Sveriges Alpina Nationalarenan, Åre – Today was the busiest day of the 2017 World Juniors, opening with the men’s giant slalom and a field of over 130 athletes, followed by the ladies slalom which was run under the lights in the Swedish Alpine National Arena.

Ali Nullmeyer (Georgian Peaks) extended the strong results of the Canadian Team, adding a silver lining to the golden glow of the Team Event World title captured last evening, with a 2nd place finish in the slalom. Starting with #1, Nullmeyer posted the 4th fastest time in the first run. Laying down the fastest time in the second run, Nullmeyer nearly closed the gap on race leader Camille Rast (SUI), finishing .09 off the top step of the podium. Chiara Mair (AUT) finished in 3rd.

Three other Canadians rounded out the Team with Marina Villanova (Mt. Tremblant) finishing 21st, Stefanie Fleckenstein (Whistler Mt.) 22nd and Amelia Smart (Team Panorama) did not finish the first run.

In the men’s giant slalom, Jack Crawford (Whistler Mt.) had to settle for his second 4th place finish of the Championships. In tricky conditions thanks to the dramatically warmer weather and threatening skies,  Crawford posted two solid runs to narrowly miss the podium by .15.

World Cup regular Loic Meillard (SUI) took gold, followed by Timon Haugan (Nor) and Victor Guillot (FRA).

Sam Mulligan (Grouse Mt. Tyee) finished 30th and Huston Philp (Banff Alpine Racers) 49th.  William Bruneau-Bouchard (le Massif) and Riley Seger (Whistler) did not finish the first run. Jeffrey Read (Banff Alpine Racers) did not finish the second.

As we head into the final day of competition, Austria holds a commanding lead in the prestigious Marc Hodler Trophy, the “Nations Cup” for the World Junior Championships. The standings, including the Nations Team Event (not currently posted to the FIS web site) are:

1. Austria
2. Switzerland
3. USA
4. Canada
5. Italy