January 29, 2023 - A historic day for Croatian skiers as Zrinka Ljutić finishes on the podium for the first time and Leona Popović finishes fifth in the slalom at the World Cup in Špindlerův Mlyn on Sunday! 

Nineteen-year-old Zrinka Ljutić, who had a starting number of 17, was third in the first run. In the end, she finished 49 hundredths of a second behind the winner German Lena Duerr, who had a time of 1:30.91. American Mikaela Shiffrin was second, six-hundredths of a second behind Duerr. Leona Popović was 84 hundredths of a second behind the winner (1:31.75).

This is historic for Croatian skiing for many reasons. For starters, this is Ljutić's first podium finish of her career. So far, her best result at the World Cup was fifth place in Courchevel last year. Popović also achieved the best result of her career after winning fifth place today. She finished sixth place twice last year - in Levi and Schladming.

Ljutić thus secured the first podium finish for Croatian women's skiing after 16 years. This is also the first time after 18 years that Croatia has two skiers among the top ten (Janica Kostelić and Nika Fleiss were second and sixth, respectively). Never before have two Croatian representatives been in the World Cup's top 5. 

With today's result, Shiffrin secured the small Crystal Globe in the slalom but failed to achieve her 86th victory and equal the record held by Swede Ingemar Stenmark for the number of wins at the World Cup.

In the standings of female slalom skiers, Shiffrin has 785 points, Swiss Wendy Holdener is in second with 530, and Petra Vlhova is in third with the same number of points. Popović is seventh with 237 points, and Ljutić is tenth with 190 points.

In the overall standings, Shiffrin is first with 1697 points, Vlhova is second with 966 points, and Swiss Lara Gut Behrami is third with 906 points. Popović is 28th and has 237 points, and Ljutić is 33rd with 208 points.

HRT

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March 20, 2022 - World junior slalom champion 18-year-old Zrinka Ljutić took the opportunity to compete in the World Cup finals in Meribel, France, where she won fifth place in the strongest competition!

Slovenian Andreja Slokar won the first slalom victory in her career, reports Gol.hr.

The Zagreb skier achieved an excellent result in the first run when she reached ninth place with the starting number of 25, and with her uncompromising performance in the final run, she achieved the sixth-best time for the fifth place in the end, which brought her 45 points.

The 24-year-old Slovenian Andreja Slokar skied exceptionally in the second run, and after the sixth time in the first slalom, she achieved a great advantage over the competitors. In the second performance, the Slovenian skier was 1.23 seconds faster than the leader of the first run German Lena Duerr, which in the end brought her 48 hundredths of an advantage. In the end, the best slalom skier in the world and the Olympic winner in this discipline, Petra Vlhova, finished in third and was 81 hundredths behind the winner.

The big day for Slovenian skiers was completed by Ana Bucik, who won fourth place with 1.04 seconds behind her compatriot. However, Zrinka Ljutić was 45 hundredths of a second slower than Slokar in the second run, and in the end, she finished 1.22 seconds behind.

Unfortunately, Leona Popović finished the second competition in a row with a mistake in the first run. As a result, the best Croatian skier ended the season with 146 points, which brought her 14th place among slalom skiers, while Zrinka Ljutić finished with 50 points as the 30th among the best slalom skiers in the world.

The skiers will ride the giant slalom in Meribel on Sunday, with the first run at 9:00 and the second at noon. Four more skiers have a chance to win the small Crystal Globe: Sweden's Sara Hector (522 points), France's Tessa Worley (517), America's Mikaela Shiffrin (471), and Slovakia's Petra Vlhova (431). Croatia will not have a representative in the last race of the World Cup this season.

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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.

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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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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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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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February 2, 2021 - 17-year-old Croatian skiing sensation Zrinka Ljutić delighted the ski world once again!

HRT reports that the young Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutić achieved her second career victory in the Europa Cup! After celebrating in the slalom held in Zell am See, Austria, at the end of January, she also won the giant slalom run at the Slovenian ski resort Krvavec on Tuesday.

