Youth Cup Begins with Record Participation in Tschagguns

The opening events of the 2024/25 FIS Youth Cup kicked off today in Tschagguns, Austria, featuring a remarkable 128 athletes from 13 countries. This season's program includes Individual Gundersen competitions, taking place on both Friday and Saturday.

The excitement unfolded at the Montafoner Schanzenzentrum HS 66 and along a 1.2 km cross-country course in the village.

In the Boys I category, the Ski Jumping segment saw Simon Grossegger of Austria take the lead with an impressive jump of 63 meters, earning him 113.8 points. He was closely followed by German competitor Hannes Mey, who delivered the best jump of the day at 63.5 meters and accrued 102.9 points, alongside Maximilian Ferner from Austria (60 m), who also earned 102.9 points. Grossegger began the 2.4 km cross-country run 33 seconds ahead of his rivals.

Grossegger secured a confident home victory, finishing the race in 9 minutes and 55.9 seconds, well ahead of Norway’s Leon Kristoffer Kjoellestad (+27.3 seconds), who managed to make an impressive comeback despite placing 6th after the jump. Third place went to Marek Potancok from Slovakia, who also showcased a strong race after starting in 7th position.

Til Messerschmidt of Germany clocked the fastest race time at 9:19.6, finishing 4th overall.

Results: IG, Boys I – 23.8.24 Tschagguns

In the Girls I category, Anna Brandner led with the longest jump of the day at 62.5 meters, earning 109.1 points as she embarked on the 2.4 km run first. Her teammate Amy Doegl secured second place with 58.5 meters (103.5 points), trailing Brandner by 17 seconds. Michele-Sophie Eller from Germany jumped 62 meters for 96.2 points, finishing third, 39 seconds behind the leader.

In a thrilling race, Eller caught up to Brandner and claimed victory, finishing ahead of her teammate Mareike Zuefle (+12 seconds), who delivered a stunning performance, moving up from 9th place after Ski Jumping. French competitor Capucine Mesnil rounded out the podium, finishing third, 21 seconds behind Eller.

Results: IG, Girls I – 23.8.24 Tschagguns

In the Boys II category, Alvin Le from Norway took top honors in Ski Jumping with a jump of 65 meters and a score of 115.2 points, starting the subsequent 3.4 km cross-country race with a 4-second lead. Hektor Kapustik from Slovakia followed with the best jump of the day at 66.5 meters (114 points), while Mikolaj Wantulok of Poland placed third with 61.5 meters (108.6 points), 20 seconds behind Le.

In a gripping race, Le maintained his lead until the finish line, though Lovro Percl Serucnik from Slovenia surged forward from 14th place after jumping to finish second, just 10.5 seconds behind Le. Polish athlete Mikolaj Wantulok held onto his third position.

Results: IG, Boys II – 23.8.24 Tschagguns

Finally, in the Girls II competition, Marion Droz Vincent led after Ski Jumping with a best jump of 60 meters and 102.5 points, giving her a 4-second advantage at the start of the 2.4 km run. Tia Malovrh from Slovenia (59.5 m, 101.1 pts) secured second place, followed by Karina Kozlova from Ukraine (58.5 m, 99.9 pts), who was 8 seconds behind.

In what turned out to be an extraordinary comeback, Giulia Belz of Switzerland surged from 14th after jumping to clinch victory, finishing 8 seconds ahead of Masa Likozar Brankovic from Slovenia, who moved up from 5th place. Droz Vincent successfully defended her podium spot, finishing third, 12 seconds behind the winner.

Results: IG, Girls II – 23.8.24 Tschagguns