Kazakhstan retains men’s Aerials title as Assan strikes gold in Airolo

For the second straight year, a Kazakh skier has been crowned the world’s best junior aerialist. This time, honours at the FIS Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships went to Assylkhan Assan (KAZ). 

The 16-year-old edged out compatriot and defending champion Dinmukhammed Raimkulov on 20 March to the top of the podium in Airolo, Switzerland, getting there with a superior performance in the same Back Double Full-Double Full jump. 

Assan scored 103.35, more than 10 points ahead of Raimkulov (92.82). Uladzislau Vazniuk (AIN) rounded out the top three with 92 points.

Assan endured a rough start to the day, opening with a 75.43 in his first qualification jump to rank 12th, before his second attempt of 100.62 guaranteed a place in the final among the top six. 

The valuable experience gained from his Olympic debut at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games less than two months ago, where he placed 18th, put the Kazakh in good standing when the stakes were highest.

In air, form and landing, Assan was in every aspect superior to his more experienced teammate Raimkulov, who had been the first Kazakh in history to take the world junior title last year when he won on home snow. 

In the women’s contest, Liubou Pilipenka (AIN) took gold by displaying the kind of consistency and quality that led her to finish second overall on the European Cup this season.

With three of the top six finalists attempting the Back Full-Full, it was the 17-year-old who made her mark with superior form and landing to score 84.37 points.

The other two aerialists who opted for the same trick finished second and third. Alexandra Montminy (CAN), the only other skier to break the 80-point barrier, took silver while Ukraine’s Diana Yablonska completed the podium with 77.80 points.

Team events will be the highlight on 21 March, with both Dual Moguls Teams and Aerials Teams contests on the roster.

QUICK LINKS

• 2026 FIS Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships data page (start lists, results, etc)

• Moguls Results: Women / Men

• Aerials Results: Women / Men