Austrian Claims Junior World Championship GS, Hurt Finishes Eighth

Just days after the World Economic Forum cleared out of Davos, Switzerland, the best junior athletes in the world swept in for the 2018 Junior World Championships. On Jan. 30, the women kicked off the series with the giant slalom. The field consisted of World Cup athletes like Slovenia’s Meta Hrovat who just earned her first World Cup podium result as well as skiers from lesser known countries such as Sabrina Simader, who will be Kenya’s first alpine skiing athlete at the Olympic Winter Games next month.

Despite the blue skies and solid snow conditions, it was not an easy race. The course set kicked out first-run leader Camille Rast just a few gates away from the second run finish line. Ultimately, Austrian Julia Scheib came out on top, claiming the Junior World Championship title with a combined time 1:39.66. Teammate and World Cup skier Katharina Liensberger skied into second place, 0.13 seconds back.

Finland’s Riikka Honkanen rounded out the podium in third place, 0.94 seconds off the winning pace. The Finnish skier is no stranger to this event or the podium. This is her fourth appearance at Junior Worlds and her second medal after earning second place in the 2016 giant slalom in Sochi.

The North Americans were led by AJ Hurt of the U.S. Ski Team’s National Training Group. She earned eighth place in her first Junior World Championship race, 1.75 seconds off of the leader. The young gun from Squaw Valley has been on the rise, winning her first NorAm races earlier this season and making her World Cup debut. 

“I thought my first run was okay,” Hurt said. “I was a little hesitant down the main part of the pitch, so I was sliding a lot. I was definitely going for it, which I was happy about. Then second run, I was definitely sending it more and felt a lot more confident.”

Hurt’s teammates also had some solid performances as U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Development Director Chip Knight reiterated.

“AJ had a great race today, finishing in the top-10 against a strong junior field,” Knight shared. “The GS hill in Davos is short, but challenging, starting on a narrow ridge with some sharp terrain and then breaking over a pitch before a flat run-out to the finish. The athletes had to attack the top with skilled skiing and then carry their speed to the finish. AJ executed well with two solid runs. Nina also had a good race, unfortunately just missing the top-10 in 11th. She and the other athletes are fired up for tomorrow’s SL.”

American Nina O’Brien finished 11th while Keely Cashman and Abi Jewett finished 30th and 35th, respectively. Katie Hensien took 51st while Patricia Mangan did not finish.

While the women raced GS, the men were in the midst of downhill training run. They race downhill tomorrow while the ladies compete in slalom. The races are being live streamed on Davos2018.ch for those who want to watch.

Official Results