Featured Image: Team USA. Credit: Fabrice Gallina
The 44th Junior World Alpine Ski Championships (JWSC) continued with exciting super-G races, a Team Combined, and a Team Parallel event.
Every racer fought fiercely in each event, determined to leave their mark at the top of the leaderboard.
The United States demonstrated remarkable teamwork in this individual sport by excelling in the new team events. The USA athletes impressively achieved back-to-back bronze medals in the Men’s Team Combined and the Team Parallel event.
Bronze in the Men’s Team Combined
The Team Combined is an exciting new event that premiered at the World Championships and is set to be included in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. For the first time, the Junior World Championships also featured this Team Combined competition, imitating the format of the World Championship event.
Two athletes from their nation join together with one racer competing in slalom and the other in super-G. The USA had three teams competing: USA 1 was Hunter Salani and Stanley Buzek, USA 2 was Jeremy Nolting and Camden Palmquist, and USA 3 was Sawyer Reed and Aksel Lindenmeyr.
Super-G Portion
In the super-G event, Jeremy Nolting and Hunter Salani from USA 1 and 2 delivered impressive performances. Nolting finished just -0.04 seconds ahead of Salani.
Heading into the slalom, Nolting held the 12th position, +1.31 seconds behind the Swiss leader, while Salani was close behind in 13th, +1.35 seconds off the pace. Reed of USA 3 came through in 24th position, +2.08 off the pace.
Slalom Portion
The slalom competitors had to give it their all to climb higher on the leaderboard.
In the slalom round, the USA racers unveiled their ability to compete at the top in the discipline. Apex2100 athlete, Lindenmeyr of USA 3, knew he had to really throw down in order to move up from 24th position. He executed a top 3 run, finishing +0.73 out from the Swedish slalom lead.
Buzek was close behind him, coming through +0.75 behind the fastest time.
At the previous Alpine Junior World Ski Championships, the Stifel US Ski Team racer, Buzek, achieved a 5th place finish in the slalom, so this fourth place was a personal best in the discipline at this esteemed event.
For USA1, Buzek’s run was enough to pull them ahead onto the podium. The pair secured the bronze medal. This was both of their first medals at JWSC.
The Stifel US Ski Team wrote on social media, “Yesss!!! Junior Worlds Bronze in the Team Combined!!! Congratulations to Hunter Salani and Stanley Buzek on winning their first-ever Junior World Championships medal and the first of the event for the U.S.”
At the start of the season, Salani expressed, “I aim to secure a podium finish at a NorAM speed race and place in the top 10 at World Juniors in downhill.”
He successfully reached his World Juniors target by finishing 7th in the downhill event and went on to achieve even more by winning his first medal at the esteemed event.
With Lindenmeyr’s 3rd place slalom run, he moved him and Reed from 24th to a 7th-place result. Unfortunately, Palmquist of USA 2 did not finish the slalom.
Bronze in Mixed Team Parallel Event
On March 2nd, the men and women were mixed for an exhilarating Team Parallel competition. In the Team Parallel event, the athletes go side-by-side and compete in a sprint-like giant slalom.
The USA team was composed of Stifel US Ski Team members, Elisabeth Bocock, Sawyer Reed, Liv Moritz, and Stanley Buzek.
The USA entered the first round going head-to-head with Great Britain. They swept all four races. Proceeding to the next round, the USA went up against Austria, which was more of a nail-biter.
Elisabeth Bocock started off with a DNF against Natalie Falch, but both Sawyer Reed and Liv Moritz were able to beat out their competitors. Stanley Buzek went last and was unable to beat Florian Neumayer, but the U.S. had just enough to claim victory and move on to the semifinal round.
In the semi-final match, the U.S. faced a tough beginning against Sweden. Elisabeth Bocock and Sawyer Reed both fell short against their opponents. Meanwhile, Liv Moritz and Stanley Buzek had to step up to help the team. They put in a tremendous effort and managed to secure victories against their rivals, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to advance to the final round.
Nonetheless, Team USA still managed to successfully take home hardware, finishing in 3rd place. France achieved gold and Sweden raced into silver.
The athletes will finish racing in the tech portion of the JWSC. The men and women will transition into giant slalom today (March 3rd) and tomorrow. Then, they will conclude with slalom races on March 5th and 6th.
About the Author: Ellie Hartman
