Athletes from five nations on the podium at the Junior World Cup

La Plagne (FIL/09 Dec 2024) German, Italian, Canadian, Austrian, Latvian and Slovakian young athletes made it onto the podium at the first and second Junior World Cup on the 1992 and 2030 Olympic track in La Plagne, France.

The first and second Junior World Cups took place in the French Alps from December 5 to 7, 2024.

Leon Haselrieder, the winner of the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympic Games, was also the fastest at the junior world cup opener. In both races, the 17-year-old Italian won ahead of a Canadian. Dylan Morse and Theo Downey from Calgary, Canada, even secured a double medal day at the second Junior World Cup on Friday, December 6. Morse was on an international podium for the first time. The 19-year-old set the second-fastest time behind Haselrieder on his first run and held his position in the final run. “The race was so much fun. It feels great to be fighting for the top spots, and finishing on the podium makes it even better,” said Morse. In the first junior world cup on Thursday, Austria's Paul Socher took bronze behind Haselrieder and Downey.

Anka Jänicke and Antonia Pietschmann also impressed with two wins and two second places among the young women. The two Germans were the fastest on both days. While Canadian Embyr-Lee Susko took the bronze medal on Thursday, December 5, Margita Sirsnina of Latvia made it onto the podium the following day.

In the men's doubles, the German and Latvian teams were on the podium twice. Only the order of the three teams changed. On Friday, the German teams of Louis Grünbeck / Maximilian Kührt took second place ahead of Silas Sartor / Liron Raimer, ahead of the young Latvians Raimon Baltgalvis / Uldis Jakseboga. On the second day, the Latvians Baltgalvis/Jakseboga turned the tables and took the gold medal ahead of the two German teams Grünbeck / Kührt and Sartor / Raimer.

The women's doubles remained true to their ranking. Elisa Storch and Pauline Patz from Germany were able to secure two victories ahead of the Italians Alexandra Oberstolz / Katharina Kofler and Amanda Ogorodnikova / Selina Zvilna from Latvia.

The final event of the weekend was the Team World Cup on Saturday, December 7, which was won by Team Germany, ahead of Austria and Slovakia.

All results for the first and second junior world cup in La Plagne (FRA) can be found at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/1st-2nd-junior-world-cup-1

Photos: Xavier FAIOLA