2019 Winter Deaflympics: Boardercross competition & updates on U.S. athletes

Sarah Gordon: Hi! Good morning from the top of Santa Caterina in Italy! Starting soon is the men and women’s boardercross snowboard competition. Four athletes will race at the same time. 

The top two advances from each group of races. 

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Sarah: Today we have three women and three men competing. 

Hannah Wheatcroft: Wow, I feel conflicted. I want her to win, but I want to win as well. 

Lauren Benedict Mowl: I feel emotional for sure, I’m happy and also sad at the same time. 

Stacy Nowak: Was the course hard? 

Benedict Mowl: It’s now difficult because of the bad visibility. It’s low light so it’s hard to see. I feel like I’m crushing my knees, I’m just go, go! 

Lauren Wiebert: It’s a great experience. It’s their first time with boardercross. I’m so proud of them! 

Jon Mowl: I’m very proud of my wife. She’s in the top 8 in the world! I can’t believe it. Wow. I am married to a very talented snowboarder. Wow. 

Sarah: In the top 8, there are two women. They are Lauren Weibert at 6th place and Lauren Benedict Mowl at 8th place. 

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Sarah: Two U.S. men snowboarders made it into the quarterfinals, but didn’t advance to the finals.

Jeff Pollock: I’m eliminated. 

Eric Cohen: I’m going to go back home and train. I’m now focused on Slopestyle and Big Air. 

Wiebert: The experience today was awesome. The level of competition has really gone up a level from four years ago. I’m emphasizing that. And I got 6th place. I’m still proud of myself. 

Group: USA! USA! USA! 

Alex: Snowmobile, that’s how the top two qualifiers can quickly go back up for the next run. It’s really cool and fast. 

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Now as for the Curling update, this morning, the U.S. men beat Poland 10-9 on the last hammer. 

Herman Fuechtmann: My last draw required patience and a slow, soft throw. It was very light. Both sweepers brushed the floor very hard. The rock stopped right behind the other and we got two points and won the game. 

Sarah: Recently, U.S. played against China and loss 9-2. China is currently undefeated. It was a tough game. 

Now for Chess, we lost in the team competitions to Uzbekistan, 1-3.  The sole U.S. winner is Abraham Glasser.  

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Today in men’s Cross Country race, U.S. athlete Christoper Smith placed 21 out of 22. That was his last Deaflympics event for 2019. 

Now, hockey and the alpine skiing teams rested today. The hockey team has a big game tomorrow against Russia. Exciting!

That’s all for today. Here’s the Italian sign for good night, ‘buona notte’.