Andrea Iuliani (left) and Linda Fink put on a great show.

Ritten's young athletes excel at the Italian Championships

Over the weekend of January 31st to February 1st, Italy's young speed skaters met in Klobenstein for the Italian Junior All-Around Championships.

February 02, 2026

From: pm

The race represented the last major national highlight of the season before international competitions begin for some athletes. A total of 111 young athletes from the U14 to U20 age groups took part, including 20 runners from the Ritten Sport club. The program consisted of an all-around four-event competition with distances ranging from 300 to 5000 meters.

Ritten Sport had an extremely successful weekend. The U14 girls' race was particularly impressive, with the team once again sweeping the podium. Linda Fink secured the title after a thrilling head-to-head duel, ahead of Bianca Nolli and Angela Zampieri.

Linda Fink in action. © Toller Davide

The strong team performance was also evident in the U16 category: Miriam Steiner finished second, Sonja Ploner third, and Laura Maccagnola fourth. In the U16 boys' category, Andrea Iuliani won convincingly, while Ryan Endrizzi narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth. In the U20 women's category, Laura Rathiens secured third place with a strong performance.

The team performance was particularly impressive: Ritten Sport won decisively, achieving more than twice as many points as the second-placed club. Overall, the team secured seven podium finishes and seven additional top-ten placements.

The coach is extremely satisfied.

Another highlight was Linda Fink's performance. She is currently the fastest runner in her age group worldwide over 300 meters and holds the current best time of 27,73 seconds.

Coach Nicola Mayr was extremely pleased after the competition. Linda Fink and Andrea Iuliani were once again in a class of their own, Ryan Endrizzi narrowly missed the podium, and Miriam Steiner and Sonja Ploner also delivered strong performances. Despite some athletes experiencing health problems, the entire team put in convincing races. Laura Rathiens' podium finish was particularly gratifying.

At the same time, Mayr regretted that this was already the last national race of the season and that the youth season would be significantly shortened due to the Olympic Games. While some qualified athletes will still be allowed to compete in the prestigious Viking Race in Heerenveen at the beginning of March, they will first have to bridge a month without ice and competitions.