Every year the worlds top junior skiers come together to compete in a World Junior Alpine Ski championships. This year I was fortunate to be named to my second US Ski Team World Juniors championship team.
This year World Juniors was held in Val Di Fassa, Italy which is a small town and large ski area in the Dolomites. This year I got the opportunity to compete in 3 of the events – SL, GS and the Team Event. My first event was GS. Last year I finished 51st and was looking to improve that result. I did just that with a 33rd finishing 3rd for the US. Then it was time for SL my best event. After a slow but solid first run I charged down the course on my second run and secure a top 10 result for the US.
For the last event, the team event I was determined to perform my best and being paired up with teammates, AJ Hurt, River Rademous, and Ben Riche, I knew we would be a strong and competitive team. But I don’t think any of us thought we would find ourselves competing for the gold. In our first race we handily took care of the Czech Republic. Our second had us take care of the Italians. Then in an incredibly close race against the Swiss we won by a slim 3 hundredths of a second. That had us in the gold medal hunt against the French. Check out that race above. The French were the better skiers in that race. But our team couldn’t be happier, it was the first time ever the US had medaled in a team event. Getting to stand on the world juniors podium was an incredible feeling. Being part of a team to get there even better. To have the entire team there cheering us on was the best part.
Even now to say I am a World Juniors Silver Medalist is special and will always be one of my favorite ski racing memories.
Katie Hensien 