Featured Image: Elisabeth Bocock at the medal ceremony. Credit: Fabrice Gallina
After the athletes competed in the unique and exhilarating team events at the Junior World Ski Championships, the racing continued with two giant slalom competitions on March 3rd and 4th.
Team USA claimed their third consecutive bronze medal in the Championships and the first 2025 JWSC individual medal. On the women’s GS day, Elisabeth Bocock threw down two solid runs to achieve the third fastest time.
“It felt incredible to bring home another medal for the US in the GS yesterday,” Bocock of the Stifel US Ski Team expressed.
The fastest athletes from the giant slalom races were Giorgia Collomb of Italy and French athlete Flavio Vitale.
The Women’s Giant Slalom
The athletes were met with nice weather for the giant slalom race, which meant they could attack panel-to-panel.
Swiss racer Sue Pillar was the first athlete to attack the course. She took advantage of running bib 1 and the ideal conditions. Pillar set the fastest pace, and Giorgia Collomb was the closest to her, seven tenths back.
Unfortunately, in the second run, Pillar was unable to finish, and Collomb executed a solid run to take the lead. The downhill champion Stefanie Grob was third after the first run and moved up to silver position in the second.
Liv Moritz of the Stifel US Ski Team was in striking distance for a medal after the first run, finishing in 4th place. However, she was unable to finish the second run.
Her teammate, Bocock, performed well in both runs, claiming the bronze medal. She has had her eyes set on succeeding in the JWSC this season. She stated, “These races have been my main focus and goal for the entire season, so it was awesome to perform in the moment that means the most to me.”
“I think in both runs, particularly in the bottom section, I did a good job of being aggressive and clean going into each turn,” Bocock explained.
The young athlete of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, Logan Grosdidier, was a highlight of the women’s GS race. She was in 30th position after the first run. But, in the second run, she took advantage of getting on the track first and executed flawlessly.
Throwing down a second run charge, Grosdidier moved up in front of 23 athletes and finished the day in 7th place. A very impressive performance for the U.S. athlete.
Men’s Giant Slalom
Flavio Vitale from France kicked off the first run of the GS with a strong winning pace and maintained his lead after the second run to secure the gold medal. This was the only race the French athlete has participated in so far during World Juniors, and he finished -0.86 in front of the field.
In this discipline, Vitale has achieved two second-place finishes this season in the FIS Alpine Ski Europa Cups.
Norwegian Rasmus Bakkevig and Fabian Ax Swartz of Sweden concluded the day in silver and bronze positions after executing two solid runs.
The top athlete for Team USA was Jeremy Nolting of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. After the first run, Nolting was in 9th place and was able to execute an even better second run for an 8th place finish. The young athlete has already accomplished two top-20 finishes this week, a 14th place in downhill and an 18th place in super-G.
Heading into the final two days of the Junior World Ski Championships, the athletes will compete in slalom today, March 5th, and tomorrow, March 6th. These races will close out a very successful series of races in Tarvisio, Italy.
Bocock expresses the remarkable experience of the JWSC thus far, highlighting the unity among nations throughout this series. She states, “World Juniors has been so much fun so far. Each day the U.S. athletes have had at least one awesome performance, so it has been so fun to cheer on my teammates and have them do the same for me in these moments.”
About the Author: Ellie Hartman
