Industry News
On Sunday, January 7, 2024, U.S. ski racer AJ Hurt skied to her first-ever career podium at the FIS World Cup in Kranjksa Gora, Slovenia. For many skiers, it was a difficult day, with many top skiers eliminated, including Mikaela Shiffrin, who straddled a pole and was thus out of the race on run 1.
Run 1
Run 1 saw Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova first out of the gate with bib 1. The Slovak skier set a pace of 51.30 that no other subsequent skier could match, earning her first place. Lena Dürr came within 0.26 seconds of Vlhova’s first run in second place. Croatian skier Lena Popovic spectacularly hurtled across the finish line with a summersault. As both skis crossed the finish line before one binding opened, the run was counted as valid and she qualified for a second run in equal second with Lena Dürr.
Rounding out the top five were Sweden’s Sara Hector in fourth place and USA’s Paula Moltzan with bib 5 in fifth place for run 1. Moltzan’s teammate Mikaela Shiffrin was seventh out of the gate and she was slower than usual on the top section — almost half a second behind Vlhova — which many ascribed to a cold she was suffering from. On the mid-section of the course, Shiffrin straddled a gate which ended the race for her. It is an unusual mistake for Shiffrin and has not happened to her since the infamous Beijing Olympics.
US skier AJ Hurt had finished in 16th with a time of 53.39, more than two seconds behind Vlhova.
Run 2
In Slalom races, the top 30 skiers from run 1 qualify for run 2 and racers start in reverse order, meaning the top five would be last. All eyes are typically on those last five skiers, but on Sunday, it was AJ Hurt who commanded everyone’s attention. The American is known to be fast, sometimes faster than Shiffrin, on flat sections. But the American managed to maintain the momentum from the top section all the way to the bottom of the course, shooting across with a new best time of 1:48:49. With 15 skiers left to go, nobody, including her, was expecting the American to wind up on the podium, but skier after skier failed to beat Hurt’s time. Hurt sat in the leader’s seat in the finish area with a smile that was growing bigger and bigger as each subsequent skier failed to unseat her. The only one who came close was Switzerland’’s Camille Rast who finished just 0.30 seconds behind Hurt.
The final five top racers were left and fifth last was Hurt’s teammate Paula Moltzan. The American finished 0.06 seconds behind Camille Rast and 0.36 seconds behind Hurt. Moltzan pointed her gloved hand in the direction of Hurt on the leader’s seat as a salute to her teammate. Fourth-placed Sarah Hector was looking strong on the course, but also lost time along the race unable to beat Hurt, finishing behind Moltzan. Next up was Lena Popovic who was in equal second with Dürr. The Croatian skier looked aggressive and fierce, seemingly having recovered from the tumble in run 1. Popovic had more than half a second lead into the bottom section but made a mistake on one of the last gates where she skidded out, causing her to go too low, losing valuable milliseconds. This cost her the lead and she finished behind Hurt. The smile on Hurt’s face couldn’t have been bigger. It meant a podium for the 23-year-old American skier.
Next up Lena Dürr was looking very strong. The German was fast and precise and still had a second lead on Hurt, when she went a bit too far backseat, losing her some milliseconds on the next turn. Then she made another mistake on one of the last gates but recovered her balance. Dürr never stopped battling and crossed the finish line 0.15 seconds ahead of Hurt, catapulting her into the lead.
With only Vlhova left to go, it was either second or third for Hurt, who was being congratulated in the finish area on her first career podium by Moltzan. Vlhova shot out with 0.26 seconds lead on Dürr. She matched the German’s speed on the top-section but managed to extend her lead on the mid-section and bottom section. She made some small mistakes but still managed to win by 0.72 seconds. The adoring crowd was cheering “Petra, Petra” in the finish area. Slovenia is only a 7 hour drive from Slovakia, so there was much home support in the crowd.
Not only is this AJ Hurt’s first career podium in a World Cup, but it is also the first time the American finished in the top-20 in Slalom and top-10 in any World Cup event. This will boost Hurt’s ranking in Slalom, meaning she will make the lottery for the top athletes. Her start bib for this race was no. 38, which was outside the top seated skiers who benefit from the bib lottery for the top starting bibs. Hurt’s previous best had been a 25th place in Slalom at a World Cup event.
I am sorry but Slovenia doesnt borders Slovekia. But we are still very good friedns :). Its allways great to see big smiles and this time the biggest went to AJ Hurt.
I am so sorry for messing up my geography.