Sljeme Place: Zagreb, CroatiaMountain: Medvednica (Sljeme) Slalom Start: (AA) Finish: Vertical:
Snow Queen () is a World Cup alpine ski race held in the hills of Zagreb, Croatia. The men's and women's slalom races take place on the Medvednica mountaintop Sljeme, just north of Zagreb, usually in early January. The women's race debuted in 2005 and the men's event was added three years later in 2008. The events are held on the red run ski track (Crveni spust) on Medvednica, starting at an elevation of and ending at . Besides the city events in Moscow and Munich, it is the only World Cup event held near a large metropolitan area.
Its current prize fund of €120,000 is one of the largest on the World Cup circuit, with a winner's share of €46,000. The race has been known to attract up to 25,000 spectators, making it one of the largest and the most visited races on the World Cup calendar. The trophy is a crystal crown with past winners' names imprinted on it. At the award ceremony, the winner is presented with a cloak and sits on a throne like a queen (king).
History The race was originally called "Golden Bear" (), but from the 2006 event the name was changed in honor of Janica Kostelić, whose victories in the sport helped popularise skiing in Croatia and also paved the way for the race to be included in the premier competition for alpine skiing. Croatian skiers never finished better than second in the event. In the women's race, Janica Kostelić finished third in 2006, while Ana Jelušić finished second the following year. In the men's race Ivica Kostelić has four podium finishes, three second places and one third place. The all-time leader at Zagreb in women's event is Mikaela Shiffrin, with five wins and seven podium finishes. Marcel Hirscher has won five races in the men's event.
In 2013, Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest winner at the age of 17 years, 9 months, and 23 days. In 2014, the race was cancelled due to lack of snow. Shiffrin, reigning Olympic champion in slalom, defended her crown in 2015. The following year, both races were again cancelled due to lack of snow.
Results
Podium finishers in the slalom races.
Men's race SeasonRace dateWinnerSecondThird2008 17 February 2008 Mario Matt Ivica Kostelić Reinfried Herbst2009 6 January 2009 Jean-Baptiste Grange Ivica Kostelić Giuliano Razzoli2010 6 January 2010 Giuliano Razzoli Manfred Mölgg Julien Lizeroux2011 6 January 2011 André Myhrer Ivica Kostelić Mattias Hargin2012 5 January 2012 Marcel Hirscher Felix Neureuther Ivica Kostelić2013 6 January 2013 Marcel Hirscher André Myhrer Mario Matt2014 6 January 2014Cancelled due to lack of snow2015 6 January 2015 Marcel Hirscher Felix Neureuther Sebastian Foss Solevåg2016 6 January 2016Cancelled due to lack of snow2017 5 January 2017 Manfred Mölgg Felix Neureuther Henrik Kristoffersen2018 4 January 2018 Marcel Hirscher Michael Matt Henrik Kristoffersen2019 6 January 2019 Marcel Hirscher Alexis Pinturault Manuel Feller2020 5 January 2020 Clément Noël Ramon Zenhäusern Alex Vinatzer2021 6 January 2021 Linus Straßer Manuel Feller Marco Schwarz2022 6 January 2022Cancelled in first run due to bad weather conditions2023 Not included in schedule2024 2025 2026
Women's race SeasonRace dateWinner SecondThird2005 20 January 2005 Tanja Poutiainen Kristina Koznick Marlies Schild2006 5 January 2006 Marlies Schild Kathrin Zettel Janica Kostelić2007 4 January 2007 Marlies Schild Ana Jelušić Šárka Záhrobská2008 15 February 2008 Tanja Poutiainen Marlies Schild Veronika Zuzulová2009 4 January 2009 Maria Riesch Nicole Gius Šárka Záhrobská2010 3 January 2010 Sandrine Aubert Kathrin Zettel Susanne Riesch2011 4 January 2011 Marlies Schild Maria Riesch Manuela Mölgg2012 3 January 2012 Marlies Schild Tina Maze Michaela Kirchgasser2013 4 January 2013 Mikaela Shiffrin Frida Hansdotter Erin Mielzynski2014 4 January 2014Cancelled due to lack of snow2015 4 January 2015 Mikaela Shiffrin Kathrin Zettel Nina Løseth2016 5 January 2016Cancelled due to lack of snow2017 3 January 2017 Veronika Velez-Zuzulová Petra Vlhová Šárka Strachová2018 3 January 2018 Mikaela Shiffrin Wendy Holdener Frida Hansdotter2019 5 January 2019 Mikaela Shiffrin Petra Vlhová Wendy Holdener2020 4 January 2020 Petra Vlhová Mikaela Shiffrin Katharina Liensberger2021 3 January 2021 Petra Vlhová Katharina Liensberger Michelle Gisin2022 4 January 2022 Petra Vlhová Mikaela Shiffrin Katharina Liensberger2023 4 January 2023 Mikaela Shiffrin Petra Vlhová Anna Swenn-Larsson5 January 2023Cancelled due to warm weather and wind2024 Not included in schedule2025 2026
List of multiple podium finishers Rank Name Country Sex Seasons Total1 F 2012– 5 2 0 72 M 2008–2019 5 0 0 53 F 2002–2014 4 1 1 64 F 2013– 3 3 0 65 F 1998–2014 2 0 0 26 F 2001–2014 1 1 0 2 M 2004–2022 1 1 0 2 M 2004–2020 1 1 0 29 M 2000–2015 1 0 1 2 M 2007– 1 0 1 2 F 2002–2018 1 0 1 212 M 2001–2017 0 3 1 413 M 2004–2019 0 3 0 3 F 2005–2015 0 3 0 315 F 2016– 0 1 2 316 M 2013– 0 1 1 2 F 2007–2019 0 1 1 2 F 2011– 0 1 1 219 F 2003–2017 0 0 3 320 M 2013– 0 0 2 2
References
External links