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Camden Palmquist USA Photo Zoom Agency
Portes du Soleil, France, February 2, 2024 — The technology race for the 2024 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships has begun, pitting the world’s fastest under-20 ski racers against each other. The women competed in the GS in Saint-Jean-d’Alpes in the morning, while the men ran a slalom race under pink skies at Morzine, two exceptional resorts in France’s Portes du Soleil region.
men’s rotation
It was an exciting night of slalom competition under the lights of Morzine’s Pleny Stadium, with 145 competitors from 49 countries on the start list.
Lenz Heckler of Switzerland won, becoming the junior world slalom champion. “I couldn’t do much slalom training because I had inflammation in my tibia,” Heckler said after the race. “Today was my first day back in the gate. Of course this is crazy, but I dreamed of this.” Austria’s Moritz Zdrell won the silver medal (+0.39), followed by Norway’s Hans – Goulart-Madsen won the bronze medal. (+0.57).
Click on the image to enlarge.
U.S. men recorded three top-10 finishes in slalom. Stanley Buzek of Team Summit, Colorado hosted a banner night. In his world junior debut, Buzek started 38th and finished 26th in the first run, gaining an early starting position in the second run. He won the second run by a huge margin of 0.65 seconds. As the top 30 progressed, Buzek continued to hold the leader’s spot, sitting in the oversized red leader chair that seats more than 20 racers, but then he was forced out of the lead. He ended up finishing fifth, the highest in the nation.
“I didn’t realize how good of a run it was when I got off, but the FIS guys told me I needed to sit in a chair.” [leader] Chair. It’s crazy,” Buzek said at the finish.
The moment was made even more disturbing because the leader’s chair was placed behind a giant screen, blocking the live racing action. “I couldn’t see the racers coming down,” Buzek said. But he knew his run was solid. “I had a little failure at the top, but the bottom part was great skiing. Of course I’m happy.
“I grew up skiing on that soft salt snow, so on my second run I said to myself, ‘You’ve been doing this your whole life. This snow is yours.’ ‘The key was to have confidence in myself heading into the second run.’ The French press called Buzek an ‘impossible American.’ This unlikely American deserves attention.
Additional performances in the US
Steamboat’s Cooper Puckett placed seventh and Camden Palmquist placed eighth, giving the U.S. team three top-10 finishes in the slalom. “It was great to see three American players in the top 10, and to see Stanley take the advantage so well in the second run,” Paquette said. Justin Bigatell was 18th and Jay Poulter was 31st.
women’s giant slalom
The Saint-Jean-d’Alpes resort in Portes du Soleil hosted today’s women’s giant slalom race on a course the FIS has named Esserailou.
On the podium, Canada’s Britt Richardson won the gold medal. Stephanie Grob of Switzerland (+0.81) won the silver medal. Albania’s Lara Kolturi won the bronze medal (+1.18).
American Elizabeth Bocock, who grew up skiing Snowbird and attending Rowmark Academy, finished fifth in her first Junior World Championships. “GS is my favorite event, so I was nervous going into the race and wanted to perform well.The speed of the course was much faster than I expected, so I made a pretty big mistake, which caused a big loss. We suffered losses,” Bocock said. “But I’m happy with my results, especially considering I didn’t qualify for the World Juniors last year.”
Teammate Liv Moritz, who trains at Ski & Snowboard Club Vail and is currently on the University of Denver roster, won her second run after finishing 22nd in her first run. Combining his first and second run times, he placed 11th overall. “I made a mistake in the first run and lost time, but it was great to win the second run,” Moritz said. “The weather was perfect on race day, as well as the snow. I can’t wait to continue racing this season, it’s a big win.”
Additional performances in the US
Tatum Gross-Didier of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, finished 14th among U.S. women. Mia Hunt of Park City, Utah, who also skis for the University of Denver Pioneers, finished 29th.
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