Embacher targets triple triumph at Junior Worlds in Lillehammer

The world’s brightest young stars have descended on Lillehammer (NOR), for the FIS Junior World Ski Championships, with freshly-minted Olympic medalists from Milano Cortina 2026 headlining the Ski Jumping field.

Leading the way in the Men’s competition will be reigning Junior World Champion Stephan Embacher (AUT), who added Olympic gold in the Men’s Super Team last month to his already burgeoning trophy cabinet. The Austrian is going for his third consecutive world title on the individual Normal Hill and arrives in Lillehammer in excellent form. The 20-year-old picked up two second place finishes at last weekend’s Ski Flying World Cups in Kulm (AUT), as well as topping the first qualification session and setting a new personal best along the way.    

“I am mega happy,” he said on Sunday. “It was simply an incredible weekend in Kulm. Great flights throughout, the qualifying victory on Friday, then two second places and pure emotion in a fantastic atmosphere.”

Hoping to stop Embacher from defending his Junior World title is one of the breakout star of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Poland’s Kacper Tomasiak ended his debut Games with three medals - silver behind Embacher in the Men’s Super Team alongside individual silver and bronze on the Normal and Large Hills.

“My goal is to win my third gold medal, but Kacper is very strong. At the Olympics he showed you have to watch out for him,” admitted Embacher.

Both Embacher and Tomasiak will only compete in the individual competition before heading to Lahti (FIN) for the World Cup, but they’re not the only Olympians to watch out for in Lillehammer. The USA’s Jason Colby will be aiming to upgrade his Men’s Team bronze and Mixed Team silver from Lake Placid in 2025, as well as challenge for the individual podium.

Also competing is a history-maker from Milano Cortina. Ilya Mizernykh secured Kazakhstan’s best-ever Olympic Ski Jumping finish with an eighth place in the individual Large Hill competition. The 19-year-old is the reigning Youth Olympic Champion on the Normal Hill.

More history for Midtskogen?

In the Women’s competititon, reigning individual champion Ingvild Synnoeve Midtskogen (NOR) is back to defend her title. The Norwegian has plenty of experience with historic podium finishes, having become the youngest ever senior Nordic World Championships medalist last year. She claimed gold for Norway in the Women’s Team Normal Hill alongside Anna Odine Stroem, Eirin Maria Kvandal and Heidi Dhyre Traaserud at the age of 17 years and 70 days.

The two other individual medalists from last year’s Junior Worlds in Lake Placid are not competing in Lillehammer. Midtskogen's compatriot and 2025 silver medalist Ingrid Laate is focusing on Nordic Combined, while bronze medalist and former Youth Olympic Champion Taja Bodlaj (SLO) is also absent. The Slovenian has only recently returned to action following knee surgery which forced her to miss Milano Cortina 2026. not competing, after missing the Winter Olympics following her recovery from knee surgery.

With at least two new medalists to be crowned in Lillehammer, Milano Cortina 2026 Olympians Sofia Mattila (FIN) and Maja Kovacic (SLO) are among the early frontrunners in Official Training, as well as Germany’s Julina Kreibich, who won Women’s Team gold in Lake Placid last year. Her teammate from that victory, Anna-Fay Scharfenberg also returns for their title defence, as do two of Japan’s Team bronze medalists Kikka Sakamoto and Yuzuki Sato.

Competition gets underway on Wednesday with the Women’s Normal Hill Individual. You can watch live coverage on FIS TV.