After the first run, the young Croatian skiing sensation was second behind the Norwegian skier Kaja Norbye, but only by about five-hundredths of a second.

Ljutić won with a great performance in the second run with a result of 2:04.28. Only one-hundredth of a second behind was Norwegian skier Marta Monsen, while Norbye came in third, 36 hundredths of a second behind Monsen.

Croatian skier Andrea Komšić took 44th place.

This was the second victory in the Europa Cup for the 17-year-old from Zagreb and the second in a row after she was the best in the slalom in Zell am See on January 26.

In the overall Europa Cup standings, Ljutić broke into second place with 370 points, 102 less than the leading Slovenian skier Andreja Slokar. In third is Italian Lara Della Mea with 341 points.

Maryna Gasienica-Daniel from Poland leads the giant slalom standings with 200 points, while Ljutić is in sixth place with 137 points.

Another giant slalom for the Europa Cup will be held on Krvavec on Wednesday.

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January 26, 2021 - Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutić achieved her first victory in European Cup races with a triumph in today's slalom held in Zell am See, Austria. It is also her 17th birthday! 

Gol.hr reports that this is the first ascent to the podium in the European Cup for the 17-year-old from Zagreb, and she immediately reached the highest place on the same track where she was eighth the day before.

On Tuesday, with the starting number 9, she had the fourth time of the first run, and she was half a second behind the leading Italian skier Lara Della Meo.

In the second run, the Croatian skier achieved the second-best time, which was ultimately enough for a convincing victory over German Lena Duerr, the winner of the slalom held on Monday.

The first and second from the first run, Italian Della Mea and Swede Wikstroem, failed to finish the second run.

Duerr is also the only skier who managed to fall behind Ljutić by less than one second, while the third-placed Swede Liv Ceder was 1.08 seconds behind.

Zrinka Ljutić is now fifth in the ranking of slalom skiers in the European Cup with 233 points, and she is 232 points behind the leading Slovenian Andreja Slokar. Ljutić is also fifth in the overall standings with 270 points, where Slokar is also leading with 465 points, which she won in the slalom.

"Zrinka Ljutić celebrated her 17th birthday with her first victory in the Europa Cup. With a fantastic second run, Zrinka climbed from 4th place to the highest slalom spot in Zell am See (AUT)!
It's time to celebrate!" CroSki wrote on its Facebook. 

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November 10, 2020 - Sixteen-year-old Zrinka Ljutic, a promising Croatian skier, achieved an excellent result in the first FIS giant slalom race of her career.

Index.hr reports that with a starting number 114, she finished the first run in 33rd place, and in the second run, she finished in 21st with the second-best time of the second run.

The FIS races are just below the World Cup races, in which the best skiers in the world participate, and in which the last Croatian representatives were Janica Kostelic, Ana Jelusic, and Nika Fleiss.

With this result, Ljutic won 51.36 FIS points, the most that any Croatian skiers won in their first FIS race. At the beginning of 2020, Ljutic became the best skier in the world, winning as many as four gold medals at the strongest international competition for young skiers.

Sixteen-year-old Zrinka has a dream season behind her; she is untouchable in slalom and giant slalom, which she proved at the Alpe Cimbra Cup, the unofficial world championship for younger ages, once known as the Topolino Trophy.

Behind these successes stand the harmonious Ljutic family. Dad Amir and four children, 17-year-old Tvrtko, 16-year-old Zrinka, 15-year-old Dora, and 13-year-old Hrvoje, spend most of the year in Innerkrems, Austria, where they train and continue learning.

Despite spending more than nine months a year in the snow, Zrinka and her older brother are great surfers. Her brother is also one of the best young surfers in Europe in the freestyle discipline.

"At sea, we train, surf, windsurf, freestyle. We’ve been doing it for a long time, and we’re good at it, but it fell into the background; it just became a hobby. We train, we have excellent training conditions, we get away from skiing and everything," Zrinka told Dnevnik Nova TV.

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