South Tyrol's young biathletes are causing a sensation.

South Tyrol's young biathletes are causing a sensation

Last week, South Tyrol's young winter sports talent was again very successful in a wide variety of competitions. The South Tyrolean ski hunters achieved a lot of success.

March 19, 2024

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At the weekend, Pokljuka was the venue for a stage of the Alpine Biathletes Cup. South Tyrol's ski hunters put in a decent performance in Slovenia. Starting with the 2007 and 2008 vintages: In the short individual competition on Friday, Andreas Braunhofer (Ridnaun) took second place, while Marteller Jonas Tscholl came third. Tanja Wanker from Val Gardena also finished her competition in third place, at the same time as the Swiss Sophia Imwinkelried. In the next older category, Maximilian Leitgeb, who competes for the Carabinieri sports group, was the best South Tyrolean. He came second, as did Gaia Brunello from Val Gardena (army sports group) in the junior women's category.

But that's not enough. A sprint followed on Saturday, which Andreas Braunhofer won (born 2007-2008). A South Tyrolean was also victorious in the Youth II category (born 2005-2006): Hannes Bacher (Carabinieri) prevailed, his teammate Adam Ferdick came third. Among the young women of the same age, Eva Hutter (finance guard sports group) came second, while among the juniors, Sophia Zardini from Antholz narrowly missed the podium in fourth place.

In the final pursuit competition, the series of South Tyrolean successes continued. Aaron Niederstätter prevailed in the Youth 1 category, Andreas Braunhofer came third. Maximilian Leitgeb came third in the Youth 2 age group. Among the young women born in 2007-2008, Tanja Wanker from Val Gardena improved to second place, while Eva Hutter was even victorious in her category.


Victories and podium places in the three-country comparison fight in Alta Badia
The biathletes' three-country comparison fight was held last weekend in Alta Badia, after it was originally supposed to have taken place in Seefeld. Young biathletes from Switzerland, Bavaria, North Tyrol and South Tyrol took part. The local ski hunters performed excellently compared to their competitors of the same age. In the 2012 individual competition there was a South Tyrolean quadruple success by Emma Filippi, Mia Pedevilla, Martha Bacher and Lia Rainer. Among the boys of the same age, Julian Demanega was the best South Tyrolean participant in fifth place. In the 2011 individual, Lena Kostner came third, while Elias Steinkasserer was happy about second place. The boys born in 2010 dominated the individual in their age group with places one to four with Felix Brunner, Manuel Anvidalfarei, Kilian Strickner and Giovanni Gnesotto, while Lena Spechtenhauser came seventh as the best South Tyrolean. Both victories went to South Tyrol for the 2009 vintage: Sara Eisath won among the young women, Felix Wolf among the boys. Teresa Seeber also came third.

A sprint was held on Sunday. In the 2012 class, the girls with Alice Mantovani, Lia Rainer and Mia Pedevilla took places one to three, while Julian Demanega came third among the boys. Elias Steinkasserer once again came second among the ski hunters, who were one year older, and Eva Hilber came fourth among the girls as the best South Tyrolean. The biathletes born in 2010 did not win any medals. Giovanni Gnesotto narrowly missed the podium in fourth place, Sofia Garulli came eleventh. Felix Wolf prevailed in the competition from the 2009 vintage, while Sara Eisath came second.


Maria Gasslitter wins the World Rookie Tour Freeski
The World Rookie Tour Freeski ended last week in Madonna di Campiglio in the Ursus Snowpark. Maria Gasslitter won the day in slopestyle and the athlete from Castelrotto, who plays for SC Val Gardena, took second place in big air. Gasslitter was also happy about the overall victory in the Rookie World Tour.

Maria Gasslitter took the win.

For the boys, Max von Aufscheniter came seventh in slopestyle and eleventh in big air, where he climbed onto the podium in third place in the U15 age group. Liam Gamper (Ritten) made it into the top ten in tenth place in the Big Air, Elia Hofer from Ahrntal came 18th in this competition.



Snowboarders “only” in the middle field
There was no top placement for South Tyrol's state squad athletes in Alpine snowboarding at the European Cup in Davos. Tommy Rabanser from Val Gardena was the best local snowboarder in the parallel giant slalom, finishing 11th and 13th.


Cross-country skiing: The grapes are hanging high at the U16 Italian Championships
There were no medals for South Tyrol's young cross-country skiers at the Italian Championships in the U16 age group in Santa Caterina Valfurva. In the young women's sprint, Anna Sagmeister (Sesvenna) made it to the semi-finals and ended up 12th. Emma Schwitzer from Sarnen also survived the qualification, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals and finished in 16th place. Among the boys of the same age, Johannes Mair (Toblach /28.) and Noah Heinrich Senoner (Gröden/29.) for the knockout phase, where they got stuck in the quarter-finals. In the women's 5 km distance race in the classic technique, Emma Schwitzer came sixth as the best South Tyrolean. Anna Sagmeister (21st) and Anna Oberhöller (Sarntal/29th) also made it into the top 30. Among the young men, who had to complete the 2,5 km loop three times, Noah Heinrich Senoner came 15th, while Johannes Mair finished in 26th place. The other South Tyrolean participants did not make it into the top 30.

A picture of the U16 Italian cross-country skiing championships.

The final of the FESA Cup was held in Dobbiaco at the weekend. This is the European Cup for cross-country skiers. There were also some state team athletes at the start. Giacomo Petrini (Sesvenna) was able to celebrate sixth place in the 10 km freestyle with 14th overall time in the U23 age group. There was a victory in the 4x5 km relay for Marit Folie, who was the last runner. In addition to Folie, Teo Galli, Davide Negroni and Virginia Cena were in action.