Juniors getting experience in tough competition conditions

It's been tough conditions for the Aussies in the Alpine World Junior Championships in Are, Sweden this week.

Four of our most talented up and coming alpine skiers competed on a global stage against the world’s best athletes in Downhill, Super G, Alpine Combined, Slalom and Giant Slalom.

"The experience from this event is incredibly valuable for their future development" Said Alpine Program Director Brad Wall. "It's a pinnacle event for young alpine skiers all over the world."

Flat light and warm temperatures lead to challenging conditions for the women's Giant Slalom where Katie Parker didn't finish her first run after taking too much direction off a blind jump, and Lily Tomkinson skied conservatively but nerves got the better of her. Louis Muhlen secured 28th spot in the GS and Harrison Coull came in at 58. 

In the Super G, Parker had a slow start, picking up speed as the course progressed, making a tactical error to miss a gate just short of the finish line.  Muhlen also got off to a slow start but had a very strong mid section only to blow out of the course after skiing too straight in a critical section. The sole finisher was Coull who finished 64th in the Super G. Harrison's run was not without trouble though as he lost a lot of speed going into a flat section. 

Earlier in the week the athletes had great conditions for the Downhill training which dimished into overcast weather and bad visibility for the race days.

Muhlen had a big improvement after two days of training, finishing 25th, roughly 1.8 seconds behind leader Sam Morse from USA.

"Not a bad performance in a very competitive field, there is always room to improve but not a bad start to the week” said Wall of Louis.

Parker finished 40th roughly 4.3 seconds behind leader Alice Merriweather, also of the USA.  Her first run in training showing promise, finishing 2.9 seconds behind the leader, though she wasn't able to keep the momentum into race day where the bumpier course caught Parker off guard.

With two more years to compete as juniors, Muhlen and Parker have had an amazing learning experience in what has been the most competitive stage of their alpine racing careers so far.

Alexandra Rouse
Ski & Snowboard Australia