The Ritten Medalists

Ritten medal haul at the Italian Junior Championships

On January 10th and 11th, the Arena Ritten in Klobenstein was transformed into the center of Italian junior speed skating.

11 January 2026

From: pm

The Italian Junior Championships in sprint and mass start were held there. With a total of 115 participants, the field was large and the competition correspondingly strong. Saturday offered good conditions, which many athletes used to achieve personal best times, while Sunday was made more difficult by sometimes strong winds.

The Ritten Sport club put on a particularly strong showing, fielding a total of 19 athletes, seven of whom also competed in the mass start event. The Ritten skiers impressively confirmed their status as favorites, especially in the U14 category. In the U14 girls' all-around competition, Ritten even achieved a clean sweep of the podium, with Linda Fink taking first place ahead of Angela Zampieri and Bianca Nolli. Ritten Sport also demonstrated great strength in the U16 girls' category: Miriam Steiner finished second, Sonja Ploner third, and Laura Maccagnola fourth, beaten only by Marta Mittempergher from Pergine. Andrea Iuliani secured a commanding victory in the U16 boys' all-around competition. Overall, Ritten Sport achieved six podium finishes and six additional top-ten placements in the all-around competition.

Linda Fink pointed it out.

The athletes from Ritten also impressed in the mass start. In the U16 girls' category, Miriam Steiner won the event, while Laura Maccagnola finished third. In the U16 boys' category, Ritten Sport celebrated a one-two finish with Andrea Iuliani in first place and Ryan Endrizzi in second. Mark Goldin, however, missed the podium in the U18 category by just a few hundredths of a second. Overall, the club achieved four podium finishes and three additional top-ten placements in the mass start. In the team competition, Ritten Sport ultimately secured an excellent second place.

Coach Nicola Mayr drew a largely positive conclusion after the race weekend, but also pointed out the difficult circumstances. Many athletes were injured or weakened by the flu, some were even ill or had only recently recovered. Potential podium contenders such as Laura Rathiens, Ryan Endrizzi, and Mariasole Nolli had to withdraw after the first day of racing due to illness.

Despite these setbacks and the windy conditions on Sunday, Mayr was very satisfied and happy with the performance of the entire team. She emphasized that with better health conditions, even more medals would probably have been possible, but nevertheless spoke of great commitment, strong team spirit, and an excellent mentality within the group. She particularly highlighted Miriam Steiner's mass start victory, which she said had been a tactically strong and courageous race.