South Tyrolean women celebrate at the end of the Junior World Championships

A Slovenian double victory and an Italian triple victory on Sunday in Umhausen concluded the 15th Junior World Championships in Alpine Luge. Vid Kralj (SLO) won the men's singles ahead of his brother Ziga, while Tina Stuffer (ITA/South Tyrol) led a Slovenian sweep of the podium in the women's singles.

February 01, 2026

From: pm

Tina Stuffer and title competitions are a perfect match: In 2025, the Val Gardena native became Junior World Championship runner-up in Winterleiten (AUT), and in 2026 she won gold at the Junior European Championships in Laces. Now, her big moment has arrived on the 955-meter-long natural toboggan run "Grantau" in Umhausen.

The leader after the first two runs on Saturday didn't let victory slip away in Sunday's third run, securing the Junior World Championship title in 3:42.68 minutes. Silver went to reigning European Champion Nina Castiglioni (+1,08 seconds) and Lotte Mulser (+1,30). "The first two runs were very good, the third run wasn't optimal; I was a bit nervous. It feels good to win, especially since the season has been difficult for me so far. Now I know I can still do it," Stuffer analyzed at the finish line.

Brotherly duel in the single-seater

Spectators in Umhausen witnessed a sibling rivalry in the men's singles competition. After the first run on Saturday, Ziga Kralj (SLO) went into Sunday's two runs with a 0,42-second lead over his two-year-older brother, Vid. Vid reduced his deficit to 0,28 seconds after the second run, but in the final, he prevailed with a total time of 3:39.67 minutes, securing the gold medal ahead of his brother Ziga (+0,17 seconds) and Simon Saurer (AUT/+1,57), who turned on the afterburners in the final to claim the podium. "It was a long competition. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the first run, but it got better and better after that. Standing on the podium with my brother is really cool," said a delighted Vid Kralj.

The Alpine Luge Junior World Cup concludes with the final in Latsch from February 13th to 15th.

The results

Top 3 single-seater women
Tina Stuffer (ITA), 3:42.68 minutes
Nina Castiglioni (ITA), +1,08 seconds
Lotte Mulser (ITA), +1,30

Top 3 single-seater men
Vid Kralj (SLO), 3:39.67 minutes
Ziga Kralj (SLO), +0,17 seconds
Simon Saurer (AUT), +1,57

Keywords Winter sports Alpine toboggan