Alpine Canada – Calgary, Alta. (March 9, 2016) – The FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships have come to a close with Canadians landing on the podium in multiple events. This year’s competition took place in Sochi, Russia where the course workers battled unseasonably warm temperatures and the athletes raced in fog, wet snow, ice and changing track conditions.  

Despite the challenging conditions, Canada achieved a third-place overall nations ranking in the Marc Hodler Cup, led by performances from Canadian athletes Valérie Grenier and Jack Crawford. 

Grenier kicked off the series by making history with a victory in the ladies’ downhill race, as the first Canadian female to win the coveted downhill title.  Grenier’s podium streak continued with a silver medal in the super G race.

Canadian Alpine Development Team athlete, Jack Crawford, also stood atop the podium in the super G bringing home a silver medal in a competitive men’s field.  Crawford’s silver is Canada’s first men’s podium at the World Junior Championships since Philip Brown took home bronze in 2011.

The Canadian athletes missed out on a podium finish in the technical disciplines, however they scored top ten finishes despite difficult race conditions. Crawford finished the slalom in a very respectable fifth-place, the top North American finish of the day, while Development Team athlete Ali Nullmeyer finished tenth. 

In the giant slalom event, Grenier finished in seventh-place making her the top North American racer in the women’s race.  Both Crawford and Development Team athlete, Brodie Seger, cracked the top ten, finishing fifth and eighth respectively. 

Grenier, Crawford, Nullmeyer and Jeffrey Read made up Team Canada for the Team Event. Canada was eliminated in the second round by a photo finish against Norway, finishing the event in seventh-place. 

Ali Nullmeyer attended the World Junior Championships coming off a silver medal performance in the slalom at the Youth Olympic Games in Norway. 

“I think we had a fantastic championship with three medals,” said Dusan Grasic, Director of Domestic Sport, Alpine Canada Alpin. “The athletes dug deep and secured some great top-ten finishes. We are really happy to leave Sochi with a third-place overall ranking.” 

Below are the top results from Canadian performances at the World Juniors. 

Ladies’ Downhill

1 – Valérie Grenier

Men’s Downhill

13 – Brodie Seger

14 – Jack Crawford

28 – Jeffrey Read

Ladies’ Super G

2 – Valérie Grenier

Men’s Super G

2 – Jack Crawford

12 – Brodie Seger

44 – Jeffrey Read 

Ladies’ Giant Slalom

7 – Valérie Grenier

25 – Mikaela Tommy

Men’s Giant Slalom 

5 – Jack Crawford

8 – Brodie Seger

28 – Jeffrey Read

Women’s Slalom

10 – Ali Nullmeyer

Men’s Slalom

5 – Jack Crawford

Men’s Alpine Combined

5 – Jack Crawford

Team Event

7 – Canada

For further information or press inquiries, please contact Ashley Shantz at ashantz@alpinecanada.org or call 587.226.3007.

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