Ilka Štuhec (born 26 October 1990) is a Slovenian

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

alpine ski racer, focusing on the speed events of

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

and

super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...

. She was a three-time junior world champion in three different disciplines, and was the

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in downhill in

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and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Career

At the Junior World Championships in 2007, Štuhec won two gold medals ( slalom and combined) in

Flachau Flachau is a village in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg, with a population of 2,802 (2016 data). Its numerous skiing facilities are part of the Ski Amadé network of ski areas, one of the largest in Europe. ...

, Austria. The following year she won another gold, in the

Formigal Formigal, officially ''Aramón Formigal'', is a ski resort in the Aragon Pyrenees of northeastern Spain, near the town of Sallent de Gallego in the upper Tena Valley in the province of Huesca. The nearest international airports are in Zaragoza ...

, Spain. She made her World Cup debut at age 16 in March 2007 in

Lenzerheide Lenzerheide ( Romansh: ''Lai'') is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village lies in the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein. The ...

, Switzerland. Štuhec gained her first World Cup victories in December

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, back-to-back wins in the downhill in Canada at Lake Louise. She had consecutive wins two weeks later in

Val d'Isère Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a So ...

, France, and won her fifth event of the 2017 season in late January in Italy. At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

at St. Moritz, she won the gold medal in

in mid-February, and clinched the World Cup season title in combined two weeks later. At the finals in mid-March she secured another title in downhill, and was the runner-up for the season in super-G and overall. In October 2017, an injury to her left knee ( ACL) kept Štuhec out of the entire season, including the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

in South Korea. She returned to the winner's circle with World Cup victories on consecutive days at

Val Gardena Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...

in December

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, and successfully defended her world championship title in downhill in February 2019. Two weeks later, a crash at

Crans-Montana Crans-Montana is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Chermignon, Mollens, Montana and Randogne merged to form the new municipality of Crans-Montana. Cr ...

injured the same knee ( PCL); it was reported that she would recover without surgery.

World Cup results

Season titles

* 2 titles – (1 combined, 1

)

Season standings

Race victories

* 9 wins – (5 DH, 3 SG, 1 AC)

World Championship results

Olympic Games results

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuhec, Ilka 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Slovenj Gradec Slovenian female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of Slovenia