Ligety, Shriffin and Vonn headline American roster for Soelden

With the first World Cup race of the season just 48 hours away, the U.S. Ski Team announced the men and women that will represent the country on the Rettenbach Glacier.

On the ladies side, there are two previous Soelden winners–Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn. The latter is a surprise addition to the roster and has not started at Soelden since 2012.

“Plan as of right now is to start on Saturday, which I’m really excited about,” Vonn said in an announcement on Twitter. “I just have to see what the conditions are like when I start, which is, I think, bib 31. So, if they’re not good and it’s dangerous then I won’t start, but otherwise, my plan is definitely to be racing, so I’m really excited.”

They will be joined by independent skier and 2017 GS National Champion Megan McJames and current Dartmouth College athlete Foreste Peterson. This will be Peterson’s World Cup debut. The NCAA athlete was the top ranked American in the NorAm GS standings last season.

On the men’s side, fans will be celebrating the return of Ted Ligety, a four-time Soelden winner. Ligety will share the spotlight with teammates Tommy Ford, David Chodounsky and Ryan Cochran-Siegle. Independent athletes Hig Roberts and Tim Jitloff as well as current University of Utah skier Sam Dupratt also earned World Cup starts.

Racing action kicks of this Saturday, Oct. 28, with the women’s giant slalom. For details on how to watch, click here.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article misidentified Tim Jitloff as a member of the U.S. Ski Team. He was previously on the national team, but was not nominated for the 2017-18 season.