The 2019 FIS Freestyle Ski Junior World Championships went down earlier this week in Chiesa in Valmalenco (ITA), with Sniazhana Drabiankova (BLR) and Viachaslau Tsimertsau (BLR) taking aerials gold medals, Sabrina Cast (USA) and Nikita Novitcki (RUS) claiming titles in single moguls, while Anastasia Smirnova (RUS) and Elliot Vaillancourt (CAN) finished on top of the podium in dual moguls.

It was the six time that Chiesa in Valmalenco hosted the FIS Freestyle Ski Junior World Championships competitions, and this year over 130 athletes born between 1999 and 2014, descended to the Italian resort to compete in aerials, single and dual moguls events. And despite  challenging weather conditions in the last couple of days, the organizers in Valmalenco managed to host an exciting event, with world’s best young athletes pushing their limits and competing for titles.

First to battle for JWC medals were the aerials athletes, who showcased their skills on Friday morning as the Belarusian duo of Sniazhana Drabiankova and Viacheslau Tsimertsau took gold medals after two rounds of thrilling aerial showdown.

Drabiankova lead the field on ladies’ side with 73.66 for a back Lay-Full on her second attempt, with Jia Liya of China taking the silver medal with 64.98 points for her back Full-Tuck, and Yana Yarmashevich of Belarus finishing with 63.44 points for her back Lay-Full and rounding out the ladies’ podium in third.

Over on the men’s side Viachaslau Tsimertsau impressed the judges with his back double Full-double Full as he earn the gold medal with 92.43 points. Tsimertsau’s compatriot Ihar Drabiankou finished second with 91.65 points for his back double Full-Full, while representing China Li Boyan came in third with 90.59 points for his back double Full-double Full.

Moving over to the moguls course it was Sabrina Cast (USA) and Nikita Novitcki (RUS) who dominated the single moguls competition on Friday afternoon.

Cast came first in the ladies’ big finals with a score of 73.31 points while setting one of the fastest times of the day, also showing best turns and air tricks in the final phase of the competition.

Second place and the silver medal went to Hinako Tomitaka of Japan for her run of 71.61 points, while Viktoriia Lazarenko of Russia had to settle for the third place with 67.75 points. 

In the men’s event it was Nikita Novitcki, who dominated the competition, coming on top of the field in both qualifications as well as the big final. After a successful debut on the World Cup circuit this season, Novitcki came in hot on Friday and took moguls gold with a high-score of 77.37 points.

Second on the day was Masahiro Kimoto of Japan with 68.00 points. Akseli Ahvenainen of Finlad rounded out the men’s podium in third with 66.31 points.

Saturday saw the moguls athlete compete once again in dual moguls and at the end of the day it was Anastasiia Smirnova of Russia and Elliot Vaillancourt of Canada taking victories to wrap up the 2019 FIS Freestyle Junior World Championships in Chiesa in Valmalenco in style. 

Coming with a victory on Sunday Smirnova claimed her career’s third medal at the FIS Freestyle Ski Junior World Championships, adding a missing gold to her silver and bronze from 2017.

Smirnova edged out Hinako Tomitaka in the ladies’ big final, who earned her second silver medal in two days, and her fourth JWC medal since her first top-3 finish in Duved (SWE) in 2016.

Third place on the day went to another Japanese rider Kisora Sumiyoshi, who managed to break into the top-3 after her fourth-place finish on Friday, winning the dual moguls small final against Josefina Wersen of Sweden.

Switching to the men’s event Elliot Vaillancourt won dual moguls gold against Masahiro Kimoto, who scored his second silver medals in Chiesa in Valmalenco this weekend.

Bronze medal went to Alex Lewis of USA, who edged out his teammate Landon Wendler in the small final.

The FIS Junior Ski World Championships action will continue next week in Klaeppen (SWE), where the slopestyle competition are slated to go down on Tuesday, April 7, while the big air competition will follow up on Friday, April 13.

QUICK LINSK:

• Chiesa in Valmalenco FIS data page (event programme, start lists, live scoring, results)
• Aerials results: LADIES / MEN
• Moguls results: LADIES / MEN
• Dual moguls results: LADIES / MEN
• Marc Hodler trophy