Taylor takes first career Telemark Globe Win

We couldn't have hoped for a better final chapter of the 2023/24 Telemark World Cup and Junior World Championships. There is no Globe or gold medal without athletes who dream of it, nor without dedicated organisers and volunteers who believe in the magic of telemark. Pra-Loup (FRA) took the gamble of organising these finals just two weeks after Slovenia cancelled, and the gamble paid off. Tears of joy, smiles, and suspense right up to the end – the athletes and Pra-Loup brought together all the ingredients to make these finals an unforgettable success. For the very first time, the elusive Globe dream came true for Jasmin Taylor (GBR) (Overall and Sprint Globe), Kaja Bjoernstad Konow (NOR) (Classic Globe), Léa Lathion (SUI) (Parallel Sprint Globe), Elie Nabot (FRA) (Overall and Sprint Globe), and Noé Claye (FRA) (Classic and Parallel Globe), while France took the Nation Globe. It was a first-time for each of those athletes, whose victories in some disciplines were hanging by a thread after the World Cup in Livigno (ITA). Before reaching the dream, it was necessary to hold out and have a mind of steel to reach the grail in Pra-Loup. The same goes for the juniors, such as Alexis Page (FRA), who had the luxury of a quadruple gold rush for his last season as a Junior.

Classic World Cup Finals and Junior World Championships: French Wolf Pack Versus Vikings

Once again, the Classic didn't disappoint: stamina was essential, especially with the fatigue accumulated in Livigno the week before and because some athletes competed the same day in both the World Cup and Junior race. We witnessed a real podium hunt by specialists of the discipline: France vs. Norway. Two different but uncompromising styles making honor to the mother of all telemark skiing disciplines.

It was the first-ever World Cup win for Augustine Carliez (FRA) who was the fastest ahead of the Norwegian duo: Kaja Bjoernstad Konow (2nd) and Goril Strom Eriksen (3rd). On men's side, Trym Nygaard Loeken (NOR) continued to cement a tale from the North following his extraordinary return to competition in Livigno (ITA). He won with style ahead of French athletes Elie Nabot (2nd) and Charly Petex (3rd). For Bjoernstad Konow and Claye, the Classic Globe was already almost secured after Livigno. They officially clinched it after finishing 6th in the last Classic race, respectively followed in the Classic World Cup standings by Augustine Carliez (FRA) and Laly Chaucheprat (FRA, 3rd) for women, Elie Nabot (FRA, 2nd), and Charly Petex (FRA, 3rd) for men. The local Melvyn Rey ended at a solid 8th place.

Alexis Page (FRA), who was competing in both the World Cup finals and the Junior World Championships, was brave enough to announce before Pra-Loup that he was going to attempt a grand slam in his last season as a junior. After finishing 4th at the Classic World Cup race, he won the Junior Classic World Championships race the same day, followed by the Swedish silver medalist Alvin Noaksson and Canadian bronze medalist Adrian Ball. On women's side, Augustine Carliez (FRA) won Gold followed by Maria Heggheim Berge (NOR) in Silver and joint Bronze medalists Lenaïg Mansart (FRA) and Emma Araldsen (NOR).

For both the World Cup and the Juniors World Championships, we witnessed a fierce Franco-Norwegian battle throughout the season.

Sprint World Cup Finals: The Beginning of Taylor and Nabot’s Coronations, Norway The Fastest

There's no mistaking the Norwegian team skiing fast, and Loeken’s brilliant comeback seems to have given the Vikings a boost. Norway was the strongest team on this day. Strom Eriksen and Loeken respectively won the last Sprint race of the season ahead of Taylor (GBR), 2nd, and Chaucheprat (FRA), 3rd, by the women, and ahead of Alexis Page (FRA), 2nd, and Noé Claye (FRA), 3rd, by the men. Even if the Sprint Globe was almost secured for Taylor and Nabot after Livigno, they had to hold on mentally to assume their leaderships for the overall Globe win races after races.

Both leaders Taylor and Nabot won the Sprint Globe, respectively followed by Strom Eriksen (2nd) and Tan Bouquet (3rd) for women, Claye (2nd), and Page (3rd) for men. At the end of this race, of course, Taylor and Nabot were still the big favorites for the overall standings win. However, there was no comfort zone for the leaders as the gaps were tight for the top 3 before the parallel sprint. Big pressure for sure!

Sprint Junior World Championships: The Gold Rush goes on for Page

And that's two for Page, as the golden junior continued to build momentum ahead of compatriot silver medalist Zian Peccoux and Swiss bronze medalist Timo Walser. For women, it was Léa Lathion (SUI), admittedly one of the favorites, who created the surprise ahead of the freshly crowned Classic Junior World Champion Augustine Carliez (silver) and bronze medalists Lenaïg Mansart (FRA) and Emma Araldsen (NOR). The men top 10 included a nice performing patchwork of nations with Andorra, Austria, Canada, France, Italia, Norway and Sweden.

