Tahoe’s Hurt takes slalom bronze at World Juniors
U.S. Ski & Snowboard
A local alpine racer captured bronze Wednesday at the FIS Alpine World Junior Ski Championships in Bansko, Bulgaria, becoming the first American woman to podium in slalom at the championships since Paula Moltzan won in 2015 in Hafjell, Norway.
AJ Hurt’s finish comes following a strong few days of racing in Europe where she posted an 18th-place finish in super-G at the junior World Ski Championships and a 22nd place at Sunday’s giant slalom race in Jasna, Slovakia.
As a 20-year-old, today’s slalom event was Hurt’s last career World Junior Championships.
“At the beginning of World Juniors I expected more from the super-G and GS, but wasn’t able to ski the way I would have liked,” said Hurt in an interview with U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “I came into today with lower expectations and just wanted to enjoy my last ever race at World Juniors. I think that taking that pressure off of myself allowed me to ski more like myself and I was able to finally pull through with a medal.”
Italian Sophie Mathiou, 19, took the win with a total time of 1 minute, 40.24 seconds. Hurt finished with a combined time of 1:40.45.
Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643.
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