Men’s Junior World Championships Concludes with Slalom Win for Italy

In the final men’s race of the World Junior Championships, Italian Alex Vinatzer proved he is the Junior King of slalom, taking the victory by 1.38 seconds over American Ben Ritchie. Belgium’s Sam Maes trailed Ritchie in third by eight-hundredths of a second. Over the course of the 2018/19 season, Vinatzer has represented Italy both on the Europa Cup and the World Cup levels. On the World Cup circuit, he finished in the top 20 in Schladming, Adelboden, and Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

“Being junior world champion is beautiful,” said Vinatzer. “In the first heat, I was able to take advantage of the good bib number, while the second run was more difficult. After this victory, I just want to think about improving, with the aim, for next season, to enter permanently among the top 10 in slalom.”

American Benjamin Ritchie earns his first individual medal of World Juniors in the slalom. Photo courtesy of Val di Fassa 2019.

Ben Ritchie’s silver medal in the slalom is his second of the week after he helped contribute to the USA’s team event silver. Ritchie also had his first NorAm win earlier on in the season during the Camp Fortune series in Canada.

“I can not say I had podium expectations or not, my only goal was to be ready to do my best and I think I did it. I can say I gained from the team event, where I had gotten the fastest run time. The medal last week motivated me even more, has created a good energy for the U.S. Team, which thanks to the medals of River Radamus has made a great World Juniors. For me, it was a fantastic experience, in a magnificent location, and it being my first Worlds, I still have room to grow.”

In addition to Ritchie’s second place finish, the Americans were able to squeeze two more athletes into the top ten. Jimmy Krupka tied for sixth with Croatian Samuel Kolega, and Jett Seymour rounded out the top of the field in tenth. Teammate Jacob Dilling also finished in the top 30, placing 20th overall. Unfortunately, two-time World Junior gold medalist River Radamus was unable to finish his second run. He had been sitting in 12th after his first run.

The United State’s Ski Team has been criticized over the course of the 2018/19 season for the lack of men’s slalom team on the World Cup level. Alpine Development Director, Chip Knight, says that the results in Tuesday’s slalom point to what is to come from the team as a new wave of men move up the ranks of development.

“All in all, we showed that we have good depth in the technical events the last two days, which is a great foundation to build on in the years ahead,” said Knight.

World Juniors in Val di Fassa will come to a close on Wednesday, February 27th after the women’s downhill.

Top 10

1. Alex Vinatzer (ITA): 1:46.52

2. Benjamin Ritchie (USA): +1.38

3. Sam Maes (BEL): +1.46

4. Joshua Strum (AUT): +1.77

5. Andreas Strand (NOR): +1.88

6. Jimmy Krupka (USA): +1.90

6. Samuel Kolega (CRO): +1.90

8. Filip Vennerstroem (SWE): +1.92

9. Maurus Sparr (SUI): +1.96

10. Jett Seymour (USA): +2.03

For full FIS results, please click here.