Sweden emerge victorious from Finland showdown to clinch Team Parallel gold at Narvik

Sweden triumphed in their Big Final showdown with Finland to clinch Team Parallel gold at the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in Narvik, Norway.

The quartet of Esther Nordberg, William Haellqvist, Moa Landstroem and Alexander Ax Swartz sped to a 3-1 win as Sweden seized the title for the second time in four editions following gold at St Anton 2023.

It marks their fourth straight medal in the event with silvers at Haute-Savoie 2024 and Tarvisio 2025 on top of their 2023 gold.

Ax Swartz raced the final run and after Finnish counterpart Jasper Palosaari went down and DNF, the Swede safely navigated the course to confirm victory.

It was Sweden’s first medal of Narvik 2026 as they became the first team other than France to visit the top of the podium with French athletes having won all four events before the Team Parallel.

“It was pretty tough conditions out there and it was a fight out there,” said Ax Swartz.

“Every single round is tough, you can’t take anything for granted in parallel, anything can happen.”

The Swedes began their campaign with a dominant 4-0 win over Poland before knocking out reigning champions France 3-1 in the ¼ finals

They met Switzerland in the semi-final where they progressed courtesy of a tiebreak after the teams finished 2-2.

Of how they’d laid the groundwork ahead of the event, he added: “We prepared with good sleep, good food and good team spirit.”

The Finland team of Wilma Kavela, Altti Pyrro, Kia Suni and Palosaari had 3-1 wins over USA and Germany before facing Austria in the semi-final from which they advanced on the tie-break.

Kavela put them ahead in the Big Final but she was the only member of the Finnish team to complete her run as Pyrro, Suni and Palosaari were undone as they attempted to push the limits.

It was Finland’s first medal of Narvik 2026.

“It was a really good fight,” said Suni. “We did what we could so it’s really nice.”

She added: “Of course it’s important that we have a really good team spirit.”

Switzerland and Austria faced off in the Small Final to decide the destination of the bronze medal.

Elena Riederer put Austria ahead before Giuliano Fux’s speedy run levelled for the Swiss ahead. Sue Piller faced off against Pia Hauzenberger and when the latter went down, it put Switzerland 2-1 ahead with one run remaining.

Rafael Zangerl was quick out of the start gate for Austria and was first through the finish line against Jack Spencer. However, it was the Swiss who clinched bronze thanks to the tie-break.

It was Switzerland’s second medal of Narvik 2026 following Sandro Manser’s silver in men’s Super G.

“I think as a team we did well,” said Spencer. “We put on a good fight against the Swedes (in the semi-final) so it was fun.”

Piller added: “As a team event, if one messes up the others can do well and that’s what makes that event so special.”

Italy finished fifth followed by Norway, Germany, France, Great Britain and Slovenia with the USA – bronze-medal winners at the last two editions – in 11^th.

You can catch the next generation of talent in action at FIS TV which will livestream the competition with English commentary: FIS TV (https://watch.fis-ski.com/home)

You can also watch on the FIS Alpine YouTube channel: FIS Alpine - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/fisalpine)

Athletes and NSAs will have access to the FIS Content Exchange Platform, a centralized digital hub where they can access and download high-quality competition footage including personalized runs and action pictures.

These can then be shared on the athletes’ and NSA’s social media platforms.

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