Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Saratoga Springs, New York, United States | September 10, 1970
Sport | |
Sport | Cross-country skiing |
John Farra (born September 10, 1970) is an American former cross-country skier. [1] He competed in the men's 10 kilometre classical event at the 1992 Winter Olympics. [2] Following the Olympics, Farra worked in several roles as a high performance director, [3] including for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. [4]
Farra was born in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1970, and began skiing when he was two years old. [3] [4] Farra attended the University of Utah, and would later go on to coach the university's cross-country ski team. [3] He also attended the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid. [3]
In 1990, Farra joined the US Ski Team ahead of the 1992 Winter Olympics. [4] At the 1992 Winter Olympics, Farra finished in 60th place in the men's 10 kilometre classical event, [5] and in 49th place in the men's 15 kilometre freestyle pursuit event. [6]
In 2008, Farra became the Nordic Director of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. [4] [7] He went on to become the High Performance Director of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic ski programme. [8] [9] In 2018, Farra was also named as the High Performance General Manager of USA Triathlon. [10]
The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and association have been headquartered in Park City, Utah.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, formerly known as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, is the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding. Founded in 1905, the organization provides leadership and direction for skiers and snowboarders from over 400 member clubs. The association is headquartered in Park City, Utah.
The USOPC Coach of the Year awards are given annually by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee to the top coaches in Olympic and Paralympic sports. One award is given in each of five categories:
The USOPC Athlete of the Year awards are part of a series of awards presented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee to athletes who have distinguished themselves in one of the Olympic or Paralympic sports. Awards are presented to the Olympic or Paralympic SportsMan of the Year, SportsWoman of the Year, and Team of the Year.
Brian McKeever is a Canadian cross-country skier and biathlete, who became Canada's most decorated Winter Paralympian when he won his 14th medal at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. He finished the 2018 Games with a career total of 13 gold medals and 17 medals, making him the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever. McKeever claimed a 16th Paralympic gold medal in the men's para cross-country middle distance vision impaired race at Beijing 2022, drawing him level with the German para-alpine racer Gerd Schönfelder for the most men's Winter Paralympic wins.
National Sports Academy was a private preparatory school for winter-sport athletes in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The academy was closed in 2015.
Masako Ishida is a Japanese cross-country skier who has competed since 1998. Her best World Cup finish was third in the 30 km event in Norway in 2009.
The United States participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The U.S. team had a historic Winter Games, winning an unprecedented 37 medals. Team USA's medal haul, which included nine gold, marked the first time since the 1932 Lake Placid Games that the U.S. earned more medals than any other participant.
The United States competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from February 7 to 23, 2014. Team USA consisted of 222 athletes competing in all 15 sports.
Jessica Diggins is an American cross-country skier. She is the most accomplished cross-country skier from the United States in the sport's history having won two World Cup overall titles, three Olympic medals, six World Championship medals, and numerous other event championships. Diggins has used her status as a famous athlete to advance advocacy related to climate change and eating disorders.
Competitive cross-country skiing encompasses a variety of race formats and course lengths. Rules of cross-country skiing are sanctioned by the International Ski Federation and by various national organizations. International competitions include the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup, and at the Winter Olympic Games. Such races occur over homologated, groomed courses designed to support classic (in-track) and freestyle events, where the skiers may employ skate skiing. It also encompasses cross-country ski marathon events, sanctioned by the Worldloppet Ski Federation, and cross-country ski orienteering events, sanctioned by the International Orienteering Federation. Related forms of competition are biathlon, where competitors race on cross-country skis and stop to shoot at targets with rifles, and paralympic cross-country skiing that allows athletes with disabilities to compete at cross-country skiing with adaptive equipment.
Kiley McKinnon is an American freestyle skier. She came in first place in the aerials competition during the 2015 FIS World Cup Champion and also won a silver medal in aerials at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2015 in Kreischberg, Austria. In 2018, McKinnon represented Team USA in the PyeongChang Olympics and placed 10th in aerials. McKinnon is a co-founder of Halfdays, a direct-to-consumer brand for women's ski wear made of recycled fabrics that launched in November 2020.
Alice Merryweather is a World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States, and competes primarily in the speed events, downhill and super-G. Born and raised in Hingham, Massachusetts, she graduated from Stratton Mountain School in Vermont and plans to attend Dartmouth College in 2018.
Ben Loomis is an American Nordic combined skier. He competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics and was selected to represent Team USA at the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics.
Alexander Hall, known colloquially as A Hall, is an American freestyle skier from Fairbanks, Alaska. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, while competing for team USA, Hall won the Olympic gold medal in Freestyle skiing – Men's slopestyle.
Kendall Gretsch is an American triathlete, biathlete and cross-country skier. She was born with spina bifida. She has competed in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics and has a unique distinction of winning gold medals in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.
Japan sent competitors to the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The group from Japan competed in para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing, para-snowboarding and sledge hockey.
The Dartmouth College Ski Team is organized under the aegis of the Dartmouth Outing Club and is notable for both providing students access to competitive skiing and training internationally successful nordic and alpine ski racers. The Dartmouth Outing Club hosted the US's first downhill ski race on Mt Moosilauke in 1927, and Dartmouth skiing has been intertwined with ski racing ever since.
Viktoriya Viktorivna Olekh is a Ukrainian cross country skier who has competed internationally since 2011. She competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Women's 10 kilometre classical, Women's 30 kilometre freestyle, Women's 15 kilometre skiathlon, Women's sprint, and Women's 4 × 5 kilometre relay.
August "Gus" Schumacher is an American cross-country skier. In 2020, Schumacher became the first American to win a gold medal in an individual race at the Junior World Ski Championships. He competed in the 30 kilometre skiathlon at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Schumacher won the Men's 10 km freestyle race at the 2024 Stifel Loppet Cup in Minneapolis on February 18, 2024. His win marked the first time an American male skier had won an individual distance event since Bill Koch in 1983.