Biathlete Hannes Bacher aims high at the Winter Games. © Josef Plaickner

Olympic feeling for 16 South Tyrolean talents

The Winter Youth Olympic Games open in Gangwon, South Korea on Friday. There were 16 young athletes from South Tyrol.

18 January 2024

From: pm

By Saturday, February 1st, there will be no fewer than 81 medal decisions. South Tyrol is also represented at this major sporting event, with 16 young athletes in eight different sports.

After Innsbruck (2012), Lillehammer (2016) and Lausanne (2020), the Youth Olympic Winter Games will be held for the fourth time from Friday, January 19th to Thursday, February 1st, 2024. The premiere in Asia now follows three European venues. Some of the facilities that were used as competition venues at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang are also used.

Alexandra Oberstolz from Antholz goes into the ice track in South Korea. © Hermann Sobe

1900 winter sports athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 are expected to take part in Gangwon, which would mean a new record number of participants. Among the many talents are 16 young athletes from South Tyrol who made it into the 74-strong Italian delegation. These are Rita Granruaz, Jonas Feichter (both alpine skiing), Maximilian Gartner (ski jumping), Manuel Senoner, Anna Senoner (both Nordic combined), Hannes Bacher, Eva Hutter (both biathlon), Leon Haselrieder, Philipp Brunner, Manuel Weissensteiner , Alexandra Oberstolz, Katharina Sofie Kofler (all luge), Marie Schwitzer (cross-country skiing), Felix Fulterer (freestyle snowboard), Luis Schuster (ski cross) and Giorgia Todesco (ice hockey). Some of them are also looked after by South Tyrolean trainers - Dominik Windisch, for example, is responsible for the biathlon team.

Intensive youth work is bearing fruit

“As the South Tyrol regional winter sports association, we invest a lot in professional youth work. That's why we are of course very proud that there are so many local talents in the Italian delegation. “I would like to wish all participants in the Youth Olympic Winter Games not only much success, but also that they get to know a lot of new things, make contacts and come back to South Tyrol with a lot of valuable experiences,” says Markus Ortler, President of the South Tyrol State Winter Sports Association.

The first medal decisions as part of the Youth Olympic Winter Games in Gangwon will take place on Saturday, January 20th, in biathlon, luge track, short track, ski jumping and snowboard cross.