January 9, 2022 - An excellent day for Croatian skiers as Filip Zubčić, Samuel Kolega, Matej Vidović, and Istok Rodeš win points in Adelboden, and Zrinka Ljutić records the first points in her career in Kranjska Gora!

Austrian Johannes Strolz recorded the first victory of his career in the Adelboden slalom, the third slalom of the World Cup this season. He was only seventh after the first run.

Filip Zubčić placed 15th, Samuel Kolega 21st, Matej Vidović 24th, and Istok Rodeš 25th.

For the 29-year-old Strolz, this was his 64th start in the World Cup races, in which his best placement so far was 10th place in the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio two years ago.

Second place (17 hundredths of a second behind) was taken by Strolz's compatriot Manuel Feller, who was also in second place in Saturday's giant slalom. Third place was German Linus Strasser, who was only 14th in the first run, 29 hundredths of a second behind the winner.

Another local skier Fabio Gstrein, who shared the leading position with Feller after the first run, failed to finish the race, as did fifth-placed Frenchman Alexis Pinturault.

The first to race of the Croatian skiers was Matej Vidović, who was 25th in the first run, 1.92 seconds behind Strolz.

Samuel Kolega started well, but his time increased by a second from the second to the third pass. In the end, he was 1.73 seconds behind, enough for 21st place and points in the World Cup for the second time in his career. Filip Zubčić started immediately after his colleague and with 1.03 seconds behind Strolz, he was 15th.

Istok Rodeš was 16th from the first run, but was the weakest of the four Croatians and, in the end, was two seconds behind the leader, dropping from 16th to 25th place.

Twenty-four skiers reached the finish line within one second of the first run. The first seven were shared by only 17 hundredths of a second, so there were big changes at the top in the second run. In the end, the seventh place from the first run celebrated, while 14th place won a spot on the podium!

After three slaloms in the new season, Norwegian Sebastian Foss-Solevaag and Swede Kristoffer Jakobsen are still in the lead with 140 points each, although they did not reach the finish of the first run in Adelboden, just like Frenchman Clement Noel, who has 100 points and shares third place with Johannes Strolz. Filip Zubčić is in an excellent sixth place with 91 points.

Swiss Marco Odermatt leads with 845 points in the overall standings, ahead of Norwegian Alexander Aamodt Kilde with 469 points. Zubčić is in 11th place with 214 points.

The skiers will stay in Switzerland, where they will ride four World Cup races in Wengen from Thursday to Sunday.

In other news, Petra Vlhova celebrated in the fifth of six women's slaloms this season. The great Slovak won first place in the Kranjska Gora slalom. In second was Wendy Holdener and Anna Swenn Larsson cam third.

Zrinka Ljutić won the first points in her career! After pushing into second in the dramatic finale of the first run in 30th place, Ljutić made a solid first career appearance in the second run and won 26th place. Leona Popović won 20th place and thus gained new points in the World Cup.

The third Croatian representative, Andrea Komšić, lost the second run by only six hundredths of a second. Nevertheless, she finished the first run in 31st place, which was not enough to lead to the second run.

With this victory, Vlhova is only 35 points behind the leader Shiffrin, and in third is still Italian Sofia Goggia with 657 points.

Source: HRT

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January 6, 2021 - The Snow Queen Trophy on Sljeme has come to an end, in which all four Croatian representatives qualified for the second run and won points.

Namely, three even achieved the result of their careers in slalom - Zubčić finished fifth, Vidović 12th, and Kolega 15th place. Rodeš finished in 23rd place after being 18th in the first run.

After the first run, the best Croatian skier was Filip Zubčić, who was one second behind the leading Frenchman Clement Noel and was in tenth place. Zubčić reached 10th place in the first run with a big mistake in front of the finish line and avoided relegation.

Istok Rodeš was 18th in the first run with the starting number 33, 1.90 seconds behind the leader, and the Croatian celebration was completed by Matej Vidović, who started with number 52, and Samuel Kolega, who started with 53.

In very demanding conditions on the Red Slope, Vidović managed to ski as if the track was in ideal condition, and 2.05 seconds behind, he reached 21st place. At the same time, Kolega was 45 hundredths of a second slower, just enough for 30th place and starting number 1 in the second run.

The second run was brilliantly opened by Kolega, whose placement improved by 15 spots. He had the second result of the second run, behind Michael Matt, and the third result of the second run was the work of Vidović, who thus advanced by nine.

Zubčić rode the first part of the second run phenomenally, but lost the advantage in the lower part and finished only one hundredth behind Matt. He was followed by Strasser, eighth in the first run, and took the first place by riding without a mistake. In the end, he kept it until the end and reached the first victory in his career. Of the five from the first run, Slovenian Hadalin finished 16th, Foss-Solevaag finished 13th, and Noel, who was leading after the first run, finished the race in seventh place. 

