This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The daredevil ski racer who grew up in the shadow of Mount Timpanogos had an unforgettable finish to his FIS World Cup season.
Steven Nyman, the 34-year-old alpine racer from Provo, made history last week in Switzerland. Nyman became the first American in the history of downhill to earn four consecutive World Cup podiums.
Only two Americans had hit three in a row: Daron Rahlves in 2003 and 2006, and six-time Olympic medalist Bode Miller in 2008. Nyman's second-place finish at St. Moritz is a strong result considering next year's 2017 FIS World Championships will be held on the same course.
A product of Sundance Resort, Nyman finished sixth overall in the World Cup downhill standings.
"To have four podiums in a row, I'm really fired up and ready to carry that momentum into next season," he said last week. "I just learned a lot this year. Really happy and feeling strong, but I'm also ready for the season to end."
Nyman made the most of his last go in 2016. And he wasn't the only local athlete to have an eventful winter World Cup season. Here is a look at how Utahns and Utah transplant athletes fared on the slopes, halfpipe and ice:
Brittany Bowe, speedskating • The former Florida Atlantic University point guard had a historic year on the rink. The 28-year-old long-track speedskating star was the 2015-16 overall World Cup champion, amassing 10 golds on the ISU World Cup circuit this season. The Utah resident also won 20 medals in 22 races and won her second-consecutive World Sprint Championship gold in Seoul, South Korea.
Heather Bergsma, speedskating • The rivalry between Bowe and Bergsma captivated long-track speedskating this season. The two combined for 45 medals and became the first pair in 30 years to finish 1-2 at World Sprint Championships in back-to-back seasons. Bergsma hails from High Point, N.C., but lives and trains in Salt Lake City, won 18 medals this year and finished as the World Cup season champion in the 500-meter race.
Ted Ligety, alpine skiing • The two-time Olympic gold medalist from Park City saw his World Cup season start perfectly with a gold medal in his first giant slalom race of the year in Soelden, Austria. But injuries took hold from then on. The 31-year-old missed time due to three herniated discs in his back and a hip muscle tear before eventually suffering a season-ending ACL tear during a training run in Oberjoch, Germany, on Jan. 27. He's six weeks into a lengthy recovery.
Ashley Caldwell, freestyle aerialist • The 22-year-old aerialist and two-time Olympian won the women's overall World Cup title. Her four podiums and three first-place finishes secured the trophy for the Park City resident. Caldwell, who finished second overall in 2015, became the third American woman to win the overall aerials title.
Maddie Bowman, ski halfpipe • The 2014 Olympic gold medalist had another banner year in the pipe. The 22-year-old Westminster College student from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., won gold in the women's ski SuperPipe at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., in late January. Bowman also won the U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe event at Park City Mountain Resort on Feb. 5 before winning the final FIS World Cup halfpipe event of the year in Tignes, France, on March 10.
Devin Logan, freeskier • The Olympic silver medalist, who also attended Westminster College, was the first freeskier to win the FIS Freestyle overall Crystal Globe, awarded to the most consistent athlete across all five FIS freeskiing events: Halfpipe, slopestyle, moguls, aerials and ski cross.
Joss Christensen, freeskier • Park City's 2014 Olympic gold medalist in ski slopestyle finished fifth overall on the FIS slopestyle World Cup circuit and won the U.S. Grand Prix stop in Mammoth Mountain, Calif., on Jan. 24.
McRae Williams, freeskier • The Park City-raised freeskier finished third overall on the FIS slopestyle World Cup circuit and had a second-place finish in the U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
Steven Holcomb, bobsled • Injuries slowed the 35-year-old bobsled driver's World Cup season. The driver of the 2010 Olympic gold medal sled in Vancouver suffered a minor tear in his Achilles at the Sochi Games in Feb. 2014 which lingered for some time. That eventually led to an early quadriceps injury that also lingered into the start of the season. Growing accustomed to a new crew, Holcomb's sled finished 11th overall in the four-man bobsled and eighth overall in the two-man bobsled. Holcomb won two-man gold in Lake Placid, N.Y., in early January.
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