South Tyrol's talents continue to showcase themselves.

South Tyrol's talents continue to showcase themselves

Local young winter athletes have achieved numerous successes in recent days – at the international, national, and local levels. Here's the usual overview.

12 January 2026

From: pm

The Masarè slope in the Carezza Dolomites ski area hosted a Raiffeisen Grand Prix district race for the U16 and U14 age groups on Saturday. Nearly 140 young skiers participated in the giant slalom. In the U16 women's category, Carmen Gschliesser was unbeatable. The racer from RG Wipptal finished in 1:55.81 minutes, ahead of Hannah Mahlknecht (Seiser Alm/1:57.88) and Anna Oberhofer (Gröden/1:58.71). Among the boys of the same age, Julian Martinelli (Ski Team Latemar) took the victory with a time of 1:54.22 minutes. Stefan Prinoth (Gröden/1:56.09) finished second, and Julian's younger brother, Simon Martinelli (also Ski Team Latemar/1:56.53), came in third.

Greta Mantovani (Gröden/1:59.11) won the U14 girls' race. Second and third place went to Chiara Wiedenhofer (1:59.39) and Lara Mayrhofer (2:01.17), two athletes from Welschnofen, who took advantage of their home track. The winner of the U14 boys' race was Lukas Plank (RG Wipptal), who finished in 1:56.42 minutes, ahead of Marc Mitterhofer (1:57.07) and Leo Neulichedl (Ski Team Latemar/1:58.68).

A shower of medals at the Italian Championships for the biathletes

South Tyrol's young biathletes enjoyed great success at the Italian Championships in Valdidentro (Province of Sondrio). In the U21 age group, Hannes Bacher celebrated a double victory in both the sprint and pursuit races. Simone Motta won the bronze medal in the sprint, while Adam Ferdick took third place in the pursuit. Among the women of the same age group, Eva Hutter won the bronze medal in the sprint. In the U19 category, Andreas Braunhofer and Aaron Niederstätter finished second and third respectively in the sprint, while in the pursuit – also in the U19 category – there was an all-South Tyrolean sweep of the podium, with Jonas Tscholl, Julian Huber, and Jan Steinkasserer taking the top three spots.

Schwitzer on the podium in Seefeld

The FESA Cup cross-country skiing event took place last weekend in Seefeld, North Tyrol. A young South Tyrolean skier also made a name for herself. Marie Schwitzer finished third in the sprint in the classic technique in the junior women's category.

A FESA Cup was also held for ski jumpers and Nordic combined athletes in Chaux-Neuve, France. Due to weather conditions, only one competition could be held in the ski jumping event. Leonie Runggaldier finished fifth in the women's competition, while Maximilian Gartner came in 14th. In the Nordic combined, Manuel Senoner finished second in the mass start, while he finished fourth in the individual competition, behind Gundersen.

Freestylers make headlines

The regional team competed in Prato Nevoso over the weekend, successfully participating in the IFT Italian Cup slopestyle competition for freeskiers. In the Junior/Senior category, they achieved a clean sweep of the podium, with Alex Putzer (Wolkenstein) taking first place ahead of Jonas Gasslitter (Pontives) and Jakob Aichner (Hafling). Sebastian Hofer (Burgstall) finished second in the "Allievi" category, while Enea Gelmetti from Val Gardena secured third place in the "Ragazzi" category.

In Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a FIS snowboard competition took place. Marika Frenademetz (Stern im Gadertal) won both events (slopestyle and big air) in the women's competition. Tommaso Demartin (Skiteam Seiser Alm) was also successful in the men's competition, taking first place in both events.

Snowboarder “stationed” in Folgaria

European Cup snowboard races were held in Folgaria last week. For the regional team athletes, the parallel giant slalom races were primarily about gaining experience. Tobias Mutschlechner (St. Vigil) and Kevin Crazzolara (Stern im Gadertal) did just that, each achieving an 18th place as their best result. In the second race, former regional team athlete Mike Santuari (Welschnofen/Carabinieri Sports Group) finished second, securing a spot on the podium.

A few days later, Folgaria hosted two FIS races for juniors. Mutschlechner secured a podium finish, taking third place, while Crazzolara finished fifth. Among the young women, Emma Dorfmann (Brixen) achieved the best results for South Tyrol, finishing sixth and seventh.

Alpine lugers perform strongly at the Junior World Cup in Umhausen

The state squad athletes made a very good impression at the Junior World Cup in Alpine Luge in Umhausen in the Ötztal valley. Alexander Staffler (Laas) finished fourth in the boys' competition, while Franziska Hofer (Passeier) took fifth place in the women's event.

Meanwhile, the Raiffeisen Cup for sport and alpine luge athletes continued in the Jaufental valley. The races took place on the Tonnerboden track, which has been tested in World Cup competitions.

Here is an overview of the individual daily winners:

Alpine tobogganing, Pupil 1: Marie Wegmann (Laas) and Tom Breitenberger (Ulten)
Alpine luge, Pupils 2: Anne Breitenberger (Ulten) and Matthias Pallanch (Völs)
Alpine luge, Youth 1: Greta Hillebrand (Völlan) and Simon Torggler (Latzfons)
Alpine luge, Youth 2: Paula Fink (Latzfons) and Daniel Gamper (Feldthurns)
Alpine tobogganing, senior: Adam Piccolruaz (Gröden)

Sport luge, Pupils 1: Sarah Petriffer (Villnöß) and Johannes Rainer (Jaufental)
Sport luge, Pupils 2: Sofia Stadler (Villnöß) and Julian Geiser (Laugen Tisens)
Sport luge, Youth 1: Alex Lamprecht (Villnöß)
Sport luge, Youth 2: Teresa Runggatscher (Villnöß) and Stefan Geiser (Laugen Tisens)