Strasser finally celebrated with 10 hundredths ahead of Feller, 16 ahead of Schwarz, and 47 ahead of Zubčić. Vidović was 77 hundredths behind, Kolega 97, and Rodeš one second and 91 hundredths behind.

Source: Index.hr

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August 14, 2020 - Croatian skiers Filip Zubcic and Istok Rodes have tested positive for the coronavirus. 

HRT reports that Zubcic and Rodes were soon to start preparations with the rest of the Croatia ski team in Switzerland, but are now forced to spend 14 days in self-isolation.

The Croatian skiers felt their first symptoms during fitness training in Delnice. At first, they thought it was a virus, but were tested just in case.

"I felt a little weaker, had a mild fever and headache and I thought it was some kind of summer virus. However, as the coronavirus is current, and we needed to travel with the rest of the national team, I decided to get tested so as not to endanger everyone else," Zubcic said. 

The new World Cup season should start a week before planned, i.e., October 17, with the women's giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. The day after, a giant slalom is scheduled.

The races were moved forward after the Austrian Ski Federation requested and obtained permission from the International Ski Federation (FIS) to ensure the best possible safety conditions for the competitors.

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Although he began with a starting number of 48, Croatian skier Elias Kolega qualified for the second run of the slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland and achieved his best career-placement, reports Gol.hr on January 13, 2019. 

Kolega achieved a brilliant second run and finished in sixth place, 1.97 seconds behind the winner Marcel Hirscher. This is Hirscher’s 67th World Cup win and his 16th in Adelboden.

The 22-year-old Croatian’s best placement before the run in Adelboden was finishing 20th place on Sljeme. This is also the best result for Croatian skiing after the departure of Ivica Kostelić.

Kolega finished ninth in the first run, with Swiss skier Ramon Zenhaeusern in front of Kolega by one second. Zenhaeusern eventually ended fifth; second place was taken by Clement Noel, third place by Henrik Kristofferson, and fourth by Alexis Pinturault.

The second Croatian representative in the second run, Istok Rodeš (who was 16th place in the first run), made a mistake in the first part of the track and failed to finish. Matej Vidović and Filip Zubčić were unable to qualify for the second run.

Due to difficult conditions, many skiers were not able to finish the race at all, including the fastest in the first run, Marco Schwarz.

After today's race, Hirscher has increased his lead in the slalom race - now totaling 436 points. In second is Swiss skier Daniel Yule with 278 points, and in third is Henrik Kristoffersen with 269 points.

Of the Croatian skiers, the best placed is Istok Rodeš who is in 19th place with 72 points, followed by Elias Kolega in the 26th place with 51 points, and Matej Vidović in the 27th place with 49 points.

In the overall ranking, Hirscher is in first with 976 points, second is Kristoffersen with 571 points, and in third is the French skier Pitaurault with 494 points. Rodeš is 54th overall with 72 points, Kolega is 71st with 51 points, Vidović is 73rd with 49 points, and Zubčić is 80th with 36 points.

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The red slope on Sljeme is ready for another edition of the Snow Queen Trophy spectacle in Zagreb next month. 

Croatian skier Istok Rodeš, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday in late January, took great advantage of his first run where he was ranked in the top 30 and secured the second run in which he exploded for seventh place.

"I think I'm in great shape and I'm pleased with Sljeme," said 22-year-old Istok Rodeš from Varaždin who won the seventh place in the World Cup slalom, which is currently taking place in the Italian Madonna di Campiglio, reports Gol.hr on December 22, 2018. 

And did we mention that Rodeš had a start number of 66 in the first run, making this feat all the more impressive?

The success of Croatian skiers was completed by Matej Vidović, who won the 18th place and also achieved the best result in the competition for the World Cup.

Rodeš’ seventh place is the second best result of Croatian skiers in Madonna di Campiglio, where Ivica Kostelić was the winner in 2003 and won seventh place in 2005. Also, this is the first Croatian top 10 in the slalom since Ivić's 10th place at the finals of the World Cup in Lenzerheide back in 2014.

“A super race. I’m very pleased. Today, everything has fallen into place,” said the 2016 World junior champion in the slalom.

Specialists for technical disciplines will now have a brief pause. In Oslo, on January 1, a parallel slalom will run, while the next classic slalom will take place at Sljeme’s Red Slope in Zagreb next month for the Snow Queen Trophy.

Saturday’s success, as well as the excellent results at the last European Cup races, have helped Croatian skiers receive better start numbers for the Sljeme race. 

Matej Vidović will perform for the first time at the Snow Queen in the first 30, Istok Rodeš will have a start number of around 40, Elias Kolega 43, and Filip Zubčić around 58.

The skiers will compete for points on Sljeme in Zagreb on January 6. The first run will begin at 12:15 and the second at 15:30. The day before, female skiers will take the slopes, with the first run at 13:00 and the second at 16:00.

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