2020 Winter Youth Olympics – Boys' Giant Slalom
Not every day that Eurosport is airing youth competitions but it's the Youth Olympics now. I was glad to catch the giant slalom as I've never seen boys or girls under 18 competing.
This competition was very different from what you see when watching ski. What I wanted to say is their skiing style is very different from the seniors. I've seen the majority of the participants racing and can tell you it's more fun than the other race. These guys don't have the experience adults have and that's why the competition is more colorful.
Three were disqualified in the first run and 15 did not finish the first run. The second run was better as only those got to participate who finished the first run. In the adult competition only the first 30 go to the second run. Five did not finish the second run due to mistakes they made.
Despite the difficulties there were a few that performed like real pros. Even though they made mistakes, were able to correct them, stay on the slope and continue the race and even get a good result. It's not easy as like I said, they don't have the experience yet but practice and good trainings helped them overcome difficulties.
Philip Hoffmann
The slope was a tricky one, obviously built that way to fulfill the requirements. There was a spot, a gate where the most of the participants made mistakes but that wasn't the only place. Some fell, others lost their ski but no one got hurt thank God!
This is the top ten, the cream of the youth in other words. These guys are going to take over the ski competitions a couple of years from now. They have a lot to learn and a lot to practice but some of them are going to make it.
As you can see the top ten is dominated by European skiers which is not really a surprise. if you look at the adult skiers, the best are mostly from Europe as they grow up in a ski world, have more options and opportunities.
However, what surprised me here was the other participants from countries where skiing is not exactly popular or possible, countries like South Africa and Haiti. It's fun to see these contestants, knowing they have to train in another country as at home they don't have snow.