Austrians shine with historic third title and medal hat-trick as hosts Norway dominate Junior and U23 Worlds

Austria’s Stephan Embacher and Heidi Bucher were among the standout performers at the 2026 FIS Junior and U23 World Ski Championships in Lillehammer, Norway.

Embacher claimed a historic third consecutive Junior Worlds Ski Jumping title, while Bucher won a full set of medals in the Junior Cross-Country events.

Host nation Norway topped the medal table with 18 medals across the disciplines, including seven golds, all from Cross-Country.

Austria – dominant in Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined – finished second overall on five gold medals and 11 medals in total, with victories across all three sports. Slovenia finished third in the table with three gold medals – two from Ski Jumping and one from Nordic Combined.

Several young stars returned from the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games to compete at the iconic 1994 Games venue, where many new talents also announced themselves on the world stage.