FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships 2010, Region Mont Blanc (FRA), Day 6 -- Mona Loeseth of Norway, whose sister Nina was last year's World Juniors slalom bronze medalist, captured the victory on Friday at Les Houches, France in the ladies giant slalom. The 17-year-old won her first gold yesterday, only four days after claiming her first podium with a silver medal performance in slalom. Loeseth skied consistently well throughout the Championships also clinching gold in combined (first place in giant slalom paired with a second in slalom and a 15th in downhill).

German Lena Duerr was less than half a second behind for the silver medal, while Italian Federica Brignone, last season's combined gold medalist, came in third with the fastest second run time. Earlier this season the daughter of former slalom star Maria Rosa Quario landed the first World Cup podium of her career in third in Aspen, USA.

In the same contest last season, Loeseth finished just off the podium in fourth in giant slalom and slalom. "I was hoping for one medal. I didn't expect it to be this many," said the youngster happy as the 2010 FIS Alpine World Junior Championships closed Friday. "The GS fit me really well because it was kind of flat and short and I like it flat," added the Norwegian.

Loeseth, who comes from a skiing family with two other sisters competing in the World Cup, goes home from the World Juniors with three medals. Despite her young age, she successfully competed in World Cup this season placing 12th in giant slalom and 14th in slalom as career best results. She is flying to Vancouver next Monday to try her best in the upcoming Olympic Games where she will be competing in all disciplines except downhill.

The silver medalist in giant slalom, German Lena Duerr, whose best result in World Cup this season was a ninth place in giant slalom, was satisfied with her Championship overall performance after placing 4th in super G and 9th in slalom.

The Norwegian ladies celebrated their first 1-2 with Mona Loeseth taking the combined title, followed by her teammate Lotte S. Sejersted. Austrian Jessica Depauli rounded out the podium in third.

At the conclusion of the 2010 FIS Alpine World Junior Ski Championships in the Mont Blanc region, France won the medals table with a total of 5 medals (4 gold/1 silver), ahead of Norway with 7 medals (2 gold/3 silver/2 bronze) and Italy with 4 medals (1 gold/2 silver/1 bronze). Although Austria won five medals, it was only ranked in seventh as it failed to win any gold. Altogether eleven nations won medals.

Medals Table after 8 events + 2 combined rankings
Position Nation Gold Silver Bronze TOTAL
1 FRA 4 1 0 5
2 NOR 2 3 2 7
3 ITA 1 2 1 4
4 GER 1 2 0 3
5 SUI 1 0 0 1
6 USA 1 0 0 1
7 AUT 0 3 2 5
8 SWE 0 0 1 1
8 RUS 0 0 1 1
8 CAN 0 0 1 1
8 SLO 0 0 1 1

FISalpine.com
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

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