Slovenia's rising star ends career

Slovenian Alpine skier Ilka Štuhec, the two-time world champion in the women's downhill known for her cheerfulness and optimism, has announced she is ending her competitive career.

The 35-year-old, who won world champion titles in 2017 and 2019, announced the decision on 14 March at the ski resort on the Peca mountain on the Slovenian-Austrian border, which has been her base for the training in speed disciplines in recent years, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

"I can confirm today that the World Cup finale in Norway will be the last stop in my skiing career," Štuhec told the press as she hosted the 3rd iteration of a skiing marathon called Downhilka, which is a play on her name and her favourite Alpine skiing discipline.

Štuhec, who also has two small crystal globes for the World Cup season wins in the combined and downhill in 2017 to her name, said that she wanted to perform in the last two events "the way I always do - fully prepared and competitive, looking for the fastest time."

She said that Kvitfjell is a beautiful venue where she has always liked to compete.

"I'm counting on two more great events. Everyone would like to be on the podium, and I have two more opportunities next week and I'm happy with how I'm skiing," Štuhec said about her chances in Norway next weekend.

While the Winter Olympics in Italy were the motivation for Štuhec to extend her competitive career for another year, next year's World Championships in Crans Montana in Switzerland will be held without the best Slovenian woman downhill skier ever.

Štuhec made her first appearance in the Alpine Ski World Cup in March 2007 in Lenzerheide. She has scored a total of 22 podium finishes in her career, including eleven wins, seven of which were in the downhill. Tina Maze is the only Slovenian with more wins in the World Cup (26).

Her career peaked in the 2016/17 season, when she collected a total of 1,325 points in the World Cup to finish second overall behind Mikaela Shiffrin of the US.

She will be remembered as a synonym for perseverance, an athlete who never gives up and continues despite many injuries. One of the most impressive things is that she excelled in the downhill even though there is no suitable training piste for this discipline in Slovenia.

Photo Instagram