Bjoerge wins world juniors SL; pumps life back into Norwegian contingent

Bjoerge wins world juniors SL; pumps life back into Norwegian contingentMONT-SAINTE-ANNE, Quebec Norway’s Mikkel Bjoerge edged Austria’s Romed Bauman by less than two-tenths of a second en route to victory in the men’s FIS Junior World Championships slalom. It was the first podium of these championships for the Norwegian men’s team, and according to coach Mika Gustafsson, the win was much needed.

“We have been working very hard for this,” said Gustafsson. “This was a total team effort. … We have had a tough season, because we have mainly been racing at too high a level – the Europa Cup – and we don’t really belong there yet. This gives us very good confidence, and we clearly belong here.”

Gustaffson set the first run course, which was won by Bjoerge, then watched as the rest of his team put down stellar second runs and claimed four of the top 10 spots on the day. Starting bib 35 and moving just inside the top 20 in the morning, Jonathon Nordbotten had the third fastest run of the afternoon, moving to ninth place overall. Leif Kristian Haugen and Mons Bjoerge rounded out the Norwegian quartet with seventh- and eighth-place finishes, respectively.

Sandro Viletta earned the bronze medal with two solid runs, and was Switzerland’s lone representative on the first page of the result sheet.

U.S. Ski Teamer Tim Kelley was the last man to make the first seed, and he took advantage of a good start position, bib 10, by racing a tactful, clean first run. In third place going into the afternoon and in prime position to keep his nation’s two-race podium streak alive, Kelley fired out of the gate second run showing no signs of nervousness. But a couple small mistakes cost him, and he slipped back to fifth place overall. Kelley, though, had no regrets. “Of course I would have liked to have been on the podium,” he said, “But I left everything I had on the course today, and fifth place feels pretty good.”

Kelley’s fifth-place finish automatically qualifies him for a spot on the U.S. C Team next season.

American Will Brandenburg started 45th, made the flip with strong first-run skiing, then stunned the field by winning the second run.

Andrew Weibrecht continued to ski strong on Sunday. The bronze medalist a day earlier in the men’s super G, Weibrecht skied from bib 39 to 11th place overall. Weibrecht essentially cut his bib in half each run, moving from 39 to around 20 in the morning, then charging to a fourth-place run in the afternoon.

The men’s gaint slalom will be held on March 6 on the same trail at Mont-Saint-Anne.

Men’s slalom
Junior World Championship
Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec
March 5, 2006

Top 15 (unofficial)

1. BJOERGE Mikkel [NOR]0:46.47 0:46.51 1:32.98
2. BAUMANN Romed [AUT]0:46.74 0:46.40 1:33.14
3. VILETTA Sandro [SUI]0:46.88 0:46.37 1:33.25
4. GROSS Stefano [ITA]0:47.22 0:46.61 1:33.83
5. KELLEY Timothy [USA]0:46.86 0:47.30 1:34.16
6. PAQUIN Paul [FRA]0:47.53 0:46.90 1:34.43
7. HAUGEN Leif Kristian [NOR]0:47.16 0:47.67 1:34.83
8. BJOERGE Mons [NOR]0:47.44 0:47.59 1:35.03
9. NORDBOTTEN Jonathan [NOR]0:49.26 0:45.90 1:35.16
10. KRYZL Krystof [CZE]0:48.20 0:46.99 1:35.19
11. WEIBRECHT Andrew [USA]0:49.39 0:45.92 1:35.31
12. PATSCHEIDER Hagen [ITA]0:49.65 0:45.85 1:35.50
13. SCHEIBER Florian [AUT]0:49.47 0:46.19 1:35.66
14. RIVAS Gabriel [FRA]0:49.64 0:46.18 1:35.82
15. ZRNCIC-DIM Natko [CRO]0:49.00 0:46.93 1:35.93

For a link to complete results, click here.