Alpine Junior Worlds Kick Off, Scheib Clinches GS Gold

Austria’s Julia Scheib raced to giant slalom gold at the opening competitions of the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in Davos (SUI) on 30^th January 2018.

In abundant sunshine, she clocked a cumulative time of 1minute and 39.66 seconds on the Jackobshorn. Sitting in third position following the first run, she also posted the third fastest time in the second run. Teammate Katharina Liensberger took silver, +0.13 seconds back, followed by Riikka Honkanen (FIN), +0.94 seconds off the winning pace.

To the disappointment of the locals, World Cup regular Camille Rast (SUI), who sat in first place following the first leg, made a mistake in the final section of the second run and had to settle for 38^thplace. Her teammate Aline Danioth, however, made up for the disappointment with a strong fourth place.

19-year-old Scheib recently posted one of her strongest results with a 6^th place in super-G at the FIS Europa Cup races in Zauchensee (AUT). In 2016, she took silver in super-G at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer (NOR) which was one of her biggest international achievements to date.

Official Kick-Off

The evening saw the official opening of the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships at the Bolgen Plaza in Davos. Following the nations’ parade, the teams and spectators were entertained by traditional Swiss music, including a performance by local alphorn players.

FIS Council Member Eduardo Roldan then declared the Championships open. In his speech, he said: “I wish all athletes very successful Junior World Ski Championships, good weather, sports performances at the highest level and great excitement and fun at this very important event.”

After the official opening, local ski clubs and the local snow sports school performed an impressive show on the ski slope and in the halfpipe under the floodlights.

Next Up

Action continues with ladies’ slalom and men’s downhill races on Wednesday, 31^st January. Due to the weather forecast, the men’s downhill was moved from Thursday, 1^st February, to one day earlier. For the first time, it will be a 2-run format as it is 450m vertical.