Petra Vlhová
Petra Vlhová (born June 13, 1995) is a Slovak alpine ski racer who competes in slalom and giant slalom. She won the World Cup overall title in 2021 and a gold medal in the slalom event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the first Slovak skier to do so.
Career
changeVlhová was born in Liptovský Mikuláš. As a child, she trained at the Podbreziny ski center in her hometown. The ski center, which is 700 meters high with 550 meters of ski tracks, later stopped being used in the 2000s and early 2010s. In 2022, Vlhová helped restart the center and supported local youth training groups.[1]
She won a gold medal at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics and represented Slovakia in the 2014 Winter Olympics.[2] Vlhová also won a gold medal in slalom at the Junior World Championships in 2014 in Jasná, Slovakia.[3]
World Cup
changeShe started competing in the World Cup at 17 years old in December 2012. Her first World Cup win came three years later in December 2015 when she won a slalom race in Åre, Sweden.[1] On January 17, 2016, she qualified for the second run in giant slalom for the first time and finished 14th in Flachau.[1]
2019 season
change
In December 2018, Vlhová won her first World Cup giant slalom race for Slovakia in Semmering, Austria. She was in fourth place after the first run but did very well in the second run to win. Before this, her best result in giant slalom was seventh place.[4] A few days later, she won a parallel slalom race in Oslo, making it her sixth career win and the most World Cup wins by a Slovak alpine skier, surpassing Veronika Velez-Zuzulová.[5]
In January 2019, after finishing second to Mikaela Shiffrin in the first five classic slaloms of the season, Vlhová won the slalom in Flachau. She set the fastest time in the second run and won the race, earning €70,000, the biggest prize of the season for women. This was her fifth classic slalom win, putting her ahead of Velez-Zuzulová in wins for this discipline.[6]
At the Alpine World Ski Championships in February 2019, Vlhová won three medals. She won Slovakia's first-ever individual medal, a silver in the combined event, just missing gold by three-hundredths of a second to Wendy Holdener.[7] She then won Slovakia's first gold medal in the giant slalom[8] and took bronze in the slalom.[9]
2020 season
changeVlhová began the 2020 season with a 14th-place finish in giant slalom at Sölden. She got her first podium of the season by finishing second in Slalom at Killington. On December 15, 2019, she won a parallel slalom race in St. Moritz. In the last race of 2019, she finished second in Lienz, just behind Mikaela Shiffrin.
She started the new year strong with three wins in four races. First, she won the slalom in Zagreb on January 4. Ten days later, she won the slalom in Flachau. On January 18, she won her only giant slalom race of the season in Sestriere, sharing the win with Federica Brignone.
Later in the season, Vlhová started competing in speed events to try to win the overall World Cup title. She finished 6th in both the downhill and super-G races in Bansko and had two more top 10 finishes in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Her last win of the season was in slalom at Kranjska Gora on February 16. She also achieved her best downhill finish with a 4th place in Crans Montana on February 21. In the season's final race, she finished 4th in a super-G in La Thuile, which was her best result in that event.
The season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vlhová finished 3rd overall in the World Cup standings and won her first small crystal globes for slalom and parallel events.
2021 season
changeVlhová started the season strong, finishing 3rd in the opening giant slalom in Sölden. She then won three races in a row: two slaloms in Levi and a parallel giant slalom in Lech/Zürs. In December, she finished 3rd in the first giant slalom in Courchevel , France, but didn’t finish the second one. In Val d'Isère, she placed 26th and 33rd in two downhills, but then finished 6th in the super-G.
Vlhová won three more races during the season: a slalom in Zagreb, a giant slalom in her home country at Jasná, and a slalom in Åre. She also got her first podium in a speed event by finishing 2nd in the super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on February 1.
At the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, she won two silver medals, one in the alpine combined and one in slalom.
Vlhová won her first overall World Cup title at the finals in Lenzerheide by finishing 6th in the slalom. She became the first Slovak skier to achieve this.
