An exciting first day of competition in Bardonecchia, the venue for the FIS Telemark Junior World Championship. On the FISI 50 slope at Colomion, perfectly prepared by the Bardonecchia Ski area staff, the most promising young talents in this fascinating discipline competed in the Sprint race. Characterised by harmonious skiing with the knee bent thanks to the free heel, this discipline was the forerunner of alpine skiing, which had its beginnings in Bardonecchia.
Two heats were scheduled for the Sprint on a highly spectacular course, full of curves, changes in gradient and spectacular jumps, with the finish line in the Pian del Sole area, easily accessible by chairlift, also for pedestrians, starting from Campo Smith.
In the Women's category, the gold medal went to France's Lenaig Mansart, who dominated both legs with zero penalties and a total time of 2'09'“56. Silver went to Germany's Magdalena Kern (2'17”'33 + 2 penalties) and bronze to Switzerland's Saskia Hermann (2'18''35 and 3 penalties).
The gold medal in the men's event was uncertain until the very end, with Switzerland's Timo Walser (2'02'“77 + 4 penalties) beating Sweden's Vile Noaksson (2'03”'54 + 5 penalties) by just 77 hundredths of a second. Norway's Kristian Jordhoy (2'05''32 + 5 penalties) completed the podium.
On Thursday 12 March, again on the FISI 50 slope at Colomion, the Classic race is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m.
Friday 13 March will see the Parallel, individual and team competitions. Starting at 9.15 a.m. on the La Stampa slope, again with the finish line at Pian del Sole, the athletes will compete in direct elimination heats until the semi-finals and finals are decided, which will award the last medals of the FIS Junior Telemark World Championships in Bardonecchia.
The level of competition will rise even further on Sunday 15 and Monday 16 March with the two-day FIS Telemark World Cup, also in Bardonecchia, which will see the best athletes in this discipline take to the slopes for the penultimate stage of the calendar in search of precious points to win the legendary Crystal Cup.
