Aussie young gun Greta Small has laid down some impressive performances on her way to winning a silver and a bronze medal at the World Junior Alpine Ski Championships in Quebec, Canada.

Competing in the U/18 division, Small came within 0.2 of a second of the gold medal and a maiden Junior World Championship crown in the Super G event as she finished just behind Switzerland’s Jasmina Suter in a time of 1:02.72

In what was an extremely competitive and tight competition, Clara Direz of France claimed the bronze medal just a hundredth of a second adrift of the young Victorian.

The result came after Small had claimed her first World Championship podium when she clocked the third fastest time in the slalom event.

Sweden’s Magdalena Fjaellstroem knocked off athletes three years her senior to claim the overall Junior World Championship as well as the U/18 division in an exceptional performance, with Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova winning the silver medal.

A crash in the giant slalom event earlier in the Championships by Small saw her left leg left with deep shin bruising and despite subsequently forcing her out of the downhill event it made her dual medal winning performance even more impressive. 

The double podium finish in Quebec puts the icing on a breakthrough season for the 17-year-old who, as the second youngest competitor in the field, claimed 25th in the Super Combined event at the 2013 World Ski Championships in Schladming, Germany earlier this month.  

Having competed at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in early 2012, Small is on track to make her senior Winter Olympic debut at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. 

Matt Bartolo
AOC