The Vermont resident missed two full seasons recovering from multiple knee surgeries, and graduated from an Ivy League college at age 28.
On Sunday, Kasper’s comeback race in a challenging World Cup slalom in Switzerland was a key step to winning selection for a third straight Olympics.
Kasper overcame the beat-up snow surface typically facing racers that wear No. 52 and earned a second run on a quirky hill. A solid second run placed him 20th.
”It’s been a while. To put two runs down, I’ll take it,” Kasper told The Associated Press minutes after his first World Cup race since January 2015.
Kasper has two more elite races in Austria – at storied Kitzbuehel and a pulsating floodlit race at Schladming – to show coaches he should go to the Pyeongchang Olympics. The entry deadline is Jan. 28 and the men’s slalom in South Korea is on Feb. 22.
Still, he has ”no idea” of the U.S. team selection rules, despite placing 13th at Sochi four years ago and 24th at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
”A bunch of other people can figure that out, not me,” Kasper said. ”It would be great to go there but if that’s not to be, it’s not really something I’m focusing on.”
His main focus is again taking on the best in the World Cup. In 2011 Mike Smith Jersey , he tied for second in Slovenia, 0.09 seconds behind the next Olympic champion, Mario Matt of Austria.
”If you want to try to ski fast, (the World Cup) is where you’ve got to prove it,” said Kasper, who barely clicked on his skis for two years after a cartilage injury first required surgery.
A prolonged recovery let him speed up completing an economics degree at Dartmouth College he began in 2010.
Kasper graduated last June, and spent time last year working as an intern for U.S. Ski and Snowboard in Park City, Utah.
He returned to training in October, and now has two more weeks to bring his Olympic journey full circle.
Signs posted around the Olympic venues urge extreme caution. Nine hundred troops stream into the area to help. Worried organizers sequester 1,200 people in their rooms.Officials are scrambling on the eve of the biggest planned event in South Korea in years – not because of anything related to North Korea and national security Kevin Hayes Jersey , but in an attempt to arrest the spread of norovirus at the Pyeongchang Games.
Local media are fretting over a ”virus panic.” South Koreans, always quick to air their views online, have poured scorn on the government’s response and preparations. Are the games hygienic? What will people think about South Korea? Could this spread to the athletes?
Norovirus fears may turn out to be much ado about nothing. But with a national reputation on the line, officials are scrambling to contain its spread. No one here wants these games associated more with disease than athletics in the manner that Zika, a mosquito-borne disease linked to a rare birth defect, loomed over the Rio Olympics in 2016.
According to Olympics organizers, the norovirus spread began Sunday when private security workers staying in the Jinbu area of Pyeongchang started complaining of headaches, stomach pain and diarrhea.
NFL
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Josh McDaniels has backed out of a deal to become the Indianapolis’ Colts new coach, a decision that shocked the franchise hours after it announced his hiring.
The Colts confirmed McDaniels’ decision in a statement Tuesday night after reports emerged that the Patriots’ offensive coordinator had opted to stay in New England with coach Bill Belichick.
McDaniels had agreed to contract terms with the Colts to replace the fired Chuck Pagano. A news conference had been scheduled for Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Colts said McDaniels informed them Tuesday evening that he would not sign the deal.
”Although we are surprised and disappointed, we will resume our head coaching search immediately and find the right fit to lead our team and organization on and off the field Authentic Mikael Backlund Jersey ,” the Colts said in the statement.
The Patriots and McDaniels’ agent, Bob LaMont, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
By spurning the Colts after they waited 22 days to hire him, McDaniels leaves the reeling franchise as the only one without a coach. New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia left Belichick’s staff a day after the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss to become coach of the Detroit Lions.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski can be heard on a 911 call calmly telling a dispatcher that his home was burglarized while he was at the Super Bowl.
Police in Foxborough, Massachusetts, released a portion of the call on Tuesday.
He can be heard telling the dispatcher on Monday: ”This is Rob Gronkowski calling, and while I was gone my whole house got robbed, while on the Super Bowl trip. And I just got back.”
A police report says someone broke a window to get in. In a Broadcastify.com recording of a call between responding officers and dispatch, a dispatcher says ”multiple safes and possible guns” were taken.
The police report redacted all details of what was taken.
The report says Gronkowski lives with two roommates Kyle Connor Jersey , both of whom reported items stolen.
BASKETBALL
NEW YORK (AP) – Knicks All-Star Kristaps Porzingis has torn the ACL in his left knee.
Porzingis was hurt in the second quarter of New York’s loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday night. He dunked with 8:46 left in the half and landed awkwardly, crashing to the court and holding his left knee. He was eventually helped up and taken to the locker room.
He left the arena for an MRI exam that revealed the injury. Porzingis had scored 10 points before he was hurt. He was selected last month for his first All-Star appearance.
NEW YORK (AP) – The Los Angeles Lakers have been fined $50,000 for violating the NBA’s tampering rule again.
League officials made the announcement Tuesday in response to an interview team president Earvin ”Magic” Johnson did with ESPN.
Johnson was discussing the skills of Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo and said the Greek native would put the Bucks ”on the map” and bring them an NBA title.
It’s the third time in less than 12 months the Lakers have been disciplined for tampering.
The team was fined $500,000 last summer after the league found general manager Rob Pelinka had been communicating with Paul George’s agent while George was with the Indiana Pacers. Previously, the NBA issued a warning to the team after Johnson winked at George during a television interview.
WNBA
NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Liberty are remaining under the control of New York Knicks owner James Dolan and Madison Square Garden for now.
The WNBA team was put up for sale in November. An MSG executive confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that Dolan’s group has decided to keep the Liberty at this time.
New York will move most of its games out of the Garden this season and into an arena in suburban Westchester County, two people familiar with the situation told the AP. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made.
The Liberty were one of the WNBA’s original franchises and have been owned by Dolan and Madison Square Garden since the league was founded in 1996.
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