Mach 8, 2022 - Young Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutić is the world junior slalom champion and has become the first Croatian female to win gold at the FIS World Junior Championships!
Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutić drove two great runs in Panorama, Canada. She was the fastest with an advantage after the first, while in the second she had the second-best time, but no direct competitor was close and that was more than enough for the final result of 1:39.88, or 84 hundredths of an advantage over the second-placed German Emma Aicher.
Sweden's Moa Bostroem Mussener won the bronze medal with one second and 21 hundredths behind.
"The feeling is amazing. I couldn't believe it when I reached the finish line, because it was very difficult, the track was damaged, I didn't know if I was fast enough, I didn't know anything, but I fought as hard as I could," said the world champion for Sportske Novosti and described how she felt when she saw that the result good.
"When I saw that I had 84 hundredths better time, I was so happy."
This is the first Croatian women's gold at the FIS World Junior Championships.
So far, Janica Kostelić, Ana Jelušić and Nika Fleiss have won medals at the junior world competitions for Croatia in the women's category, and Istok Rodeš and Elias Kolega in the men's competition, but of all the Croatian representatives on the podium, only Rodeš has been on the highest step so far after taking gold in 2016 in Sochi.
As the new world junior champion, Ljutić secured the slalom at this season's World Cup final, which will be held in Courchevel, France, from March 16 to 20. The women’s slalom is scheduled for Saturday, March 19.
The 18-year-old skier is a member of the Croatian Ski Club Žuti Mačak from Zagreb.
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