Bulgarian Ski Team at the Alpine World Jounior Championships: coaches - Eduard Reichhart, Petar Kraichev, Ivan Konqrski, Ivan Grebencharski; racers - Nikola Chongarov, Svetoslav Georgiev, Stefan Prisadov, Kostadin Mutafchiev i
Stoyan Varbanov
. bg ski news : GAP 2009: Men's slalom gold to Jesper Riis-Johannessen (NOR) - 06 March 2009 - 19:04
Bulgarian Nikola Chongarov placed 8-th
No racer from an Alpine country reached the podium in the last race of the 2009 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships at Garmisch-Partenkirchen: Norway's Jesper Riis-Johannessen won the slalom ahead of two members of the US Ski Team, Tommy Ford and Nolan Kasper. France's Victor Muffat-Jeandet was 4th only 2/100 of a second from the podium.
Bulgarian Ski Team at the Alpine World Jounior Championships: coaches - Eduard Reichhart, Petar Kraichev, Ivan Konqrski, Ivan Grebencharski; racers - Nikola Chongarov, Svetoslav Georgiev, Stefan Prisadov, Kostadin Mutafchiev i
Stoyan Varbanov
Only four skiers from the first seed managed to complete both runs - many favorites such as Austria's Marcel Hirscher who had bib number 1, skied out or straddled a gate. In fact only 62 racers from the 118 at the start made it through!
This helped Switzerland's Sepp Gerber, who qualified in the last minute for the Junior Worlds, to capture the combined event, which is a tally of the downhill, giant slalom and slalom results, bring a second gold medal to his team.
Jesper Riis-Johannessen achieved two solid runs on the ‘Gugisberg' World Cup course to clock a total time of one minute 20.18 seconds and beat his closest rivals by over half a second. He already set the fastest time in the morning leg in which most of the top skiers had a hard time finding their best rhythm. Riis-Johannessen also remained out of reach for his main contenders in the afternoon. Only Bulgaria's Nicola Chongarov, who started several minutes before him, was a little faster than the winner in the final run.
Nikola Chongarov after slalom race in Garmish
Jesper is the first Norwegian to clinch the Junior World slalom title since the success of Mikkel Björge at Mt Ste Anne, in Quebec, in 2006.
"It's pretty amazing, I can't believe it. I was not thinking about this victory this morning since there were so many top skiers at the start," said the Norwegian who turns 20 in two months. "I felt confident after winning a FIS race last month, but I was quite surprised to suddenly set the fastest time in the first run."
"It's a great achievement for my team but also for me. I'm so happy to be able to join the world best ski racers in Are next week and attend the exciting World Cup Finals at Are," he added. "Just being part of that event is wonderful for me, a dream-come-through situation. I certainly was lucky today to complete both runs without too many problems. Starting in the 15th position helped me for sure to figure out the best tactic in the first run. Then I just fought as hard as possible in the second run to defend my chances for the title. Many skiers were classified within a few hundredths of a second after the first run, so I had no other choice than to go for it."
Both US skiers were glad to be the first members of their team to reach the podium at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. "I was 8th in the super-G but skied out in giant slalom so it was my last chance to do well here; I was quite motivated," said Ford, who grabbed his first ever medal at Junior Worlds. He was 4th in giant slalom at Formigal last winter, but already won FIS races in North America.
"The best about it is sharing this podium with a teammate. I'm very happy that Nolan came in 3rd, it's a good performance for our team. It's quite a task trying to beat the Europeans in the major competitions. Most of them are more experienced than we are."
A dream also came through for Sepp Gerber, 4th in the downhill race earlier in the week, who finished 34th in the slalom. "It's something very special to get the combined gold medal, I have a hard time believing it," said the skier from the region of Bern. "I was pretty disappointed to miss the bronze medal in downhill the other day so I fought hard in the following races. I started with a high number this morning and it was quite a fight to make it to the finish line," added Gerber who will be part of the Swiss ‘B' team next summer. "It's a huge step for me, I can't even tell you what it means to me."
