Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutić is the winner of the World Cup slalom in Semmering, Austria, and for the 20-year-old from Zagreb, this is the first victory in her career and the first for Croatian women’s skiing after more than 18 years for Janice Kostelić.
Ljutić took advantage of starting number 2 and the fact that the course was laid out by her coach and father Amir Ljuticand achieved the best time of the first run with a brilliant drive. In the second lauf she was brave, she endured a dangerous situation in the middle of the track and won with a whopping 1.75 seconds.
After Ljutić, the German remained in second place Lena Duerr with 1.75 seconds behind, and the third is the Austrian Katharina Liensberger (+1.85).
🏆 What a performance by Zrinka Ljutic! At just 20 years old, she claims her first World Cup victory with a spectacular race! 💥
🥈 Lena Duerr 🇩🇪
🥉 Katharina Liensberger 🇦🇹#physalpine #wintersport #worldcupsemmering pic.twitter.com/aRrJrNNLLk— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) December 29, 2024
Exactly four years ago, exactly in Semmering, a place about 90 kilometers from Vienna, Ljutić had her first appearance in the World Cup, and since then she has collected four slalom standsshe was second three times, while recently she also won first in giant slalom.
This was my dream since I was a little kid, it’s a great feeling. My family is here with me, with whom I will of course celebrate all this when we return home. As for the race, I took a bit of a risk. I didn’t know how fast I was, but I didn’t want to miss this opportunity, said Ljutic.
“THAT IS MONSTROUS”
Zrinka Ljutic just dominated Semmering to claim her first World Cup victory ⛷️🔝 #physalpine pic.twitter.com/ogznf24dEe
— Eurosport (@eurosport) December 29, 2024
Zrinka is now the third slalom athlete in the world with 209 points behind the leading Swiss Camille Rast (255) i Duerr (235). In the overall standings, Ljutić is second with 334 points behind Rast (351).
(China | Photo: Wolfgang Grebien/GEPA pictures)
