SSCV alumnus Kyle Negomir takes 16th in Wengen super-G as Olympic qualification race tightens

Defending Olympic silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle placed sixth to lead four Americans into the top-30 at the World Cup super-G in Wengen, Switzerland on Friday morning.

Sam Morse inserted himself into the Olympic conversation with a 15th-place finish as former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail skier Kyle Negomir continued his own strong bid one place back and fellow SSCV alumni River Radamus finished 26th.

“You know, this is always a good fitness challenge for the year, and I’ve never actually scored points here so it felt good — even though I made a couple mistakes — (to) put a run together and feel like I had an approach I was proud of,” Negomir said.

Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni captured his first-career World Cup win. The 24-year-old posted the fastest final sector on the Lauberhorn en route to a winning time of 1 minute, 45.19 seconds. Austria’s Stefan Babinsky finished 0.35 seconds back in second, narrowly edging out Swiss skier Franjo Von Allmen. Marco Odermatt placed fourth.

Cochran-Siegle said he gained valuable intel from Thursday’s downhill training run.

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“I felt like I was pretty keyed in on my skiing itself and knowing the super-G was set pretty similar to the downhill, honestly I think there was more ability for me to trust it and know what to expect,” he said. “So overall, (I’m) happy with it.”

The sixth-place result was the 33-year-old’s best showing of the season since finishing second in the downhill at Beaver Creek last month.

“My skiing has been solid through the season. I’ve had moments that have been really strong, like Beaver Creek downhill and Copper super-G,” Cochran-Siegle continued. “I feel like I was a little bit stagnant with my approach the last few races. Right now, (I’m) trying to get back to that good focus.”

Morse bolted from bib 47 to finish 15th, by far his best result of the season.

“It felt a little loose, but I knew that’s what it was going to take,” the Maine skier said, adding that he knew he was in the race when he came out of the tight ‘S’ turns with “OK” speed.

“It was pretty dark and bumpy down at the bottom, but I had (a) good finish report from Ryan, who was just like, ‘trust that you can go straighter than the tracks. It’s going to be bumpy, but just stand on it,’ and that’s what I did.” Morse said.

“This is one of those times when in life you need something and you dig deep into the well and sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn’t. So, super grateful it came today,” the 29-year-old continued. “Obviously, Olympics are looming, spots are tight, it’s been a slow start to the year — so to throw it down in front of the Wengen crowd is really special.”

A maximum of 22 athletes (11 women, 11 men) can represent a single nation at the 2026 Olympics. The U.S. women have 11 quota spots and, as of this writing, the men have seven. The official Olympic Team size will be determined by the FIS using the Olympic Quota Allocation List on Jan. 19 and the quota reallocation process on January 21-22.

The first selection method for the U.S. Ski Team is objective criteria based on best World Cup results in an individual discipline in the selection events between Oct. 25, 2025 and Jan. 18. Radamus and Cochran-Siegle have already been named to the men’s team. Up to four athletes can start for the U.S. in any given discipline.

Negomir currently sits 16th (second American) in the overall World Cup downhill standings and 26th in the super-G (third American). His best downhill result is 11th in Val Gardena on Dec. 18 and his best super-G finish is the 16th from Friday. The only better American finish in a downhill is Cochran-Siegle’s runner-up result in Beaver Creek. The only Americans with better super-G results would be Cochran-Siegle (sixth in Wegnen), Radamus (12th in Beaver Creek) and Morse (15th in Wengen).

Even with his consistently strong showings, Negomir said Friday’s result didn’t alleviate any pre-Olympic selection stress.

“I wish I could say it did,” he said. “I think I’ll still wake up the next two days and still feel sick to my stomach. I always thought when I was younger that, you know, Olympic years would just be exciting and you’re looking forward to it. And it turns out, you’re just like nervous as hell when you wake up. So I’m excited for this weekend to be over and have that lifted off.”

The speed weekend wraps up with a downhill on Saturday. Overall, Negomir said his skiing is in a good place going into the 2.7-mile long downhill — the longest on the circuit.

“I finally feel like I’m in a place where I’m putting together all the puzzle pieces of ski racing,” the 27-year-old added. “(I’m) dialing in things on the technical side, the physical side, inspection and getting all these different things and having them together at the right time.”