ZAGREB, 10 March 2022 - Croatian ski racer Zrinka Ljutić won a bronze medal in the women's giant slalom at the FIS Alpine World Junior Championships in Panorama Mount Resort, Canada on Wednesday.

The gold went to Magdalena Egger of Austria, who was by 1.01 seconds faster than Ljutić, and the silver to Emma Aicher of Germany, who was by 0.22 seconds slower than Egger.

On Tuesday, the 18-year-old Ljutić became the world champion in the slalom event.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

December 5, 2020 - Great news from the Croatian skiing world today as Filip Zubčić wins the giant slalom in Santa Caterina, Italy!

HRT reports that Croatian skier Filip Zubčić won the giant slalom on Saturday in Santa Caterina, Italy, with a time of 2:15.06 and a 12-hundredth advantage over second-placed Slovenian skier Žana Kranjec.

Kranjec, who finished the first run as the leader, achieved a time of 2:15.18, and in third was the Swiss skier Marco Odermatt with a time of 2:15.36 and 30 hundredths of a second behind Zubčić.

The Croatian skier finished the first run in sixth place, and a fantastic second run secured him his second World Cup victory in his career. He was the only Croatian representative in Santa Caterina to take over the organization of the two giant slaloms from Val d'Isere, France.

This is Zubčić's best result this season and his second victory in the World Cup. Last season he won the giant slalom in Naeba, Japan, and in addition he reached two other places (Hintestoder, Adelboden).

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

October 18, 2020 - On Sunday, in Soelden, Austria, the best Croatian skier Filip Zubcic kicked off his new World Cup season in the giant slalom, a discipline in which he achieved his first victory last season and finished third in the overall standings.

Going into Sunday's performance, Zubcic was second in the FIS giant slalom rankings, behind Frenchman Alexis Pinturault. The 27-year-old from Zagreb said on Saturday he is ready for the traditional opening of the season in Soelden, where he made his debut in the World Cup eight years ago.

"We are expecting a slightly different opening of the season because there will be no audience, no fans. I feel great, I ski well, I believe I am in solid shape, and I can't wait for the season to start," said Zubcic ahead of his 105th appearance in World Cup races.

The Zagreb native shone in the second half of last season, before it was interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, when he climbed the podium three times, winning second place in the giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland and Hinterstoder, Austria, and achieving his first victory in Naeba, Japan.

Thanks to these results, Filip was third among the giant slalom skiers at the end of the season with 368 points and in the fight for the small crystal globe, and with 475 points, he was 14th in the standings for the big crystal globe.

Reaching full competitive maturity, Zubcic enters this season as one of the favorites for a high place in giant slalom races. He will be able to continue to prove his ski versatility in slalom.

So far, performances in Soelden have not been too lucky for Zubcic because he was only once in the second run and among the points winners. In 2015, he finished in 12th place. He failed to qualify for the second run three times, and twice he was left without a place in the first, which was the case last season.

But now, he will also have the advantage of a better starting number, as he would start among the top seven.

"As for my goals, I would like to ski as well as possible in both runs, without calculations. I think that then the result will not be missed," concluded the best Croatian skier.

The first giant slalom run in Soelden was held at 10 am on Sunday, in which Zubcic was solid. 

HRT Screenshot

Namely, the Croatian skier is currently 78 hundredths of a second behind the currently leading Swiss Gino Caviezel, who achieved a time of 1:08.13 with the starting number 12. For a long time, the leader was Slovenian Žan Kranjec, who had the first starting number and achieved a time of 1:08.19.

Croatia's best skier started well and was four-hundredths better than Kranjec in the first pass, but by the second pass, he lost his rhythm and was 1.18 seconds behind. He finally managed to accelerate and finished the first run with 72 hundredths of a second behind Kranjec.

Last season’s big Crystal Globe winner Alexander Aamodt Kilde failed to finish the first run.

The second run is scheduled at 1:15 pm. You can watch the broadcast on HRT 2. 

More soon...

Source: HRT

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.