Vonn, Kim, Shiffrin named to Olympic team; Anderson misses out - ESPN

Jamie Anderson's comeback will not have its fairy-tale ending.

The three-time Olympian and two-time Olympic gold medalist in snowboard slopestyle was notably absent from the U.S. Ski & Snowboard 97-person roster released Thursday that was headlined by Olympic veterans Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin and Chloe Kim. Anderson's omission ends her Olympic bid following the births of her two daughters over the past two years.

Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion who has staged an improbable comeback over the past year and a half, will compete in her fifth Games at age 41. Shiffrin, the most decorated Alpine skier of all time, heads to her fourth Games, and three-time Olympian Kim will attempt to become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive gold medals.

«In many ways, making this team is even harder than the Olympics themselves,» snowboard program director Rick Bower said in a statement. «The depth of our field is incredible, and selection truly came down to the wire.»

Throughout her comeback, Anderson showed flashes of her old self, riding with fluidity and power, finishing sixth in her first World Cup Big Air contest in three years and earning Best Trick honors at the Rockstar Energy Open in December.

«Growing up, when I saw older professional snowboarders decide to have a family, it seemed like there was no room for them in the sport and they disappeared,» Anderson, 35, told ESPN early in her return. «Now there's a movement to support women in careers and sports who want to have families. To have the opportunity to try and represent the U.S. at a fourth Olympics with my family alongside me, that's a win.»

Anderson also dealt with a string of setbacks. She broke her right wrist during a training camp in New