2012 FIS Junior World Ski Championships
Revenge
AFTER ILLNESS KNOCKED HER OUT OF MOST
WORLD JUNIOR RACES LAST YEAR, MIKAELA
SHIFFRIN LEADS A NORTH AMERICAN SQUAD
HEADED TO ITALY By Hank McKee
Can Shiffrin
stay healthy
to dominate at
World Juniors?
Fourteen ski racers from the U.S. and 12 from Canada will be join-
ing young athletes from 60 countries at the three sites of the 2012
FIS Junior World Ski Championships centered in Roccaraso, Italy,
beginning Feb. 29. Winners earn more than gold medals — they get
an entry to the World Cup Finals in Schladming in mid-March.
With giant slaloms being held March 1 (women) and March 7 (men)
at the Lupo Slope at Aremogna; the slaloms March 3 (women) and
March 9 (men) on the Gran Pista slope at Pizzalto; and the speed
events (men’s downhill March 2, men’s super G March 4, women’s
downhill March 8 and women’s super G March 9) on the impressive
Directtissma slope at Monte Pratello, it will make for an ever-chang-
ing environment for the young skiers, all born in 1992 or later.
The site is the southernmost area ever to host the world junior
championships and is linked by fiber optic technology for communi-
cations, according to organizers.
According to U.S. Alpine Director Patrick Riml, the American 14
can be expected to produce “a strong performance,” and the num-
bers bear that out.
American Mikaela Shiffrin is expected to be the most watched rac-
er at the event, having qualified for the extra attention by scoring a
World Cup podium result (third at the Lienz slalom on Dec. 29). She
claimed a bronze medal at the 2011 World Juniors in slalom, the
