Zrinka Ljutic won the last Alpine Ski World Cup race of 2024, the Slalom in Semmering, in dominant fashion after setting the fastest time in both runs. The last Croatian to win a World Cup race was Janica Kostelic in Are in 2006.
Lena Duerr finished second, 1.75 seconds behind the Croatian. Katharina Liensberger completed the podium in third place, 1.85 seconds back.
The 20-year-old outclassed the competition. She took advantage of the good starting number two in the first run but also of her father's course setting. Then, Ljutic impressively held her nerve in the decisive run and once again set the fastest time.
"This has been my dream since I was a little child. It's unbelievable. I was so relaxed at the start, I just wanted to attack. My whole family is here, which makes it more difficult sometimes, but I was in a good mood today. My father told me before the second run: Don't worry, you can do it. It's nice that Croatia has won again after such a long time. There's still room for improvement. I've already found a good set-up in the Slalom. I'm very happy," Ljutic said.
Lena Duerr, the most consistent slalom athlete in recent seasons after Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova, was one of the favorites to win in Semmering and was only beaten by Ljutic. It's her 14th World Cup Slalom podium.
"I was just happy that the green light was on after the second run because I did not have this in the last races, my second runs were always not so strong. Maybe the day will come, for my first victory of the season, but I know I need two good runs, because the level is pretty high right now in Slalom," Duerr said.
After finishing second in Levi, Katharina Liensberger made it onto the Slalom podium in Semmering for the second time this season. The 27-year-old Austrian finished third thanks to a superb second run which saw her move up from seventh place in the first run.
"I gave it my all and I knew it would either work or not. It was great to be able to ski like that in front of this crowd. We changed something in the setup, so I knew the equipment was right. It's great to be able to ski like that at the end of the year. But you can also see the potential. Now it's time to recover and prepare well," said Liensberger.
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