U.S. Ski & Snowboard recently announced official starters for Period 1 of the 2023/2024 World Cup season. As with some prior announcements from USSS, this is an official list of nominees, which is not the same as actual starters. For example, you should assume that Hailey Swirbul and Hunter Wonders will not accept these starts, inasmuch as they are currently retired.
I have not reached out to athletes to attempt to confirm their plans beyond that. By the time you get down to some of the bubble athletes on these lists (i.e., alternates and athletes who may also have NCAA racing commitments), my experience is that athletes may not currently know the answer to this question in June, anyway.
Athletes were chosen in accordance with these criteria from USSS.
Official American starters for Period 1 of the World Cup are as follows:
Classic sprints in Ruka and Östersund
Men
- Zanden McMullen (basis for selection: objective) (reason: overall SuperTour leader from 2022/2023 season)
- Ben Ogden (objective) (10th in Sprint Cup last season)
- JC Schoonmaker (objective) (30th in Sprint Cup)
- Kevin Bolger (objective) (40th in Sprint Cup)
- Zak Ketterson (discretion) (17th in Val di Fiemme classic sprint last season)
- Luke Jager (discretion) (55.51 FIS sprint points)
- Logan Diekmann (discretion) (61.32 FIS sprint points)
- Will Koch (alternate) (76.66 FIS sprint points)
- Michael Earnhart (alternate) (81.47 FIS sprint points)
Women
- [Hailey Swirbul, objective, overall SuperTour leader from 2022/2023 season]
- Julia Kern (objective) (7th in Sprint Cup last season)
- Jessie Diggins (objective) (11th in Sprint Cup last season)
- Rosie Brennan (objective) (16th in Sprint Cup last season)
- Alayna Sonnesyn (discretion) (74.35 FIS sprint points)
- Lauren Jortberg (discretion) (85.8 FIS sprint points)
- Sammy Smith (discretion) (97.22 FIS sprint points)
- Novie McCabe (alternate) (108.46 FIS sprint points)
- Sarah Goble (alternate) (110.7 FIS sprint points)
10km classic in Ruka and Trondheim
Men
- Zanden McMullen (objective) (overall SuperTour leader)
- Scott Patterson (objective) (21st in Distance Cup last season)
- Ben Ogden (objective) (26th in Distance Cup last season)
- [Hunter Wonders, discretion, 11th in Oberstdorf 10km classic last season]
- Gus Schumacher (discretion) (15th in Oberstdorf 10km classic last season)
- David Norris (discretion) (22nd in World Champs 50km classic last season)
- Zak Ketterson (discretion) (28th in Lahti 20km classic last season)
- John Steel Hagenbuch (alternate) (27.26 FIS distance points)
- Luke Jager (alternate) (35.71 FIS distance points)
Women
- [Hailey Swirbul, objective, overall SuperTour leader from 2022/2023 season]
- Jessie Diggins (objective) (2nd in Distance Cup last season)
- Rosie Brennan (objective) (6th in Distance Cup last season)
- Julia Kern (discretion) (12th in Val Müstair 10km classic last season)
- Novie McCabe (discretion) (14th in Falun 10km classic last season)
- Sophia Laukli (discretion) (29th in Beitostølen 10km classic last season)
- Alayna Sonnesyn (discretion) (44.32 FIS distance points)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger (alternate) (45.6 FIS distance points)
- Alex Lawson (alternate) (53.63 FIS distance points)
20km skate in Ruka, 10km skate in Gällivare and Östersund
Men
- Zanden McMullen (objective) (overall SuperTour leader)
- Scott Patterson (objective) (21st in Distance Cup last season)
- Ben Ogden (objective) (26th in Distance Cup last season)
- David Norris (discretion) (17th in Holmenkollen 50km skate last season)
- Gus Schumacher (discretion) (18th in Davos 20km skate last season)
- [Hunter Wonders, discretion, 19th in Oberstdorf 20km skate last season]
- Zak Ketterson (discretion) (26th in Lillehammer 10km skate last season)
- John Steel Hagenbuch (alternate) (27.26 FIS distance points)
- Luke Jager (alternate) (35.71 FIS distance points)
Women
- [Hailey Swirbul, objective, overall SuperTour leader from 2022/2023 season]
- Jessie Diggins (objective) (2nd in Distance Cup last season)
- Rosie Brennan (objective) (6th in Distance Cup last season)
- Julia Kern (discretion) (10th in Toblach 10km skate last season)
- Sophia Laukli (discretion) (17th in Davos 20km skate last season)
- Novie McCabe (discretion) (25th in Ruka 20km skate last season)
- Alayna Sonnesyn (discretion) (26th in Davos 20km skate last season)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger (alternate) (45.6 FIS distance points)
- Alex Lawson (alternate) (53.63 FIS distance points)
20km skiathlon in Trondheim
Men
Same starters, in same order, as for 10/20km skate races listed above
Women
- [Hailey Swirbul, objective, overall SuperTour leader from 2022/2023 season]
- Jessie Diggins (objective) (2nd in Distance Cup last season)
- Rosie Brennan (objective) (6th in Distance Cup last season)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger (discretion) (20th in World Champs skiathlon last season)
- Sophia Laukli (discretion) (17th in Davos 20km skate last season)
- Julia Kern (discretion) (17th in Oberstdorf 20km skate last season)
- Novie McCabe (discretion) (25th in Ruka 20km skate last season)
- Alayna Sonnesyn (alternate) (26th in Davos 20km skate last season)
- Alex Lawson (alternate) (53.63 FIS distance points)
* * *
As USST Program Director Chris Grover noted in the recent announcement, and as has been the case for several years now, discretionary selections were nominated by a 15-person working group, then approved by a review group. The people reviewing and approving those selections are as follows:
— Gavin Kentch