2022 season
changeVlhová ended her 5-year partnership with her Italian coach Livio Magoni after the 2021 season.[10] She then hired Swiss coach Mauro Pini.[11]
Vlhová started the new season well, finishing 3rd in the opening giant slalom in Sölden. She then won two slaloms in a row in Levi. She went on to win three more slaloms in Lienz, Zagreb and Kranjska Gora. She secured the slalom crystal globe by finishing second in Schladming, with two slaloms still left in the season.
Vlhová became the first Slovak alpine skier to win an Olympic medal by winning gold in the slalom at the Beijing Olympics.[12] After the first run, she was in 8th place, 0.72 seconds behind Lena Dürr, but she had the fastest second run and won gold by 0.08 seconds ahead of world champion Katharina Liensberger.
After the Olympics, Vlhová tried to defend her overall World Cup title. She won the giant slalom in Åre, marking her sixth win of the season. However, she lost the chance to win the big crystal globe after the final super-G race in Courchevel/Méribel when Mikaela Shiffrin finished second and won the title. Vlhová ended the season with two more podiums in slalom and giant slalom.
2023 season
change.jpg)
Vlhová finished the season in third place overall.[13]
2024 season
changeVlhová started the season well, finishing 3rd in the first giant slalom in Sölden. She got her first win of the season in slalom in Levi, which was her 20th slalom win in her career.
World Cup results
changeSeason titles
change
|
Season |
| Discipline | |
| 2020 | Slalom |
|---|---|
| Parallel | |
| 2021 | Overall |
| Parallel [1] | |
| 2022 | Slalom |
- 1 Unofficial
Season standings
change| Season | ||||||||
| Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant
slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined | Parallel | |
| 2013 | 17 | 91 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2015 | 19 | 81 | 34 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2016 | 20 | 24 | 6 | 40 | — | — | — | |
| 2017 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 11 | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | — | — | 7 | |
| 2019 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 16 | — | 1 |
| 2021 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 12 | — | 1 |
| 2022 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 40 | 37 | — | |
| 2023 | 27 | 3 | 3 | 4 | — | 41 | — | |
| 2024 | 28 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
Standings through 16 January 2024
Race victories
change| Total | Slalom | Giant slalom | Downhill | Super-G | Combined | Parallel | |
| Wins | 31 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Podiums | 73 | 46 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Season | |||
| Date | Location | Discipline | |
| 2016 | 13 December 2015 |  Åre, Sweden
|
Slalom |
| 2017 | 18 March 2017 |  Aspen, USA
|
Slalom |
| 2018 | 11 November 2017 |  Levi, Finland
|
Slalom |
| 28 January 2018 |  Lenzerheide, Switzerland
|
Slalom | |
| 2019
5 victories (3 GS, 1 SL, 1 CE) |
28 December 2018 |  Semmering, Austria
|
Giant slalom |
| 1 January 2019 |  Oslo, Norway
|
City event | |
| 8 January 2019 | Flachau, Austria
|
Slalom | |
| 1 February 2019 |  Maribor, Slovenia
|
Giant slalom | |
| 8 March 2019 |  Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic
|
Giant slalom | |
| 2020
5 victories (3 SL, 1 GS, 1 PS) |
15 December 2019 | St. Moritz, Switzerland
|
Parallel slalom |
| 4 January 2020 |  Zagreb, Croatia
|
Slalom | |
| 14 January 2020 | Flachau, Austria
|
Slalom | |
| 18 January 2020 |  Sestriere, Italy
|
Giant slalom | |
| 16 February 2020 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
|
Slalom | |
| 2021
6 victories (4 SL, 1 GS, 1 PG) |
21 November 2020 | Levi, Finland
|
Slalom |
| 22 November 2020 | Slalom | ||
| 26 November 2020 | Lech/Zürs, Austria
|
Parallel-G | |
| 3 January 2021 | Zagreb, Croatia
|
Slalom | |
| 7 March 2021 |  Jasná, Slovakia
|
Giant slalom | |
| 12 March 2021 | Åre, Sweden
|
Slalom | |
| 2022
6 victories (5 SL, 1 GS) |
20 November 2021 | Levi, Finland
|
Slalom |
| 21 November 2021 | Slalom | ||
| 29 December 2021 | Lienz, Austria
|
Slalom | |
| 4 January 2022 | Zagreb, Croatia
|
Slalom | |
| 9 January 2022 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
|
Slalom | |
| 11 March 2022 | Åre, Sweden
|
Giant slalom | |
| 2023
2 victories (2 SL) |
10 January 2023 | Flachau, Austria
|
Slalom |
| 18 March 2023 |  Soldeu, Andorra
|
Slalom | |
| 2024
3 victories (3 SL) |
11 November 2023 | Levi, Finland
|
Slalom |
| 21 December 2023 |  Courchevel, France
|
Slalom | |
| 7 January 2024 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
|
Slalom |
Podiums
change| Season | Podiums | ||||||||||||||||||
| Super G | Giant slalom | Slalom | Parallel[1] | Combined | Total | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Σ | |
| 2016 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 2018 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2019 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 14 | ||||||||
| 2020 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 2022 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 | |||||||||
| 2023 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Total | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 23 | 19 | 73 |
| 1 | 19 | 46 | 6 | 1 | 73 | ||||||||||||||
1 Including both parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom. Two parallel events have been classified in the ski-db.com results as classic events (the City Event slalom on 30/01/18 and the City Event slalom on 01/01/19). They are shown here as parallel events.
