Petra Vlhová
Petra Vlhová (born 13 June 1995) is a Slovak World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom. She is the current world champion in giant slalom.
| Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Vlhová in January 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Slalom, Giant slalom, Super-G, Downhill, Combined | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Club | Vojenské športové centrum Dukla Banská Bystrica | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 13 June 1995 Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | 29 December 2012 (age 17) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | petravlhova.sk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 – (2014, 2018) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 – (2013–2019) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 4 (1 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 9 – (2013–2021) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 18 – (11 SL, 4 GS, 1 PSL, 1 CE, 1 PGS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 41 – (25 SL, 8 GS, 3 PSL, 2 CE, 1 PGS, 1 AC, 1 SG) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (2nd in 2019) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 2 – (SL & Parallel, 2020) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Background and early years
Born in Liptovský Mikuláš, Vlhová won a gold medal in 2012 Winter Youth Olympics and represented Slovakia in the 2014 Winter Olympics.[1] She also won gold in the slalom at the Junior World Championships in 2014 in Jasná, Slovakia.[2]
World Cup
She made her World Cup debut at age 17 in December 2012 and her first World Cup podium came three years later, a victory in slalom in December 2015 at Åre, Sweden.[3] On 17 January 2016, for the first time she entered second run in giant slalom in Flachau and finished 14th.[4]
2019 season
In December 2018, Vlhová scored the first World Cup giant slalom win for Slovakia in a race in Semmering, Austria – she was in fourth place after the first run, but set the second fastest time on the second run for the victory: her previous best GS result had been seventh.[5] A few days later she won a parallel slalom at the foot of the Holmenkollbakken in Oslo, the sixth win of her career, setting a new record for the most World Cup wins by a Slovak alpine skier, eclipsing Veronika Velez-Zuzulová.[6]
In January 2019, having finished as runner-up to Mikaela Shiffrin in the first five classic slaloms of the World Cup season, Vlhová won the slalom in Flachau, setting the fastest time on the second run to take the win after placing third in the first run, and taking the winner's €70,000 prize, the biggest women's prize purse of the World Cup season. The race was her fifth win in classic slalom, putting her one ahead of Velez-Zuzulová in terms of wins in the discipline.[7]
At the Alpine World Ski Championships in February 2019, Vlhová took a complete set of medals. She claimed the first individual medal for a Slovak skier - a silver in the combined - after being edged out by Wendy Holdener by three hundredths of a second.[8] She then won the first gold medal for Slovakia in the giant slalom,[9] before taking the bronze in the slalom.[10]
2020 season
Vlhová started the 2020 season with a 14th place finish in giant slalom at Sölden. She reached her first podium in season on Killington, when she finished second in Slalom. On 15 December 2019 she won a Parallel slalom race in St. Moritz. In the last race of 2019, she finished second again in Lienz behind Mikaela Shiffrin. She started the new year with 3 victories in 4 races. First she won the slalom in Zagreb on 4 January, 10 days later she triumphed in the Flachau slalom and then she took her only Giant Slalom win of the season on 18 January, when she shared the spoils with Federica Brignone in Sestriere.
Vlhová started competing in the speed events in her bid to win the big crystal globe in the later part of the season. She claimed two 6th places in Bansko, one in the downhill and one in the super-G. She claimed two other top 10 results in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Her final win of the season came in slalom in Kranjska Gora on 16 February. She recorded a new personal best in downhill with a 4th place in Crans Montana on 21 February. In the final race of the season she finished 4th in a super-G in La Thuile, which was her best result in the discipline up to that point.
The season was then cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Vlhová finished 3rd in the overall world cup standings and she won her first small crystal globes, one for slalom and one for parallel events.
2021 season
Vlhová had a strong start to the season with a 3rd place in the opening giant slalom in Sölden. She followed that up with three victories in a row having won two slaloms in two days in Levi and a parallel giant slalom in Lech/Zürs. In December, Vlhová finished 3rd in the first of two giant slaloms in Courchevel (France), but did not finish the other one two days later. In Val d'Isère, she finished 26th and 33rd respectively in the two downhills before getting a 6th place in the super-G a day later.
World Cup results
Season standings
| Season | ||||||||
| Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super G | Downhill | Combined | Parallel | |
| 2013 | 17 | 91 | 42 | — | — | — | — | N/A |
| 2014 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2015 | 19 | 81 | 34 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2016 | 20 | 24 | 6 | 40 | — | — | — | |
| 2017 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 11 | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | — | — | 7 | |
| 2019 | 23 |  | | | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | 24 |  |  | | 14 | 16 | — | |
| 2021 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 11 | — | 1 |
- Standings through 1 February 2021
Race victories
| Total | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Downhill | Super G | Combined | Parallel | |
| Wins | 18 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Podiums | 41 | 25 | 8 | 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 4 victories (3 SL, 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 |
World Championship results
| Year | |||||||
| Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super G | Downhill | Combined | Team Event | |
| 2013 | 17 | DNF1 | — | — | — | — | 9 |
| 2015 | 19 | 44 | 30 | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 21 | 4 | 8 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 2019 | 23 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 2 | — |
Olympic results
| Year | |||||||
| Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super G | Downhill | Combined | Team Event | |
| 2014 | 18 | 19 | 24 | — | — | — | N/A |
| 2018 | 22 | 13 | 13 | 32 | DNF | 5 | 9 |
References
- "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. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- FIS Results
- AUDI FIS SKI WORLD CUP 2015/16, 6th LADIES' GIANT SLALOM
- "Petra Vlhova wins giant slalom, makes history for Slovenia". japantimes.co.jp. 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". CBC.ca. 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.com. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
External links
Media related to Petra Vlhová at Wikimedia Commons
- Petra Vlhová at the International Ski Federation
- Petra Vlhová World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Petra Vlhová at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Petra Vlhová at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Petra Vlhová on Facebook
- Petra Vlhová on Instagram
- Official website (in Slovak)
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