Kostelic Writes Skiing History

Manuèle Lang 05.02.2006 19:42 Uhr

It was another great day in the career of Janica Kostelic. Thanks to an impressive, powerful second run, she was able to win her first slalom of the season. Kostelic was able to recover from the flu and overcome fatigue to celebrate the history-making triumph in Ofterschwang, Bavaria, Germany. She has now captured victories in all five alpine disciplines in the very same season.

The skier from Zagreb was originally in third place after the first run, which was dominated by Sweden’s Anja Paerson. However, Kostelic made another one of her incredible comebacks in the second run. She beat Austria’s Kathrin Zettel by an astonishing 1.33 seconds. Marlies Schild was third with a margin of 1.45 seconds. Paerson was unable to successfully defend her lead. Still ahead by five hundredths in the middle of her second run, Paerson then straddled a gate and skied out. Two other Croatian skiers were also able to score points today. In the last World Cup race before the Olympics in Turin, Nika Fleiss was 15th and Ana Jelusic 21st.

Unique Achievement
The race was another turning point in Kostelic’s amazing career. The triple Olympic Champion is only the second skier in World Cup history to have won races in all five events, including the super combined, during the same season. In 1991, Austria’s Petra Kronberger achieved the remarkable feat considered to be the “Grand Slam” of skiing.

“This achievement is something unique,” stated Kostelic. “I have to admit that I wasn’t really thinking about it at all, though. The Croatian press informed me of the statistics after I crossed the finish line.”

“I was actually concentrating on something else, especially after my bad run in yesterday’s second giant slalom,” admitted Kostelic. “The first run on Friday was painful to ski. I also had some ski problems. I think it’s a big deal if I’m not able to qualify for the second run.”

“Something like that doesn’t happen to me very often,” Kostelic explained. “Apparently, yesterday was only the sixth time in my career that I missed the second run. I didn’t have that much self confidence left after the second giant slalom.”

Tough Road to a Textbook Run for Kostelic
Kostelic was finally able to win her first World Cup giant slalom last December in Spindleruv Mlyn, the Czech Republic. In January, she won the downhill and a Super-G in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria. She was then able to clinch the victory in the St. Moritz super combined. Despite the flu, she also celebrated success in Ofterschwang.

She was a distant 41st in Saturday’s first giant slalom run. Afterwards, she headed to the hotel to get some rest and regain some energy. Her coaching team wasn’t sure if she would be able to compete in today’s slalom.

“I rested a lot yesterday, and I was able to get back some energy,” said Kostelic. “I needed to rest in order to ski under better conditions in today’s slalom. I felt very weak. I can’t afford to just take a break for a few days. I’ve had a 101.5 fever for the past few days, and it certainly doesn’t help you win. However, I was able to get past that and win one more time.”

Kostelic was fortunately able to regain some of her strength and momentum after a good night’s sleep – at least enough to seriously challenge the favorites in the first run and put down a textbook run that afternoon.

“I was focused on the race. The second run was fun to ski because we actually has some real slalom turns as opposed to the first run, where the gates were too open,” said Kostelic. “It was also bumpy in some places. In the second run, I knew some girls had problems with the last part. I made a big change and skied the way I wanted. I had some problems, which is normal. I didn’t know how fast I was at the end, but I didn’t stop doing my best, and it paid off.”

Reaping the Rewards of Victory
“I wanted to achieve something here today and end my weekend in Ofterschwang on a high note,” explained Kostelic. “My slalom victory isn’t just important because it’s the first slalom race I’ve won this season; it puts me on a short list of World Cup skiers, such as Petra Kronberger, who have won all five disciplines in the same season.”

Kostelic has made it to the podium in all of her recent slalom races, including the home race in Sjleme, where she lost a pole and glove in the second run. That night she finished third in front of a crowd of nearly twenty-thousand spectators. It was a nice birthday present to herself.

This recent, important slalom win also puts her in the lead in both the slalom as well as overall World Cup standings before heading to the last World Cup races in Norway, Finland and the finals in Are. However, after tying for first place with Spain’s Maria Jose Rienda Contreras in Saturday’s giant slalom, Anja Paerson is now only 161 points behind the leader in the overall standings. That’s a small margin considering the fact that there are nine more events to be races in March. Until this morning, Kostelic had to share the lead in the slalom standings with Austria’s Marlies Schild, who had won three consecutive slalom races earlier this season.

Kostelic is ready to relax, however. “I’m relaxed now,” says Kostelic. “The last race before the Olympics is behind me. Now I can start thinking about something else. I’d like to win some medals at the Olympic Games in the coming weeks, of course, but my main goal is to ski my best there.”

Hitting the Beach
On Friday, Kostelic will fly to Turin to carry the Croatian flag at the Opening Ceremonies of her third Winter Olympics. But before then, Kostelic is well-deserving of her usual pre-Olympic break at the Croatian seaside, where she will relax and get back in shape with her brother Ivica.

“I was just thinking about my days off at today’s start. In order to be encouraged, I told myself that there is only one last race keeping me from going on vacation. It was such an exhilarating feeling! I’ll first go home before heading to the Croatian coast in Selce, where I usually enjoy a nice break before major events. I’ll also be training a little bit, but above all, I’ll make the most of my time on the beach and in the sun with my brother Ivica.”