by Patrick Lang
FIS news
06/03/2009
Place Garmisch Partenkirchen (GER) Discipline Slalom
Date 06.03.2009 Category FIS Junior World Ski Championships
Race codex 0691 Gender M
Valid for FIS Points NO - Waiting reports TD Name McLean Ian (NZE)
Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time FIS Points
1 15 421868 RIIS-JOHANNESSEN Jesper 1989 NOR 40.31 40.47 1:20.78 12.89
2 20 531799 FORD Tommy 1989 USA 40.34 40.95 1:21.29 16.68
3 13 532138 KASPER Nolan 1989 USA 40.70 40.62 1:21.32 16.90
4 3 193967 MUFFAT JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA 40.38 40.98 1:21.36 17.20
5 10 193986 PLACE Francois 1989 FRA 40.83 40.78 1:21.61 19.05
5 4 53898 KOENIG Thomas 1990 AUT 40.61 41.00 1:21.61 19.05
7 22 561161 JAZBEC Patrick 1989 SLO 40.82 40.93 1:21.75 20.09
8 42 92534 CHONGAROV Nikola 1989 BUL 41.50 40.28 1:21.78 20.32
9 32 194212 THOULE Nicolas 1990 FRA 40.96 40.93 1:21.89 21.13
10 36 103617 ROUTHIER Mathieu 1990 CAN 41.14 40.92 1:22.06 22.40
11 16 561191 GASPERIN Timi 1990 SLO 41.24 40.86 1:22.10 22.69
12 53 193901 DEVOUASSOUX Jonas 1989 FRA 41.47 40.89 1:22.36 24.63
13 30 421849 JOHANSEN Truls 1989 NOR 41.45 40.96 1:22.41 25.00
14 52 180602 LESKINEN Roope 1990 FIN 41.84 40.64 1:22.48 25.52
15 49 501384 LINDGREN Tim 1989 SWE 42.01 40.49 1:22.50 25.67
16 54 481148 MAITAKOV Sergei 1990 RUS 41.66 40.86 1:22.52 25.81
17 33 53859 TRIENDL Armin 1989 AUT 41.56 41.01 1:22.57 26.19
18 17 501401 SAXVALL Per 1989 SWE 41.40 41.29 1:22.69 27.08
19 19 501557 PIETILAE HOLMNER Johan 1991 SWE 40.83 41.90 1:22.73 27.37
20 48 930105 GRANSTROM Colby 1990 USA 42.03 40.79 1:22.82 28.04
21 25 990048 BORSOTTI Giovanni 1990 ITA 41.80 41.17 1:22.97 29.16
22 43 100558 COOK Dustin 1989 CAN 42.02 41.29 1:23.31 31.68
23 28 103656 HALBERT Kelby 1990 CAN 42.30 41.10 1:23.40 32.35
24 27 180567 RASANEN Joonas 1989 FIN 41.83 41.80 1:23.63 34.06
25 51 511682 FRAVI Jonas 1990 SUI 42.59 41.54 1:24.13 37.77
26 50 100615 MACKIE Michael 1989 CAN 42.36 41.82 1:24.18 38.14
27 63 200379 SANDER Andreas 1989 GER 42.42 41.84 1:24.26 38.74
28 38 291459 PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA 41.99 42.50 1:24.49 40.45
29 46 180627 MALMSTROM Victor 1991 FIN 41.73 42.93 1:24.66 41.71
30 64 202437 LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER 42.82 41.92 1:24.74 42.30
31 58 421840 HAUG Andreas Willumsen 1989 NOR 42.30 42.59 1:24.89 43.42
32 72 202265 STAUBITZER Benedikt 1990 GER 42.55 42.39 1:24.94 43.79
33 66 510883 GERBER Sepp 1989 SUI 42.52 42.45 1:24.97 44.01
34 68 481103 ANDRIENKO Aleksandr 1990 RUS 42.85 42.46 1:25.31 46.54
35 65 103729 READ Erik 1991 CAN 43.66 41.72 1:25.38 47.06
36 73 103752 TROW Andy 1991 CAN 42.66 42.87 1:25.53 48.17
37 61 60179 CORNETTE Niels 1991 BEL 42.73 42.89 1:25.62 48.84
38 23 200349 NAMBERGER Hannes 1989 GER 42.88 42.85 1:25.73 49.66
39 87 350086 HEEB Simon 1991 LIE 43.06 43.23 1:26.29 53.82
40 69 150878 HOVORAK Martin 1990 CZE 43.33 43.18 1:26.51 55.45
41 70 250267 SIGURGEIRSSON Stefan Jon 1989 ISL 43.46 43.33 1:26.79 57.53
42 76 481199 DANILOCHKIN Yuri 1991 RUS 44.52 42.79 1:27.31 61.39
43 77 430472 KLUSAK Michal 1990 POL 44.31 43.16 1:27.47 62.58
44 96 20328 RUIZ ANTUNA Nil 1991 AND 44.78 43.28 1:28.06 66.96
45 60 700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK 43.69 44.39 1:28.08 67.11
46 88 460067 OLARU Bogdan 1989 ROU 44.18 44.50 1:28.68 71.57
