Tech Events Begin at Junior Worlds

Stella Johansson: Photo Credit GEPA

Under a light snowfall, the women’s GS race kicked off the tech events at the  Junior World Champs in St. Anton. 

St. Anton, Austria, Jan. 21, 2023 — The 2023 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships (JWSC) transitioned from speed events to tech today with the women’s GS race.  A dusting of snow fell in the morning, but the track stayed firm and fast. 

Colturi’s father sets super slow course

The excitement for the day was the second run of Lara Colturi, the Italian who races for Albania. After the first run, she sat in 11th place, +1.49 seconds behind the leader. On a 42-gate course that dropped 1,135 feet down St. Anton’s World Cup venue, Colturi skied into bronze position with a strong second run. The afternoon’s course—which was, coincidentally, set by her father,  Alessandro Colturi, was a much slower course than the first run, roughly 14 seconds longer. 

Sweden’s Hanna Aronsson Elfman took the top of the podium;  Stefanie Grob of Switzerland took silver (+1.06), and Colturi landed in the bronze medal position (+1.24). 

Racing for the U.S., Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team (USST) athlete Dasha Romanov and Aspen Valley Ski Club racer Stella Johansson tied for 13th place (+2.90). Next on the leaderboard, USST and Burke Mountain racer Zoe Zimmermann, who started in the 37th position on the first run, ended up in 15 for the day (+3.22). (Fun fact: Zimmermann’s grandmother, Penny Pitou, won two silver medals at the Squaw Valley Olympics in 1960.)

Romanov said the second run course was a thigh burner. “It was so much turnier than this morning, and it didn’t let up the whole way—down to the very last skate,” she said after the race. “It was definitely a battle. A big leg and lung burner.” Her teammate Zimmermann said the tempo of the course was slow. “The set was really across the hill the entire way, making it difficult to find a rhythm,” she said. “I was trying to go too straight and cutting it off too much.” 

In the grandstands, the highlight of the day was most certainly the arrival of the Nidbärgschrinzer, a 50-piece carnival brass band that often brings its guggenmusik from Switzerland to St. Anton for World Cup races. However, the tempo from the stands was plenty upbeat, with local school children waving flags, ringing their cowbells, and asking the world’s best junior racers for autographs. The musicians, dressed in gold-and-silver costumes with elaborate matching face paint, brought the finish to life.