Luxembourg Ski Team Wraps Up FIS Alpine World Ski Championships with Record-Breaking Delegation

On Sunday 16 February 2025, the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach, Austria, came to a close, with Luxembourg fielding a team of five athletes - the nation's largest delegation in 34 years.

The Luxembourg Ski Federation (FLS) athletes competed in the technical disciplines of Slalom and Giant Slalom. Representing Luxembourg in the women’s events were nineteen-year-old Gwyneth Ten Raa, who competed in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, and 21-year-old Joyce Ten Raa. In the men’s competition, the team featured three athletes: 25-year-old Matthieu Osch, who competed in the last two Winter Olympic Games, 22-year-old Nikolaj Lindfors and 21-year-old Joachim Keghian.

Gwyneth Ten Raa achieved the team’s best result. In the Giant Slalom, she recorded a combined time of 2:39.44 (1st run - 1:19.25, 2nd run - 1:20.19), securing 36th place. She finished 16.73 seconds behind Italy’s Federica Brignone, who claimed the gold. In the Slalom, Gwyneth was unable to complete her first run and, as a result, did not qualify for the second.

Joyce Ten Raa, who was competing in the World Championships for the second time, also saw her Slalom competition come to an early end, as she did not finish her first run and was unable to cross the finish line. However, she fared better in the Giant Slalom, where she placed 47th with a total time of 2:53.13 (1st run - 1:26.91, 2nd run - 1:26.22), trailing the winner by 30.42 seconds.

In the men's section of the team, Matthieu Osch, who was competing in the World Championships for the fourth time, achieved the best result. The team leader successfully qualified for both disciplines: Slalom, where he placed 30th, and Giant Slalom, where he finished 32nd, progressing to the final stages of the competition.

Matthieu performed better in the final runs of the Slalom, finishing in 41st place with a time of 2:10.70 (1st Run - 1:07.79, 2nd Run - 1:02.91). He was 16.68 seconds slower than the winner, Loic Meillard from Switzerland.

In the Giant Slalom, Matthieu finished eight places lower, with an overall time of 2:59.49 (1st Run - 1:30.62, 2nd Run - 1:28.87), placing 49th. The champion in this discipline, Raphael Haaser from Austria, was 19.78 seconds faster.

Joachim Keghian, for whom this World Championships was the second of his career, was also entered to compete in both disciplines. However, he did not start in the Slalom qualification and in the Giant Slalom qualification, he did not finish the 2nd Run, just like World Championships debutant, Nikolaj Lindfors, who only competed in this discipline.

Speaking to Chronicle.lu, FLS President Jean Leyder said: "Matthieu Osch’s performances were very good taking into consideration that he had a hip surgery last year and he couldn’t train as much. The other performances for the other athletes are really okay, especially in the Giant Slalom. The conditions of the slopes were quite demanding and difficult to race. For the woman the results in Giant slalom were also good and they still need to gain more experience in such big events. The federation is optimistic that in the future their performances will get better and steadier."

IK