Alpine skiing’s Next Gen chase dreams & titles at Junior Worlds in Tarvisio
Feb 26, 2025·Alpine Skiing
Ski racing’s future stars are set to shine as a mix of seasoned young athletes and promising newcomers compete at the 2025 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, 27 February-6 March. The showcase event opens with both the men’s and women’s Downhills on Thursday.
Eleven medal events are scheduled with competition taking place on Tarvisio’s Di Prampero and Priesnig B slopes. Mirroring the recently concluded senior World Championships in Saalbach, Austria, both the Team Parallel event and the new men’s and women’s Team Combined events take center stage too.
A total of 382 athletes – between the ages of 15-20 – representing 60 nations are primed to race. It is the 44th edition of the Championships and the second time Tarvisio has hosted, the first back in 2002.
Competition will be shared between two race slopes – one for speed and one for tech events.
The Di Prampero piste has a proven track record and is considered among the more intriguing race hills in the Alps. Surrounded by a natural landscape of stunning beauty. It will be home to the Men's and Women's Downhill, Super G and Team races. Di Prampero boasts a length of 3,920 metres, a vertical drop of 655m and an average slope of 26.5%.
The Priesnig B slope will test racers with its multiple steeps and varied terrain, a piste ideal for Giant Slalom and Slalom races.
Athletes and nations to watch
Giorgia Collomb (ITA) will race on home snow as a freshly crowned senior world championship gold medalist, having been part of Italy’s Team Parallel champions in Saalbach, on 4 Feb.
The 18-year-old from La Thuile upset Swiss veteran Wendy Holdener in her heat to help boost her team to victory. Collomb also finished an impressive 21st in the World Championship Slalom, to take another positive step up in her promising career.
“This season has gone better than expected for me – Killington was super,” Collomb said, in reference to finishing 19th and 16th in the World Cup GS and Slalom races in the USA resort this season. “I’m very young, so I need all this experience – it’s a new world for me, so let’s go.”
The Italian teenager has already proven herself on the international scene, having captured GS gold, plus Alpine combined silver and Slalom bronze at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Collomb will be part of an Italian squad of 16 athletes (nine men, seven women) racing in Tarvisio. Her teammate Sara Thaler, 20, was fourth in Downhill at the 2024 Junior World Championships and similarly should not be overlooked.
Another young talent seeking to ride the momentum of a recent breakthrough performance is Cornelia Oehlund (SWE). On Sunday the 19-year-old rocketed from 23rd after the first run of the women’s World Cup Slalom in Sestriere to end in a career best fifth place.
Oehlund clocked the quickest second run by an enormous 0.81 seconds and her confidence is naturally sky high entering Tarvisio.
“Thank you Sestriere – what a day first World Cup top five and fastest in the the second run,” Oehlund wrote to her Instagram followers. “I have no words, I’m just so happy.”
The young Swede also charged to a Slalom bronze medal at the 2024 Junior World Championships in France.
The Swiss Ski Team has been on fire all season, including topping the standings at the World Championships in Saalbach with 13 medals, including five golds. A tough ask to follow that kind of success no doubt, but the young Swiss have led the medal counts at each of the past two World Junior Championships in Haute Savoie, France (2024) and St. Anton, Austria (2023).
However, of the seven Swiss medalists from 2024, only GS silver medalist Stephanie Grob, 20, returns this time around among a squad of 16 (eight men, eight women).
Swiss Junior Ski Team coach Werner Zurbuchen outlined what comprises a good event, in his eyes.
“Staying healthy, happy and the best possible performance from everyone – then it will be a successful Junior World Championships,” Zurbuchen said.
Austria returns four of six medalists from the 2024 championships and will be represented by 16 skiers too (nine women, seven men). Reigning women’s Downhill gold medalist Victoria Olivier and silver medal winners Viktoria Bürgler, Natalie Falch, and Moritz Zudrell are all expected to be in the hunt for additional hardware.
Norway continues to churn out elite young racers and the newest group competing in Italy should be no exception. A small squad of eight (six women, two men) will represent the Scandinavian nation. The Sylvester-Davik twins Madeleine and Pia, aged 19, and cousins Eva Unhjem Johansen, 17, and Helene Unhjem Oveland, 16, all come from strong ski racing families and demonstrate great potential.
The USA arrives with a full squad of 16 athletes (eight women, eight men). Elisabeth Bocock, 19, and Liv Moritz, 20, return to Junior World Championships as Team Parallel bronze medalists from 2024. Stanley Buzek, 19, was fifth in Slalom one year ago and is a medal contender this time around.
Future stars of the sport
The young athletes competing in Tarvisio hope to follow the paths of numerous current FIS Audi World Cup stars who have captured World Junior Titles, including Marco Odermatt (SUI), Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR), Clement Noël (FRA), River Radamus (USA), Petra Vlhova (SVK), Corinne Suter (SUI), and Paula Moltzan (USA).
More recently, younger World Cup standouts Zrinka Ljutic (CRO), Lara Colturi (ALB), Malorie Blanc (FRA) plus Franjo von Allmen (SUI), and Giovanni Franzoni (ITA) have all also won World Junior medals.
Considering the history of the event as a springboard to future international success, titles in Tarvisio will be highly coveted.
Medal ceremonies will be held every evening in Tarvisio’s Piazza Unità d’Italia.
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