World Championship results
change| Year | ||||||||
| Age | Slalom | Giant
slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined | Parallel | Team Event | |
| 2013 | 17 | DNF1 | — | — | — | — | — | 9 |
| 2015 | 19 | 44 | 30 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2017 | 21 | 4 | 8 | — | — | — | 2 | |
| 2019 | 23 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 2 | — | |
| 2021 | 25 | 2 | 12 | 9 | — | 2 | DNF | — |
| 2023 | 27 | 5 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — |
Olympic results
change| Year | |||||||
| Age | Slalom | Giant
slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined | Team Event | |
| 2014 | 18 | 19 | 24 | — | — | — | — |
| 2018 | 22 | 13 | 13 | 32 | DNF | 5 | 9 |
| 2022 | 26 | 1 | 14 | — | — | — | — |
Recognition
changeIn 2024, the president of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová , gave Vlhová the Order of Ľudovít Štúr, 1st class.[14]
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Zjazdovka, kde vyrastala Vlhová, opäť ožije. Do obnovy sa zapojil aj jej tím". sportnet.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ↑ "Náš tím". Petravlhova.sk. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ↑ "Junior Worlds: Slalom gold for Slovakia's Petra Vlhova". Fédération Internationale de Ski. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ↑ "Petra Vlhova wins Giant Slalom, makes history for Slovenia". japantimes.co.jp. 29 December 2018. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ↑ "Coupe du monde : Petra Vlhova domine Mikaela Shiffrin et le slalom parallèle d'Oslo" [World Cup: Petra Vlhova dominates Mikaela Shiffrin and Oslo's parallel slalom]. L'Équipe (in French). 1 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ↑ "Vlhova denies Shiffrin 8th straight victory in World Cup slalom". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ↑ Sharland, Pete (8 February 2019). "Ladies' Combined: Wendy Holdener beats Petra Vlhova by 0.03s to take Combined gold". Eurosport. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ↑ "Petra Vlhova wins first-ever World Championships gold for Slovakia". International Ski Federation. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ↑ "Mikaela Shiffrin makes history with fourth straight slalom gold". CNN. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ↑ "In wake of unflattering comments, Petra Vlhova and coach Livio Magoni split". skiracing.com. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ↑ "Ski champ Vlhova to reduce WCup schedule, focus on Olympics". APnews.com. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ↑ "Slovakia's Petra Vlhova mounts massive comeback, wins slalom gold with Mikaela Shiffrin out". NBColympics.com. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ↑ "CUP STANDINGS WORLD CUP Season 2023 Women Overall". fis-ski.com. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ↑ Vančo, Martin. "Vlhová, Bagala či Bieliková. Prezidentka naposledy udeľovala štátne vyznamenania". domov.sme.sk (in Slovak).
Other websites
change- Petra Vlhová at FIS (alpine)
- Petra Vlhová at Olympics.com
- Petra Vlhová at Olympedia
- Petra Vlhová at the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee (in Slovak)
- Petra Vlhová at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Official website
(in Slovak)
