February 16, 2022 - Croatian skier Samuel Kolega finished 15th place in the Olympic men's slalom on Wednesday, ahead of Croatia's best skier Filip Zubčić. 

Croatia's best skier Filip Zubčić placed 18th in the men's slalom at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Wednesday. 

"I did better in the second run; I had a better feeling. It will be better on camera as well. For me, the Olympics are over, not the most successful. However, there are still races until the end of the season, and we are moving forward optimistically," said Zubčić for HRT after the race.

After placing 10th in the giant slalom and now the 18th in the slalom, Zubčić did not show his best skiing at the Olympic Games.

"I'm not satisfied; it's not the best. I wasn’t even in the top 15 today, so I won’t get anything for the starting list; I might be in the second group in the slalom. So it is, as it is. I did my best. I didn't do well today on this track. I thought it would be much better," said Zubčić and added:

"I came here; I felt great. I skied well; the training went well. But unfortunately, the giant slalom was very bad, especially the first run. Tenth place doesn’t sound bad, but it sounds bad to me. I thought the slalom would be better, but it wasn’t."

He is now turning to new challenges in the World Cup.

"Five more slaloms and three giant slaloms until the end of the season. A lot can still be done; we need to rest and then train until the end of the season," concluded Zubčić.

"I can't complain. The second run was not the greatest, but I did my best. It was not the best ride, but enough for 15th place, those are points, and I am glad," said Samuel Kolega, today the best Croatian skier in 15th place.

Matej Vidović skied to 20th place.

"The track did not suit me, but the conditions are great, as well as the organization. Unfortunately, we didn't make it. I had a weaker first run, better second, but we were not close to where we would like to be," Vidović concluded.

Source: HRT

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February 13, 2022 - Swiss Marco Odermatt is the Olympic giant slalom champion. He celebrated in front of Slovenian Žan Kranjec (+0.19), and bronze medalist Frenchman Mathieu Faivre (+1.34). Croatian skiers Filip Zubčić and Samuel Kolega took 10th and 21st place.

Croatian skiers Filip Zubčić and Samuel Kolega took 10th and 21st place, respectively, in today's giant slalom race at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, reports Index.hr.

After the first run in which Zubčić was 15th and Kolega 24th, and then delays due to unfavorable weather conditions, the second race was held in better conditions, and in the final standings both improved their results. Marco Odermatt won in front of the sensational Slovenian Žan Kranjec and Mathieu Faivre.

Zubčić was extremely self-critical after the first run, said it was a disaster and announced that he would be entering the second race with a lot of risk.

"Catastrophe as you saw. I will not enter 30 at all!"

When asked if the severe weather conditions affected his ride, he replied:

"Certainly not, it affected it because I skied criminally, a disaster. This is the worst round in the last three years." And when asked what he needed to do in the second race to stay alive? "Nothing. I will go all-in, whatever happens, happens."

It paid off for him because thanks to the combination of his racing, the potential of being relegated from the competition, and the poorer performance of some skiers, Zubčić ultimately improved his ranking. Thus, he had the ninth time in the second race, which would have been better if he avoided a mistake in the upper part of the track that took away his speed and a few tenths of a second. However, he was the first to cross the finish line and depended on the results of the skiers who followed.

Marco Odermatt confirmed the best time from the first run with an overall victory with a time of 2:09.35, which overtook Kranjec by 19 hundredths of a second and Faivre by 1.34 seconds.

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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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