COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee today announced that standout performances from Para Nordic skier Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kansas), alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin (Edwards, Colorado) and the U.S. Men’s World Cup Four-Man Bobsled Team earned Best of January honors for Team USA Awards presented by Dow.
To kick off the year, Cnossen was crowned the U.S. national champion in the middle-distance cross-country, cross-country sprint and biathlon sprint races in Midway, Utah. He continued his impressive results oversees, capturing gold in the biathlon relay and silver in the sitting class of the cross-country short-distance and biathlon sprint events at the world cup in Altenberg and Dresden, Germany.
Shiffrin earned four world cup podium spots in January, taking home gold in super-G and downhill at the world cup in Bansko, Bulgaria, along with bronze in slalom at the world cup in Flachau, Austria, and bronze in giant slalom at the world cup in Sestriere, Italy. The victories in Bulgaria marked her 65th and 66th world cup wins and moved her into first place in the super-G standings.
The U.S. Men’s World Cup Four-Man Bobsled Team of Hunter Church (Cadyville, New York), Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Florida), Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Massachusetts) claimed the bronze medal in the four-man at the world cup in Igls, Austria – marking Church’s career-first world cup medal and the first men’s bobsled medal on foreign soil in three years, when Steve Holcomb’s team won bronze on the same course.
About the Team USA Awards
Each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per discipline. An internal nominating committee selects five nominees from both the male and female categories, and three from the team category to advance to the voting round. Votes received from NGB representatives and select members of the media account for 50% of the final tally, with the other half determined by online fan voting via TeamUSA.org/Awards.
