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Erzurum hosts successful Nordic Junior Worlds

The FIS Nordic Junior and U-23 Cross-Country World Ski Championships were successfully held from 20th-26th February 2012 in Erzurum, Turkey.

For the first time in history the World Championships took place in Turkey. The growing winter resort of Erzurum presented itself with excellent snow conditions, well-prepared courses in venues that had been built for the Winter Universiade 2011 and beautiful weather, with blue skies and sunshine.

In the overall medal table, the clear dominator was Russia claiming a whopping 10 gold medals, all in Cross-Country Skiing. Norway in 2nd position collected 10 medals, whilst Slovenia had the most successful Junior/U23 World Championships ever with 6 medals across Cross-Country Skiing and Ski Jumping.

The prestigious Marc Hodler Trophy awarded to the best nation in the junior events was won by Russia. Norway was second while Slovenia took third ahead of Germany and Austria.

As part of the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Cross-Country Skiing, four competitions per gender were held. Russian juniors were unbeatable in all competitions except the ladies sprint and skiathlon.

The opening competition of the championships, free technique sprint was dominated by Sweden's Stina Nilsson and Evelina Settlin. The 10 km Skiathlon saw a sensational double victory of Slovenian ladies as Nika Razinger stormed to victory for the first Cross-Country gold medal in Slovenian history with teammate Lea Einfalt claiming second. On the final day, the Russian junior ladies romped to victory in 4x3.3 km relay whilst Sweden and Slovenia fought hard for the silver medal with Sweden narrowly prevailing.

Sergey Ustiugov of Russia was the male hero of the Junior Championships, winning all four gold medals at the Championships and thereby sending a clear message to Russia's senior Cross-Country team. One of the heroes of the Junior World Ski Championships 2011, Sindre Bjoernestad Skar (NOR) was struggling with the high altitude in Erzurum and back problems, but still led the Norwegian squad with silver medal in sprint and three bronze medals.

The new junior world champions in Ski Jumping are Slovenia's Nejc Dezman who shares the honor with Sara Takanashi from Japan who claimed the ladies' title. In a Junior World Championship premiere, a ladies' team competition was held at Erzurum after it had to be cancelled because of poor weather at Otepää (EST) in 2011. Team Japan won this inaugural team competition, making Sara Takanashi a two-time gold medallist. In the men's event, Team Norway emerged victorious, thus ending a three year winning streak of the Austrian team.

The Nordic Combined gold medal in the 10 km Individual Gundersen event went to Mattia Runggaldier from Italy whose success seems to further boost the rise of the Italian Nordic Combined team. Norwegian Oeystein Granbu Lien was victorious in the 5 km Individual Gundersen race while Team Austria won the team competition.
The U-23 Cross-Country World Championships entailed two distance competitions (individual start race in classical technique & skiathlon) and a sprint competition in free technique. On the men's side, strong Russian Gleb Retivykh claimed the gold medal in the sprint. Runner up Evgeniy Belov was also very successful in the other two races of the World Championships becoming World Champion in 15 km classic and finishing second in 30 km skiathlon as his compatriot Raul Shakirzianov was stronger on the last lap.

The sprint free ladies was dominated by Germany's Hanna Kolb, whilst Mariya Guschina led the Russian team to victory in 10 km classic. Norway's Martine Ek Hagen's time came in the skiathlon where she claimed the first and only gold medal from the Junior/U23 World Ski Championships for Norway.

Contributed by Michal Lamplot and Mariele Stockinger

Overview of winners

Cross-Country
Individual 5 km Classic Junior Ladies: Natalia Zhukova (RUS)

Individual 10 km Classic Junior Men: Sergey Ustiugov (RUS)
Individual 10 km Classic U23 Ladies: Mariya Guschina (RUS)

Individual 15 km Free U23 Men: Evgeniy Belov (RUS)

Sprint Classic Junior Ladies: Stina Nilsson (SWE)

Sprint Classic Junior Men: Sergey Ustiugov (RUS

Sprint Classic U23 Ladies: Hanna Kolb (GER)

Sprint Classic U23 Men: Gleb Retivykh (RUS)

10 km Skiathlon Junior Ladies: Nika Razinger (SLO)

20 km Skiathlon Junior Men: Sergey Ustiugov (RUS)

Relay 4x3.3 km Junior Ladies: Russia

Relay 4x5 km Junior Men: Russia

15 km Pursuit U23 Ladies: Martine Ek Hagen (NOR)

30 km Pursuit U23 Men: Raul Shakirzianov (RUS)

Ski Jumping Men
Individual HS 108: Nejc Dezman (SLO)
Team HS 108: Norway

Ski Jumping Ladies
Individual HS 108: Sara Takanashi (JPN)
Team HS 108: Japan

Nordic Combined
Individual Gundersen HS 108/10 km: Mattia Runggaldier (ITA)
Individual Gundersen HS 108/5 km: Oeystein Granbu Lien (NOR)
Team HS 108/4x5 km: Austria

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