Parallel Sprint World Cup Finals: The Supreme Last Chapter with a Dreamy Apotheosis

We could write suspense novels or operas when it comes to Parallel races! The Parallel Sprint dividing winners and losers of a day, can be synonymous with precious points won or lost for the final standings. For women, transcended by the call of the supreme grail, Jasmin Taylor (GBR) won and scored her first Parallel Sprint victory of the season. Léa Lathion (SUI), second, signed her second Parallel Sprint podium of the season while Argeline Tan Bouquet (FRA) finished third. For men, Swiss Romain Beney also signed his second Parallel Sprint Podium of the season by finishing second. Beney's performance also served as the determinant between Claye winning the Parallel this day and Nabot finishing third.

The Swiss were really on the right track for this last race of the season. At the end, the women’s top 3 in the final Parallel Sprint standings are separated by a narrow margin in favor of Léa Lathion, who took the Globe with 245 points, in front of Goril Strom Eriksen (2nd, 241 points) and disappointed Argeline Tan Bouquet (3rd, 240 points). What a finish for the women's Globe… Junior Léa Lathion couldn't believe her eyes, and her emotion alone could sum up what this piece of crystal represents.

Claye also entered wonderland for the second time of his career by winning the men’s Parallel Globe followed by Elie Nabot, second, and Alexis Page, third.

And then came the long-awaited pinnacle for the supreme grail, the one that elects the most versatile and best-performing racer of the season. With a total of 11 podium finishes, including 5 first places, 3 second places, and 3 third places, Taylor (GBR) captured the Overall World Cup Globe in front of Goril Strom Eriksen (NOR) and Laly Chaucheprat (FRA). For men, with a total of 11 podiums, including 5 wins, 4 second places, and 2 third places, Nabot (FRA) won the Overall Globe ahead of Noé Claye (FRA) and junior gold digger Alexis Page (FRA). This podium already had a western feel to it, as the French team put on cowboy costumes to celebrate the end of the season and the Nations' Cup victory.

In the end, it may well be the Globe that chooses its suitors based on what they accomplished in the name of sport and human feelings. Indeed, the Globe is the image of the telemark community: human powered. The Globe is also an ode to the work carried out behind the scene by all the coaches, such as Sébastien Mansart, who for the first time led an athlete to the first Overall Globe of her career with Jasmin Taylor (FRA), or Julien Annequin, who led junior Léa Lathion (SUI) to her first Globe as the Swiss team's new coach.

Junior World Championships – Parallel Sprint and Team Event: Golden Mercenary Page achieved the Grand Slam, Pride in the Name of all Juniors

You may be listening to "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone while reading! And finally, what better song to close the 2023-2024 chapter.

Go big or go home for the juniors, who put on a great show all day and had nothing to envy from their elders. Alexis Page (FRA) came for the grand slam, and did it! For his last season as a junior, he won gold in all the junior races: Classic, Sprint, Parallel Sprint, and team event with his French teammates Augustine and Zian Peccoux. He also trusted the podium of the last World Cup races, finishing third in the Overall World Cup standing. Timo Walser (SUI) took silver of the Parallel Sprint, and Alvin Noaksoon (SWE) bronze. By the women, Léa Lathion (SUI) took gold for the second time in a week, followed by silver medalist Augustine Carliez (FRA) and Norwegian bronze medalist Emma Araldsen. In human terms, gold is the culmination of a quest: it represents the complete realization of one's being who has finally understood who he or she is. And that’s surely the case for Page or Lathion. Junior World Championships are the perfect accelerator of maturity in terms of both skiing and emotions. All juniors were brilliant in Pra-Loup, deserving respect from World Cup athletes. All challenged each other with smiles and fair-play, pushing the junior leaders to their limits! It's certain that some of them will shake up the World Cup hierarchy in the next 2 to 4 years.

This last racing chapter of the season also marked Andreja Jovan's farewell after 20 years as the FIS Telemark World Cup Race Director. Two decades of watching over the races with firmness but fairness, all with a velvet touch. She may have seen many personalities behind the Globe quest. One thing is certain, an elusive piece of her is surely hidden and will remain in the crystal of the Globes conquered in Pra-Loup. Andreja, may your tracks be long outside the gates!

From the bottom of our hearts, we would also like to thank Pra-Loup and all the people who worked behind the scenes throughout this week. Telemark skiing is definitively a sport powered by human feelings. And Pra-Loup was the perfect proof! See you next season.