TeamDualsPodium - Simon Bruty/OIS

SSWSC Athletes Home from Youth Olympic Games - Moguls Skier Abby McLarnon Brings Home Bronze Medals
The 2024 Youth Olympic Games have concluded in Gangwon, South Korea, and SSWSC athletes are returning home to Steamboat with amazing experiences and some medals. Ella Wilson, Arthur Tirone, Sawyer Graves, Jason Colby, Estella Hassrick, Grey Barbier, Abby McLarnon, and Rocke Weinberg all represented the United States and Steamboat at the games.

SSWSC athletes Estella Hassrick, Jason Colby, and Sawyer Graves represented the United States and Steamboat in the ski jumping competitions. Athletes competed on the HS109 normal hill at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center on January 20 and 21. In the normal hill individual jumping women’s competition, Estella Hassrick was 16th, and in the men’s competition, Jason Colby was 17th, and Sawyer Graves was 32nd. In the mixed-team event, the U.S. finished seventh.

SSWSC athletes Ella Wilson and Arthur Tirone both competed in the Nordic combined competitions on January 28 and January 30. In the women’s event Ella Wilson was 11th place, and for the men Arthur Tirone was 22nd. In the mixed team 4x3.3K event the United States was 9th.

Grey Barbier represented the United States and Steamboat in the cross country competitions. In the first event on January 28 in the freestyle sprint qualifier, Grey placed 5th overall, easily qualifying for the sprint heats. But in the quarterfinal round, Grey crashed and did not move on to the next round of heats. On January 29, in the 7.5K classic race, Grey placed 11th overall. The team went on to ski in the 4 x 5K mixed relay and finished in 5th place.

Abby McLarnon competed in the freestyle mogul competitions. On January 26, in the mixed team dual moguls competitions, Abby and her teammate Jiah Cohen from Vail earned bronze. According to Justin McLarnon, Abby’s father, team duals is a new format being tried out at these games. Each nation pairs a male and female athlete together. Males compete, females compete, and their combined scores determine who moves on to the next round. Abby won all of her duals on day one helping secure the bronze for their team. Abby went on to win another bronze in dual moguls the following day. Abby spent the three weeks before the games away from home training in preparation for the events, and it is clear her hard work is paying off. She is returning to Steamboat for a short stint before heading out with SSWSC teammates Izzy, Jackson, Zander, and Anabel to compete in the NorAms at Deer Valley.  Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/OIS

SSWSC alumnae Rocke Weinberg, who is now on the U.S. Snowboard Team, competed in the halfpipe event on January 31 and placed 8th overall.

Congratulations to all the athletes!