Snow Queen ( hr, Snježna kraljica) is a

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 ''Alpine Ski'' (アルパイン・スキ一) is an Alpine skiing arcade game, released by Taito in 1981. The player controls a skier, who can move left, right, or increase forward speed. The aim is to maneuver a skier through a downhill ski course ...

race held in the hills of

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The men's and women's

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

races take place on the

Medvednica Medvednica () is a mountain in central Croatia, just north of Zagreb, and marking the southern border of the historic region of Zagorje. The highest peak, at is Sljeme. Most of the area of Medvednica is a nature park (''park prirode''), a type ...

mountaintop Sljeme, just north of Zagreb, usually in early January. The women's race debuted in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and the men's event was added three years later in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. The events are held on the red run ski track ( Crveni spust) on Medvednica, starting at an elevation of and ending at . Besides the city events in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, it is the only World Cup event held near a large metropolitan area. Its current prize fund of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

120,000 is one of the largest on the World Cup circuit, with a winner's share of €46,000. The race has been known to attract up to 25,000 spectators, making it one of the largest and the most visited races on the World Cup calendar. The trophy is a crystal crown with past winners' names imprinted on it. At the award ceremony, the winner is presented with a cloak and sits on a throne like a queen (king).

History

The race was originally called "Golden Bear" ( hr, Zlatni medvjed), but from the 2006 event the name was changed in honor of

Janica Kostelić Janica Kostelić (; born 5 January 1982) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and four-time Olympic gold medalist from Croatia. In addition to the Olympics, she won five gold medals at the World Championships. In World Cup competition, she w ...

, whose victories in the sport helped popularise skiing in Croatia and also paved the way for the race to be included in the premier competition for alpine skiing. Croatian skiers never finished better than second in the event. In the women's race,

finished third in 2006, while Ana Jelušić finished second the following year. In the men's race

Ivica Kostelić Ivica Kostelić (; born 23 November 1979) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Croatia. He specialized in slalom and combined, but was also one of the few alpine World Cup ski racers able to score points in all disciplines. He is the br ...

has four podium finishes, three second places and one third place. The all-time leader at Zagreb in women's event is

Mikaela Shiffrin Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin (born March 13, 1995) is an American two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup alpine skier. She is a four-time Overall World Cup champion, a four-time world champion in slalom, and a six-time winner of the World Cup ...

, with five wins and seven podium finishes.

Marcel Hirscher Marcel Hirscher (born 2 March 1989) is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Hirscher made his World Cup debut in March 2007. He competed primarily in slalom and giant slalom, as well as combined and occasionally in super G. Winner of ...

has won five races in the men's event. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

became the youngest winner at the age of 17 years, 9 months, and 23 days. In 2014, the race was cancelled due to lack of snow. Shiffrin, reigning Olympic champion in slalom, defended her crown in 2015. The following year, both races were again cancelled due to lack of snow.

Results

Podium finishers in the slalom races.

Men's race

Women's race

List of multiple podium finishers

References

External links

* {{Zagreb Skiing competitions in Europe International sports competitions hosted by Croatia Alpine skiing competitions Sport in Zagreb Recurring sporting events established in 2005 January sporting events Alpine skiing in Croatia Winter events in Croatia