From Bludenz, AUT
(January 20, 2023) – Kaspars Rinks concluded a strong 2022/2023 Junior World Cup season with another win as he edged out Germany’s Marco Leger for gold.
However, Leger got the last laugh as he left Bludenz as the Junior World Cup champion.
Rinks opened up a .07 lead over Leger in the first heat. On the second run it was Leger with the quick downtime. Rinks was able to respond, though, as he put down a run that was enough to give him the victory.
Leger took silver, and with that the Junior World Cup season championship. After Rinks had trouble one race prior and finished tenth, it opened up the chance for Leger to take the overall title with a podium finish.
Behind the Rinks/Leger battle, Germany’s Hannes Röder finished with a bronze medal.
Austria’s Noah Kallan rallied from eighth in the first heat to finish fourth, ahead of USA’s Aidan Mueller in fifth and Italy’s Lukas Peccei in sixth.
In the season overall standings, Kallan finished third overall, one point ahead of Mueller in fourth. Austria’s Fabio Zauser rounded out the season top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Kaspars Rinks | LAT | 12 | 5.449 | 5.451 | 32.001 | 32.221 | 1:04.222 |
| 2 | Marco Leger | GER | 11 | 5.489 | 5.481 | 32.071 | 32.178 | 1:04.249 |
| 3 | Hannes Röder | GER | 4 | 5.435 | 5.446 | 32.092 | 32.345 | 1:04.437 |
| 4 | Noah Kallan | AUT | 6 | 5.481 | 5.482 | 32.356 | 32.243 | 1:04.599 |
| 5 | Aidan Mueller | USA | 9 | 5.588 | 5.596 | 32.354 | 32.481 | 1:04.835 |
| 6 | Lukas Peccei | ITA | 3 | 5.534 | 5.527 | 32.352 | 32.516 | 1:04.868 |
| 7 | Christian Bosman | SVK | 22 | 5.508 | 5.536 | 32.343 | 32.528 | 1:04.871 |
| 8 | Arkadiusz Trojga | POL | 27 | 5.534 | 5.532 | 32.477 | 32.466 | 1:04.943 |
| 9 | Fabio Zauser | AUT | 10 | 5.599 | 5.611 | 32.439 | 32.586 | 1:05.025 |
| 10 | Hans Fritsch | GER | 7 | 5.600 | 5.577 | 32.289 | 32.796 | 1:05.085 |
| 11 | Rasmus Moberg | SWE | 2 | 5.526 | 5.533 | 32.627 | 32.566 | 1:05.193 |
| 12 | Markus Arnold | GER | 8 | 5.554 | 5.556 | 32.666 | 32.661 | 1:05.327 |
| 13 | Jing Li | CHN | 26 | 5.485 | 5.502 | 32.635 | 32.797 | 1:05.432 |
| 14 | Roberts Driemanis | LAT | 1 | 5.601 | 4.489 | 32.687 | 32.944 | 1:05.631 |
| 15 | Florian Tanzer | AUT | 17 | 5.480 | 5.516 | 33.186 | 32.529 | 1:05.715 |
| 16 | Nikola Boban | CRO | 18 | 5.668 | 5.633 | 33.026 | 32.819 | 1:05.845 |
| 17 | Aleksis Sinilnikovs | LAT | 23 | 5.622 | 5.566 | 32.874 | 33.017 | 1:05.891 |
| 18 | Jakub Veprovsky | CZE | 13 | 5.691 | 5.688 | 33.024 | 33.147 | 1:06.171 |
| 19 | Michal Macko | SVK | 30 | 5.590 | 5.607 | 33.501 | 33.014 | 1:05.515 |
| 20 | Vadym Shved | UKR | 28 | 5.633 | 5.628 | 33.190 | 33.374 | 1:06.564 |
| 21 | Metod Majercak | SVK | 14 | 5.661 | 5.643 | 33.461 | 33.140 | 1:06.601 |
| 22 | Lovro Kovacic | SLO | 15 | 5.650 | 5.693 | 33.701 | 32.961 | 1:06.662 |
| 23 | Anton Shevchuk | UKR | 25 | 5.571 | 5.635 | 33.538 | 33.353 | 1:06.891 |
| 24 | Nazarii Kachmar | UKR | 31 | 5.678 | 5.657 | 33.750 | 33.380 | 1:07.130 |
| 25 | Adam Jaskiewicz | POL | 19 | 5.654 | 5.650 | 33.716 | 33.632 | 1:07.348 |
| 26 | Burno Mick | SVK | 24 | 5.594 | 5.605 | 34.387 | 33.042 | 1:07.429 |
| 27 | Tian Badzukov | SLO | 16 | 5.763 | 5.793 | 34.338 | 33.697 | 1:08.035 |
| 28 | Oleksandr Lomakovych | UKR | 29 | 5.715 | 5.581 | 35.169 | 33.452 | 1:08.621 |
| 29 | Mateusz Kielbasa | POL | 21 | 5.769 | 5.737 | 34.699 | 34.803 | 1:09.502 |
| 30 | Maksymilian Gutowski | POL | 20 | 5.695 | 5.700 | 35.276 | 34.699 | 1:09.975 |
| DNS | Alex Gufler | ITA | 5 | DNS |
