April 30, 2022 - Croatian skier Andrea Komšić has decided to end her professional skiing career at the age of 25.

Andrea Komšić was a promising skier and even at the Olympic Games three times, in 2014, 2018, and 2022, reports 24Sata.

The Zagreb native who was born in Kiseljak (BiH) studied in America and was a university champion while studying international relations and marketing in Denver. Unfortunately, Andrea has struggled with serious injuries throughout her career that seem to have influenced her decision to stop skiing professionally. 

Two years ago, she was the 45th slalom skier in the world, but due to financial reasons, she was not included as a full member of the Croatia national team.

The last two seasons were mostly marked by severe injuries, especially two months before the start of the 2021/2022 season when she broke her foot. After that, she contracted the coronavirus and did not manage to get back into competitive form. 

In addition, Andrea suffered from back problems and could not finish the race at the Beijing Olympics.

"Luck did not anoint me healthily. Until the day of the race, everything was fine, I had self-confidence, but before the race my back stiffened, they had to help me down the track. We tried pills but to no avail. The next day we had a break and a chance to fix up for the slalom, but even that wasn't enough. There were tears in the warm-up, but I said I would start at any cost. And I started and I know I was missing a couple of turns but it didn't work out," Komšić said about what happened in Beijing.

Father Davor, a ski coach and president of the Nordis club in Split, led the careers of Andrea and her brother Dario.

"My dad has always been my coach. I don’t know if I could imagine anyone else in that place. There is nothing he would not do for me. Without him, I certainly would not have been able to reach the World Cup," said Andrea at the age of 16.

Andrea had her first start in the FIS race at the age of 15 in Rovaniemi, Finland in 2012. She started 30 times in the World Cup and never managed to win points.

Apart from Beijing, she represented Croatia at the Sochi Games in 2014, where she was 33rd in slalom and 35th in giant slalom, and four years later in Pyeongchang, she took 31st place in slalom and 32nd in giant slalom. 

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February 7, 2022 - Young skier Zrinka Ljutić was the only Croatia representative in the women's giant slalom race at the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Monday, taking 28th place. 

After Covid measures prevented Croatia's best skier Leona Popović from competing, another more experienced skier, Andrea Komšić, was unlucky with her giant slalom performance. While warming up for the race, she experienced a stiff neck and back pain and did not show up for the start of the race, reports HRT.

Zrinka Ljutić was 36th after the first run, 4.94 seconds behind the Olympic winner, Sweden's Sara Hector. After the second run, she was 28th, 8.08 seconds behind Hector. The silver medal was won by Italian skier Federica Brignone (+0.28), and the bronze by Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami (+.0.72).

"I am not satisfied with how I fell behind, and I did not ride well, although I did not have the feeling that I was that far behind. However, the conditions are excellent, and I’m really sorry I didn’t take advantage of that. This is a new experience for me, and I hope to be smarter on another occasion," the 18-year-old Ljutić commented on her Olympic debut in Beijing, adding:

"The first ride was not great, and I didn't have that feeling when I was skiing. I actually felt fine, even though I had a lot of speed, so I was shocked when I reached the finish line. I later realized how much more I needed to let go, look for more speed, and go a lot cleaner and more direct. Then I tried to fix all those things in the second run, and I really threw myself on my head. I’m glad I managed to connect at least a couple of good turns in some places where I didn’t get in the first run. I’m 28th, which doesn’t sound bad. In a couple of years, no one will remember that half of them dropped out. I entered 28th. I learned a lot; a lot of work awaits me."

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