ALPINE SKI JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in Crans Montana (SUI), men’s slalom and ladies’ final downhill training, 31 January 2011 -- Switzerland’s Reto Schmidiger successfully defended his Junior World Championship title in slalom while Lotte Smiseth Sejersted of Norway again posted the fastest time in the final training of the ladies’ downhill

Reto Schmidiger (SUI), photo: Deprez SA, Crans-Montana

The 18-year-old Schmidiger claimed victory in front of the home crowd at the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in Crans-Montana followed by his countrymen Justin Murisier in second and Mathias Rolland of France in third.

Already at the 2010 Junior Worlds in France, Schmidiger was in third position after the first run before claiming the top spot on the podium with an impressive second run. Ultimately, the Swiss skier from Hergiswil distanced his teammate Murisier, who almost stood still after a huge mistake in the second run, by the large margin of 1.54 seconds. Contrary to Schmidiger, Justin Murisier has already scored points on the World Cup level. In the 2010/11 season he placed eighth as his best result in slalom in Val d’ Isère. Rolland was fifth after first run and put down a good second run finishing third 2.03 seconds off the pace.

The Finn Victor Malmstrom, who was second after first run, straddled a gate half way down the course and was a DNF. The leader of the first run and giant slalom title holder, Alexis Pinturault of France suffered the same fate and went out. This left the two Swiss skiers, both born in the year 1992, in first and second place. After today’s slalom race, the two Swiss skiers, who both did well in slalom and giant slalom, are also in a good position to win a medal in the combined ranking, which includes the disciplines slalom, giant slalom and downhill.

With his victory, Schmidiger becomes the first racer ever to defend the slalom title in two consecutive years since the inauguration of the Junior World Championships in 1982.

Podium Slalom, photo: Deprez SA, Crans-Montana

The ladies final downhill training on Monday was more or less dominated by the same names as the day before. Norway’s Lotte Smiseth Sejersted clocked once again the fastest time, followed by Joana Haehlen and Priska Nufer, both from Switzerland. Their teammates Wendy Holdener and Jasmin Rothmund took fourth and fifth.

The ladies’ downhill race will be carried out on Tuesday along with the men’s first downhill training.

FISalpine.com
Monday 31 January 2011

Alexis Pinturault (FRA) takes men’s giant slalom

The Junior World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, were kicked off Sunday with the men’s giant slalom and ladies’ first downhill training.

The men's and ladies competition and training runs place under bluebird skies and perfect but challenging conditions on the slope. Thanks to the pleasant weather the fans came in fairly large numbers and mostly lined up in the finish area to cheer on their favorite athletes.

The giant slalom course held up quite nicely even in the second run in the afternoon although the snow was soft in certain sections resulting in some ruts even after the first couple of guys. However, the slowly deteriorating course did not bother Pinturault, who already showed that he is skiing on top of his game in the first run when he put down the fastest time. He was a whopping eight tenths ahead of Kriechmayr after the first leg and secured the lead with a solid second run winning by .63 seconds over Kriechmayr and 1.09 over Faivre. This was the third consecutive victory for France in the giant slalom at the World Junior Championships. In 2010, Sunday’s bronze medalist Faivre won in Les Houches, France, and Pinturault claimed victory in 2009 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

The 20-year-old Pinturault is also the current leader of the overall European Cup and giant slalom discipline standings. "The win today was the goal of a good season and the reward of a good preparation. The Junior Worlds were awaited greatly and I had high expectations. I was hoping and expecting to win this title and I am extremly pleased that it worked out that way!" says a relieved Pinturault after his outstanding performance that awarded him the giant slalom title.

After the first run the Swiss Ski team still had their hopes up to score a podium finish with the defending slalom champion Reto Schmidiger in third and Justin Murisier in fifth position. However, both Swiss racers made mistakes in the second run and fell back in the ranking. Schmidiger eventually finished 9th and Murisier 7th.

Behind the French bronze medalist Mathieu Faivre three Austrian skiers, namely Roland Leitinger, Marcel Mathis and Martin Bishop were classified in fourth, fifth and sixth place. Frederic Berthold, the son of the Austrian Ski Association men's head coach Mathias Berthold, finished twelfth.

On the ladies side, last year’s bronze medal winner Lotte Smiseth Sejersted (NOR) put down the fastest time in the first downhill training that took place on a fairly challenging terrain that features a lot of jumps. The Swiss ladies had been training on the slope in Crans Montana all week long, which seemed to pay off on Sunday. They finished in the places 2 through 7, with Priska Nufer in second and Andrea Thuerler in third. Wendy Holdener came in fourth, followed by teammates Joana Haehlen in fifth, Jasmine Flury in sixth and Corinne Suter in seventh.

At night, the athletes took part in the opening ceremonies of the World Junior Championships, where the 51 nations were presented in front of a crowd of 5,000 people at the centre of the town of Crans Montana.

The ceremonies were topped off with an appearance by special guest Didier Defago, who has been a notable ski figure in Switzerland for over 10 years. He congratulated the athletes for qualifying for the Word Championships and thanked their parents and coaches for their support.

The program for the men will continue on Monday with a slalom while the ladies are gearing up for their second and final downhill training run.

FISalpine.com
Sunday 30 January 2011