France’s Charbonnier triumphs, Lebanon’s Chad gains experience in women’s combined

As the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games are now well underway, Wednesday, 15 January, marked the start of competitions in alpine skiing.

Among the competitors in the women’s combined in sunny Bardonecchia was Lebanon’s Manon Chad, who readily admits many people tend to think there is no snow in her country.

“There is actually a great, nice skiing resort called Faraya Mzaar, where I grew up skiing on. Yes, it is smaller than the typical European resort, but there is great snow, great conditions, always sunny and training is great there,” explained the 19-year-old, who finished 26^th in her first race in Torino.

“There is another resort, Cedars, which is not as well known, but it’s pretty fun to ski on. We do a lot of national races there and I enjoy the slope,” added the student of business administration at the American University of Beirut.

Chad started training in her Middle Eastern homeland, bordered by the Mediterranean sea to the west, before meeting her current coach Macarena Simari Birkner from Argentina. “For the past three years I have been training with her all around Europe. I’m taking it more seriously now and focusing on skiing a lot. I am happy that I met her, because I now ski mostly in Europe and the national championships are soon.”

Chad lives in the capital city, Beirut, and even though she has plenty of races and training abroad, for her, juggling academics and athletics is not as challenging as one might think. “If you like what you study and you are interested in what you’re doing, it’s honestly not that hard.”

Her favourite skier is Chirine Njeim, who represented Lebanon at the Olympics on three occasions, including at Torino 2006. Her sporting hero is the main reason Chad is more into the Super-G. “She was the first Lebanese skier to do some Super-G. I am getting more into that now, because I’m really intrigued about it.”

Charbonnier defends the advantage

Meanwhile, France’s Emy Charbonnier won the women’s combined on the 2006 Olympics course in Melezet. Without any pressure in her mind, the winner held her lead from the Super-G run in the slalom to triumph in 1:51.21.

Sweden’s Sophie Nyberg (1:51.81) finished 0.60 seconds behind Charbonnier, while Louison Accambray, also from France, placed third (1:51.99). Both the silver and bronze medallists also kept their respective positions from the initial run.

Alpine skiing events in Torino continue Thursday, 16 January, with the men’s combined.

The Torino 2025 FISU World University Games take place from 13-23 January. Watch all the competitions live on fisu.tv. Click on the link to find the full schedule.

Written by Nejc Molan, FISU Young Reporter, Slovenia

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.

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