Calgary, Alta. (March 15, 2017) – The 2017 World Junior Championships held in Åre (SWE) have come to a close and Canada walks away with a gold medal in the Team Event, a silver in ladies’ slalom, along with five top-ten results. The best junior athletes from around the world competed downhill, super-G, alpine combined, giant slalom, slalom and the action packed team event. 

The week started off with the speed events where Jack Crawford and Sam Mulligan posted the fourth-fastest times in downhill and super-G respectively. In the downhill, three Canadians finished in the top 30 with Jeffrey Read finishing in 12th-place and Sam Mulligan in 28th-place. 

The men’s super-G was unbelievably close with the top five athletes separated by just 0.08 seconds and only one second separated the top 20 racers. In the very technical super-G race, Mulligan finished in fourth-place, just +0.04 off of the leading time and +0.02 from a podium finish. Read posted another great finish with an 11th-place result and Riley Seger finished in 13th-place. The tough course ousted 29 athletes from the race.

Stefanie Fleckenstein was the top performing Canadian athlete in the ladies’ speed events with a 30th-place finish in the downhill. This comes after Fleckenstein had her first World Cup downhill start this season at Lake Louise (CAN). Combining both her speed prowess and technical abilities, Fleckenstein also posted the best Canadian ladies’ result in the alpine combined race with a 14th-place finish. 

In the men’s alpine combined race, three Canadians finished in the top 15 with Sam Mulligan in the top ten finishing ninth. Simon Fournier and Jeffrey Read tied in 13th-place.

Canada took home the big win in the Team Event beating out favoured nations such as the Austrians, Norwegians, Swiss and Germans for the gold medal. The Canadian team featured Jack Crawford, Jeffrey Read, Stefanie Fleckenstein and Ali Nullmeyer who gave the crowd a show, winning the final round against Austria three to one. 

Nullmeyer proved her dominance in the tech disciplines landing on the podium in the ladies’ slalom race with a second-place finish, just +0.09 off the winning time. Coming off the team event win, Nullmeyer pushed out of the gate wearing bib number one to capture silver. Nullmeyer had her World Cup debut at the World Championships in St. Moritz (SUI) earlier this month finishing in the top 30 in the slalom race. 

In the giant slalom race, the ladies’ battled tough conditions, including flat light and a rugged track due to rain and warm weather. Nullmeyer finished 20th and teammate Marina Vilanova joined her in the top 30 with a 24th-place finish. 

Crawford collected his second top-five finish of the week in the men’s giant slalom with a fourth-place finish and Fournier posted the best Canadian men’s time in the slalom race with a 14th-place result. 

Overall, the Canadian team finished the 2017 World Junior Championships as the sixth ranked nation, demonstrating that the future is bright for Canadian ski racing and our next generation of alpine superstars are competitive on the world stage. 

Canadian Top 30 Results

Men’s Downhill

4 – Jack Crawford

12 – Jeffrey Read

28 – Sam Mulligan

Ladies’ Downhill

30 – Stefanie Fleckenstein

Men’s Super-G

4 – Sam Mulligan

11 – Jeffrey Read

13 – Riley Seger

Ladies’ Super-G

n/a

Team Event

1 - Canada

Men’s Alpine Combined

9 – Sam Mulligan

13 – Simon Fournier

13 – Jeffrey Read

Ladies’ Alpine Combined

14 – Stefanie Fleckenstein

Men’s Giant Slalom

4 – Jack Crawford

30 – Sam Mulligan

Ladies’ Giant Slalom

20 – Ali Nullmeyer

24 – Marina Vilanova

Men’s Slalom

14 – Simon Fournier

Ladies’ Slalom

2 – Ali Nullmeyer

21 – Marina Vilanova

22 – Stefanie Fleckenstein

Complete results available here.

ABOUT ALPINE CANADA

Alpine Canada is the national governing body for alpine, para-alpine and ski cross racing in Canada. With the support of valued corporate partners along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Alpine Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic, world championship and World Cup medallists to stimulate visibility, inspiration and growth in the ski community.