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EYOWF medallists among the heroes of Vancouver
Friday March 19 2010 02:35 PM
Are sporting achievements on the junior level a direct ticket to the medal world of senior athletes? Are the stars of European Youth Winter Olympic Festivals destined to also become stars among seniors? The statistics compiled by the EYOWF 2011 Organising Committee offer an interesting perspective on this problem.
A list was created containing the names of all the athletes who have won at least one of the medals at any of the nine Winter Festivals since 1993. When compared with the participants of the recent XXI. Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver 2010, the number of matches reached exactly one hundred.
Vladimír Zemánek, Communication Coordinator of the EYOWF 2011 Organising Committee comments as follows: „We could only count medallists from individual sports, because including the listing of Ice Hockey tournaments proved impossible. Considering that the EYOWF has a very limited number of disciplines, the overall number of those Festival winners and those who have made it to the Olympics is really high. This demonstrates that the Festival has an excellent standard and mirrors the future of world sport.”
Many from the one hundred successful juniors also ranked among Vancouver’s dominant athletes in their disciplines even after a number of years. Sixteen of them were able to use their talent and won one of the first three places at the top senior event, collecting 22 medals in all!
Marit Bjørgen became a three-time Olympic champion in Cross Country Skiing (with an additional silver and bronze placing), Emil Svendsen had only one victory less. Tora Berger won one gold in Biathlon, Jason Lamy Chappuis in the Nordic Combined and Johan Olsson in Cross Country Skiing. All of them succeeded at EYOWF as well as in Canada in their traditional disciplines, the only exception being Björn Ferry in the Biathlon, who had won mixed relay Cross Country Skiing at the 1995 Festival.
One remarkable fact is that apart from Lamy Chappuis, champion from 2003, nobody else had won at EYOWF. Bjørgen won the bronze medal at the 1997 Festival in the 7,5 km classic race, as well as Olsson in the 10 km free style. Berger finished second in the 1999 Festival’s 7,5 km distance, similarly to Svendsen in 2003 in the 10 km race.
The list of silver and bronze medallists from previous EYOWF events who shone in Vancouver can be found in the Sixteen chosen ones, twenty-two medals.
Most of the medal holders, who took part in the 2010 Winter Olympics, succeeded at EYOWF 2005 in Monthey (19 members), with five snowboarders making up most of them. The second place goes to Poprad 1999 (17) thanks to seven athletes in Alpine Skiing. The third largest delegation in Vancouver came from Vuokatti 2001 (16), including five downhill skiers and four ski jumpers.
Festival as a medal reservoir
The following overview shows how many medallists from each of the EYOWF events started at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver:
1993 Aosta: 2
1995 Andorra la Vella: 10
1997 Sundsvall: 13
1999 Poprad: 17
2001 Vuokatti: 16
2003 Bled: 12
2005 Monthey: 19
2007 Jaca: 9
2009 Szczyrk: 2
Total from the nine years: 100
Sixteen chosen ones, twenty-two medals
Sixteen gold medallists from the past nine EYOWF events made it to the Winter Olympic rostrum in Vancouver, winning 22 medals in all:
1st place:
Tora Berger (Norway): Biathlon (15 km) – 2nd at the EYOWF 1999 in the 7.5 km.
Marit Bjørgen (Norway): 3x Cross Country Skiing (Skiathlon, Individual Sprint, Relay), silver (30 km), bronze (10 km) - 3rd at the EYOWF 1997 in the 7,5 km classic.
Björn Ferry (Sweden): Biathlon (12,5 km) – 1st at the EYOWF 1995 in Cross Country Skiing – Mixed Relay.
Jason Lamy Chappuis (France): Nordic Combined (K90/10 km) – 1st at the EYOWF 2003 on K90/7,5 km.
Johan Olsson (Sweden): Cross Country Skiing (Relay) and bronze (50 km) – 3rd at the EYOWF 1997 in the 10 km.
Emil Svendsen (Norway): 2x Biathlon (20 km, Relay) – 2nd at the EYOWF 2003 in the 10 km and 3rd in the 7,5 km.
2nd place:
Dominik Landentinger (Austria): Biathlon (Relay) – 2nd at the EYOWF 2005 in the 7,5 km and 3rd in the 10 km.
Peetu Piiroinen (Finland): Snowboarding (Half-pipe) – 1st at the EYOWF 2005 in the Half-pipe.
Yevgeni Plyushchenko (Russia): Figure Skating (Individual) – 1st at the EYOWF 1997 in individuals.
Kristiina Shmigun (Estonia): Cross Country Skiing (10 km) – 2nd at the EYOWF 1993 in the 7,5 km and 3rd in the 5 km.
Tim Tscharnke (Germany): Cross Country Skiing (Team Sprint) – 1st at the EYOWF 2007 in the 10 km.
3rd place:
Darya Domratcheva (Belarus): Biathlon (15 km) –2nd at the EYOWF 2003 in the Mixed Relay.
Martin Koukal (Czech Republic): Cross Country Skiing (Relay) – 1st at the EYOWF 1995 in the 10 km freestyle and 2nd in the 10 km classic.
Anja Paerson (Sweden): Alpine Skiing (Combined) – 1st at the EYOWF 1997 in the Giant Slalom and 2nd in the Slalom.
Tony Ramoin (France): Snowboarding (Snowboardcross) – 3rd at the EYOWF 2005 in the Snowboardcross.
Anton Shipulin (Russia): Biathlon (Relay) – 1st at the EYOWF 2005 in the 7,5 km and 1st in the 10 km.
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