shiffrin told reporters after the race.

"Wow, I can you hear you all so loud," she added while addressing the spectators at the event. "Thank you for cheering. It's amazing to race for this crowd."

Shiffrin has now won five of the eight slaloms this season, 11 races in total and holds a 175-point lead over Switzerland's Wendy Holdener in the slalom standings. She also sits atop the overall standings, with Slovakia's Petra Vlhova in second.

Shiffrin's career has included two Olympic gold medals (three medals overall), six world championship gold medals (11 medals overall) and four World Cup overall titles (2017-19, 2022). She is one of the most decorated skiers in United States history.

Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her first win in the Super G World Cup in nearly three years when she hit the slopes in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Sunday.

The American crossed the finish line in 1:13.62 to edge Italian Elena Curtoni and claim the victory. France's Romane Miradoli finished third.

The win also marked Shiffrin's 77th World Cup victory overall, and she is now just five wins shy of Lindsey's Vonn's record for most wins by a female skier.

Shiffrin finished fourth and sixth in the downhill competitions over the last two days.

"I felt very good the last days, but you never know, with super-G especially, you have to push so hard. It's always on the limit. Actually, you're pushing so hard, maybe you're not going to finish," Shiffrin said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).

"I knew what my tactics should be, I was not thinking about what's going to happen in the finish until I got there. I had a very, very good run, so I'm happy with that."

The women's Alpine skiing World Cup resumes in Semmering, Austria, on Dec. 27 with two giant slaloms and a slalom.

The parents of former American figure skater Bridget Namiotka announced Friday she died in July at the age of 32.

Steve and Maureen Namiotka spoke with Christine Brennan of USA Today about their daughter, who accused her former pairs partner, John Coughlin, of sexual abuse following his 2019 death.

"Bridget succumbed to her long struggles with addiction after several very difficult years of dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse," the Namiotkas said. "She was a beautiful child and a wonderful athlete, and we are heartbroken. It is our hope that Bridget's death will bring new attention to the terrible effects of sexual abuse and addiction in our society."

Coughlin died by suicide in January 2019 at the age of 33 just weeks after he was suspended by the U.S. Center for SafeSport pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

"I'm sorry but John hurt at least 10 people including me. He sexually abused me for 2 years," Namiotka wrote in a May 2019 Facebook post, per Brennan.

In August 2019, Olympic bronze medalist Ashley Wagner said Coughlin sexual assaulted her in June 2008, when she was 17 and he was 22.

Prior to his death, Coughlin said the allegations being made against him were "unfounded."

"While I wish I could speak freely about the unfounded allegations levied against me, the SafeSport rules prevent me from doing so since the case remains pending," Coughlin told Brennan in January 2019. "I note only that the SafeSport notice of allegation itself stated that an allegation in no way constitutes a finding by SafeSport or that there is any merit to the allegation."

SafeSport spokesperson Dan Hill said in March 2019, "The SafeSport Code and the interim measure process that was communicated to him directly, and which is on our website, makes it clear that he could provide information."

Namiotka and Coughlin were partners from 2004 through 2007. They won the junior pairs competition at the 2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Croatia. They also finished second in the junior pairs event at 2005 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Pennsylvania native Namiotka, who also skated with Alex Merritt during her junior career, stopped competing after her partnership with Coughlin ended in July 2007.

Ilia Malinin wrote his name into the record books Wednesday.

The 17-year-old landed a quad axel in the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, becoming the first to do so in competition.

"When I’m practicing it, it's pretty easy for me to figure out how to get the right timing and everything to have it be a good attempt," Malinin said of the difficult jump. "To do it in competition is a different story, because you have nerves and pressure that can get in the way of that. So I have to treat it like I'm at home, and it feels pretty good."

Malinin finished with an overall score of 257.28 to coast to a gold medal. France's Kevin Aymoz won silver, with American Camden Pulkinen rounding out the podium.

Malinin is among the U.S. representatives for this year's Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, which kicks off Oct. 21 with the Skate America. There, the Virginia native will have an opportunity to test himself against the best in the world ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Former ski mountaineering champion Adèle Milloz died Friday at age 26 while climbing in the French Alps.

The French Mountain and Climbing Federation announced Milloz's death Saturday (via Gina Martinez of CBS News). The organization said it's unclear how she and another woman she was practicing with died.

According to Adam Sage of the Times, Milloz and the woman, 30, were climbing up the Aiguille summit in the Mont Blanc mountain range. Milloz was working to become a mountain guide.

Eyewitnesses saw Milloz and the woman fall and alerted emergency personnel.

Milloz was the gold medalist in ski mountaineering at the 2017 Winter Military World Games in Sochi, Russia. Per USA Today's Steve Gardner, she retired as a competitive skier in 2019 and focused instead on becoming a mountain guide.

Ski mountaineering, also known as skimo, combines climbing up a slope and then skiing down. The discipline was added to the schedule for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.