Mogul skier Heidi Kloser of Vail named to Olympic team for Sochi

Two other Vail Valley athletes named in freeskiing

Mogul skier Heidi Kloser of Vail has been named to the U.S. Olympic team for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

The news first came out on her Facebook page Monday night and was followed by enthusiastic posts from her parents, Mike and Emily Kloser of West Vail.

Heidi Kloser of Vail is headed to Sochi (Facebook photo).

“Just got the most amazing news!” Heidi Kloser posted. “I’m going to Sochi!!!!! I am so excited!!”

“Yesssssssss! She’s in!!!!!!!!!!! We’re going to Sochi,” Mike Kloser posted.

“BIG NEWS!!!! She just got the call. Heidi Kloser is an OLYMPIAN,” Emily Kloser posted.

On Tuesday, United States Ski and Snowboard Association confirmed the news in a press release.

Kloser, 21, finished fifth, second and fifth in the last three World Cup qualifying events this month.

Kloser is joined on the women’s side by defending Olympic gold medalist Hannah Kearney, Heather McPhie, of Bozeman, Mont., and Eliza Outtrim, of Hamden, Conn. Only two American men were named to the Sochi moguls squad: Patrick Deneen, of Cle Elum, Wash., and Bradley Wilson, of Butte, Mont. Mac Bohonnon, Madison, Conn., Ashley Caldwell, Ashburn, Va.,and Emily Cook, Belmont, Mass., were named to the aerials team.

“Our Olympic aerials and moguls athletes represent a mix of veteran champions,” said USSA Freestyle Director Todd Schirman. “It blends a mix of veteran champions like Hannah Kearney and Patrick Deneen with younger athletes who are starting to distinguish themselves like Rookie of the Year Mac Bohonnon. Every athlete on this team has shown that they can ski onto the podium against international fields and are well prepared to compete in Sochi.”

In freeskiing, Aaron Blunck, of Crested Butte, a senior at the Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy, made the inaugural men’s halfpipe skiing team for Sochi, and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail’s Analisa Drew, of Andover, Md., made the inaugural women’s halfpipe skiing team for Sochi.

“Each of the freeskiing athletes added to our nominations brings the potential for success in Sochi,” said Jeremy Forster, USSA’s director of freeskiing and snowboarding. “They each distinguished themselves during the Grand Prix qualifying series with some amazing performances, all the way through the last qualifying events this past weekend.”