47 81 250264 THORVALDSSON Jon-Vidar 1989 ISL 44.62 44.64 1:29.26 75.88
48 89 250272 HALLDORSSON Gunnar-Thor 1990 ISL 44.78 44.58 1:29.36 76.62
49 92 150944 KOTZMANN Igor 1991 CZE 44.68 44.85 1:29.53 77.88
50 93 350088 OEHRI Josef 1991 LIE 45.42 44.58 1:30.00 81.37
51 94 60164 WILLEMSEN Victor 1989 BEL 45.87 44.19 1:30.06 81.82
52 97 240122 SZEPESI Bertold 1990 HUN 45.65 44.42 1:30.07 81.89
53 105 240132 FARKAS Norbert 1992 HUN 45.82 44.67 1:30.49 85.01
54 98 92575 MUTAVCHIEV Kostadin 1991 BUL 45.85 44.87 1:30.72 86.72
55 79 310389 KOCIC Jovan 1990 SRB 46.55 44.69 1:31.24 90.58
56 99 310391 LACKOVIC Igor 1991 SRB 45.59 45.72 1:31.31 91.10
57 80 250273 HILMARSSON Sigmar-Orn 1990 ISL 46.83 47.00 1:33.83 109.82
58 104 550044 MARKSS Svens 1991 LAT 47.45 46.87 1:34.32 113.46
59 109 240128 BUJTAS Csaba 1992 HUN 48.12 48.25 1:36.37 128.69
60 114 210032 VORONOV Artem 1993 UZB 49.66 48.74 1:38.40 143.76
61 106 230353 KARAMANIDIS Chrysostomos 1990 GRE 49.09 49.87 1:38.96 147.92
Disqualified 2nd run
31 194207 THEOLIER Steven 1990 FRA
Disqualified 1st run
8 180570 ROMAR Andreas 1989 FIN
Did not start 2nd run
11 934502 ANKENY Michael 1991 USA
Did not start 1st run
108 710328 KUSMUK Maksim 1992 BIH
Did not finish 2nd run
118 390034 KONI Ranek 1993 EST
117 310403 MINIC Mladen 1993 MNE
115 270040 MC SHERA Shane 1990 IRE
113 460074 KOPACZ Kund-Laszlo 1991 ROU
85 150817 POLACH Petr 1989 CZE
75 110266 ANGUITA Martin 1991 CHI
74 410302 WYLIE Andrew 1989 NZE
71 531452 BIESEMEYER Thomas 1989 USA
67 220874 BALDWIN Thomas 1990 GBR
62 990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA
56 303322 SHIMIZU Dai 1990 JPN
55 92562 PRISADOV Stefan 1990 BUL
47 481185 VASILIEV Alexandr 1989 RUS
44 561217 KOSI Klemen 1991 SLO
41 501380 LARSSON Anton 1989 SWE
35 501392 OESTER Carl-Filip 1989 SWE
24 421871 SANDVIK Eian 1989 NOR
21 194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA
9 53922 WIESER Manuel 1990 AUT
Did not finish 1st run
116 110268 CARVALLO Benjamin 1991 CHI
112 110265 AGUILERA Nicolas 1991 CHI
111 30279 MARTINEZ Diego Manuel 1992 ARG
110 20324 OLIVERAS Marc 1991 AND
107 550045 GRIGORJEVS Jurgis 1991 LAT
103 92638 VARBANOV Stoyan 1993 BUL
102 670052 KHUBER Martin 1992 KAZ
101 310390 VUKIC Stefan 1991 SRB
100 30271 MURTAGH Rodrigo 1991 ARG
95 60198 VAN DEN BROECKE Robin 1992 BEL
91 491395 SALARICH Xavier 1990 SPA
90 30229 DENEGRI Segundo 1989 ARG
86 700868 FALAT Matej 1993 SVK
84 150927 HENIG Jan 1991 CZE
83 53853 SIEBER Bjoern 1989 AUT
82 491356 CARRERAS Pol 1990 SPA
78 310388 KOSIC Bojan 1990 MNE
59 180666 TORSTI Samu 1991 FIN
57 511718 PLEISCH Manuel 1990 SUI
45 511753 ANTHAMATTEN Gabriel 1991 SUI
40 200337 LIEBL Sebastian 1989 GER
39 60160 ALAERTS Kai 1989 BEL
37 421954 LYSDAHL Espen 1990 NOR
34 53902 MAYER Matthias 1990 AUT
29 561192 HRIBAR Timotej 1990 SLO
26 291034 PLANK Andy 1989 ITA
18 561216 KLINE Bostjan 1991 SLO
14 930107 GREGORAK Will 1990 USA
12 561238 VRBINC Matija 1991 SLO
7 291318 TONETTI Riccardo 1989 ITA
6 421860 NORDBOTTEN Jonathan 1989 NOR
5 990128 DI RONCO Jacopo 1990 ITA
2 501458 LINDH Calle 1990 SWE
1 53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT
Medals: Medals table after ten of ten events
Country G S B All
1. ITA 2 2 3 7
2. GER 2 0 0 2
SUI 2 0 0 2
FRA 2 0 0 2
5. AUT 1 5 4 10
6. NOR 1 1 1 3
7. USA 0 1 1 2
8. LIE 0 1 0 1
9. FIN 0 0 1 1