South Lake Tahoe's Maddie Bowman Prepares for Her Olympic Debut

South Lake Tahoe native Maddie Bowman is preparing for her debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics on Thursday, February 20. Maddie will be part of the inaugural Olympic Freeskiing Halfpipe event. Qualification rounds are Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Sochi time (6:30 a.m. Tahoe time) with the finals at 9:30 p.m. Sochi time (9:30 a.m. Tahoe time).

The top U.S. athletes commented on the vast improvement of the halfpipe in the last few days, anticipating an exciting Olympic debut for their sport. Reno native David Wise will compete in the first-ever men’s medal event for halfpipe skiing at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games. His even is scheduled for Tuesday Feb. 18, 5:45 a.m. PST.

"They’ve listened to us so much on how to fix the halfpipe," said Bowman. "It really turned out well. I just want to land my run. I expect all the girls to come out firing and I’m really excited to see how it goes."

"The fog rolled in today but the pipe was the best it’s been," added Wise. "t stayed really consistent and cold, and I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be good."