Egger wins final race, claims 9th junior worlds medal

If there is one junior name to remember for next year it’s Magdalena Egger of Austria. In her final junior world race of her career, Egger edged out Germany’s Emma Aicher for her third win of this series and ninth junior world medal. 

Egger had a dominating performance at the 2022 junior world championships in Panorama Resort, British Columbia. She set her mark quickly after winning the opening downhill race and carried that momentum into the super-G. After back-to-back speed victories, Egger skied a strong slalom in the alpine combined for second place, and took home another silver in the team event. After a hard day in the slalom race, placing 15th, Egger returned for GS where she closed out her junior championship career with gold. 

“The whole junior world championships, I think it will take some time to reflect,” said Egger, lost for words. “I keep Panorama deep in my heart and think I will for sure come back to this magical place.”

Kicking out bib 11, Egger led the first run by a slim 0.04 seconds in front of Aicher. The German had shown consistent skiing throughout the series, taking home the silver in the slalom and downhill. The two battled it out in the second run where Egger extended her lead by 0.22 seconds for a total time of 2:31.02. 

“It is so unbelievable that I got a medal in GS,” said Egger. “GS is the toughest discipline for me and I’ve put so much work in it. I felt good for the first time in my entire life in a GS race. It’s so relieving.”

The top-two women set their own pace ahead of 18-year-old slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia. Ljutic was nearly a second behind Egger in the first run but was able to maintain speed for the bronze, 1.01 seconds behind. 

Alpine Canada teammates Sarah Bennett and Britt Richardson battled neck and neck for eighth and ninth, respectively. Bennett had a 0.17 second leading advantage over Richardson in the first run but was shortened to 0.04 seconds ahead of Richardson. Despite their competitive nature, the two embraced each other at the finish to celebrate their week of racing. Allie Resnick was the top U.S. finisher in 17th place. 

“Our team dynamic is everything,” said Richardson. “We are so supportive of each other.”

Wednesday’s GS concludes the 2022 FIS junior world championships. After a week of competition, Austria won the Mark Hodler trophy as the overall winners of the series. 

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