Women’s Slalom is the Penultimate Event at JWSC

Ava Sunshine and Zoe Zimmermann JWSC St Anton, Austria: Photo credit Magnus Walch

Under clear skies in St. Anton, American Ava Sunshine notches a top-ten finish at the Junior World Ski Championships. 

St. Anton, Austria, Jan. 24, 2023 — Following the 2023 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships (JWSC) Team Parallel event, a dual race held last evening under the lights in nearby Zurs, the world’s best junior racers were back at St. Anton today for the women’s slalom. After a week of racing in low visibility, the weather finally cleared in the afternoon, providing bluebird skies for the women’s second run.

While Mikaela Shiffrin was making history with her 83rd World Cup, win in the Kronplatz, Italy GS, the finish in St. Anton’s Karl Schranz stadium was similarly jubilant, including plenty of cowbells and country flags. 

Swedish racer Hanna Aronsson Elfman took gold in the slalom, with Switzerland’s Janine Mächler in the silver medal position (+0.45) and Beatrice Sola from Italy with bronze (+1.00). 

Ava Sunshine

The top American racer in the JWSC slalom was Stifel US Alpine Team member and Burke Mountain Academy, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete Ava Sunshine, who cracked the top ten with an 8th place finish (+1.86). “I just wanted to go for it,” Sunshine said from the finish corral. “I think I had some good sections, though I made a couple of mistakes. But I was happy with the charge.”

Zoe Zimmermann

Stifel US Alpine Team member and Burke Mountain Academy racer Zoe Zimmermann was happy to be competing in the sunshine in the afternoon. “It was a really fun course, but I felt I could have gone harder than I thought I could from the inspection,” she said after the second run. Zimmermann placed 11th (+2.39). After Junior Worlds in St. Anton, Zimmermann and Sunshine will head for Špindlerův Mlýn in the Czech Republic for the World Cup slalom races next week. 

Dasha Romanov

Starting early in the second run, USST racer Dasha Romanov was having a clean and fast run but got inside on a left-footer and slid below the next gate. Even with a quick hike, she finished in 27th (9.38). “I’m happy with the effort I put in today, but I made a mistake and had to hike out of it,” Romanov said. “I think I respected the hill and the course a little too much when, really, these were the best conditions I’ll probably ever see. It was an opportunity to send it—and I didn’t.” But Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation racer is taking a long view. “The World Juniors have been such a great experience, and I’m excited to take the things I learned here into the next races.” 

Mary Bocock

Even the American racers who didn’t make it to the finish are taking a positive view on the week at Junior Worlds. Mary Bocock hipped out in the second run, bounced back spectacularly, and slid out again a few gates later. “As a team, the United States may not have performed as well as we were hoping for in this series—but I think we have the speed and the potential to ski well,” said Bocock, a Stifel US Alpine Team member and Rowmark Academy athlete from Salt Lake City, Utah. “I think it’s just a matter of putting two runs down with fewer mistakes.”

The men’s slalom, slated for tomorrow (Jan. 25, 2023), will be the final competition of the 2023 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships. Livestream is available at y-ournextstep.at/en/watch-live/