Snow Queen Trophy
Snow Queen (Croatian: Snježna kraljica) is a World Cup alpine ski race in Croatia. The men's and women's slalom races take place on the Medvednica mountaintop Sljeme, just north of Zagreb, usually in early January. The women's race debuted in 2005 and the men's event was added three years later in 2008. The events are held on the red run ski track on Medvednica, starting at an elevation of 985 m (3,232 ft) and ending at 785 m (2,575 ft). Besides the city events in Moscow and Munich, it is the only World Cup event held near a large metropolitan area.
| Sljeme | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Place: | Zagreb, Croatia |
| Mountain: | Medvednica (Sljeme) |
| Slalom | |
| Start: | 978 m (3,209 ft) AMSL |
| Finish: | 768 m (2,520 ft) |
| Vertical: | 210 m (689 ft) |
Its current prize fund of €120,000 is one of the largest on the World Cup circuit, with a winner's share of €46,000.[1] The race has been known to attract up to 25,000 spectators, making it one of the largest and the most visited race 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" (Croatian: Zlatni medvjed), but from the 2006 event the name was changed in honor of Janica Kostelić, 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, Janica Kostelić finished third in 2006, while Ana Jelušić finished second the following year. In the men's race Ivica Kostelić has four podium finishes, three second places and one third place. The all-time leader at Zagreb is Marlies Schild, with four wins and six podium finishes. Marcel Hirscher has won five races in the men's event.[2][3]
In 2013, Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest winner at the age of 17 years, 9 months, and 23 days.[4] In 2014, the race was cancelled due to lack of snow.[5] Shiffrin, reigning Olympic champion in slalom, defended her crown in 2015.[6] The following year, both races were again cancelled due to lack of snow.[7]
Results
Podium finishers in the slalom races.[8]
Men's race
| Season | Race date | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 17 February 2008 |  |
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| 2009 | 6 January 2009 |  |
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| 2010 | 6 January 2010 | |
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| 2011 | 6 January 2011 |  |
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| 2012 | 5 January 2012 | |
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| 2013 | 6 January 2013 | |
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| 2014 | 6 January 2014 | Cancelled due to lack of snow | ||
| 2015 | 6 January 2015 | |
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| 2016 | 6 January 2016 | Cancelled due to lack of snow | ||
| 2017 | 5 January 2017 [9] | |
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| 2018 | 4 January 2018 | |
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| 2019 | 6 January 2019 | |
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| 2020 | 5 January 2020 | |
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Women's race
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List of multiple podium finishers
| Rank | Name | Country | Sex | Seasons |  |
 |
 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcel Hirscher | | M | 2008–2019 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Marlies Schild | | F | 2002–2014 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Mikaela Shiffrin |  | F | 2012– | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Tanja Poutiainen |  | F | 1998–2014 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Petra Vlhová |  | F | 2013– | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Maria Höfl-Riesch | | F | 2001–2014 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Manfred Mölgg | | M | 2004– | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| André Myhrer | | M | 2004– | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | Mario Matt | | M | 2000–2015 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Giuliano Razzoli | | M | 2007– | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Veronika Velez-Zuzulová | | F | 2002–2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 12 | Ivica Kostelić | | M | 2001–2017 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Felix Neureuther | | M | 2004–2019 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Kathrin Zettel | | F | 2005–2015 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 15 | Frida Hansdotter | | F | 2007–2019 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Wendy Holdener | | F | 2011– | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 17 | Šárka Strachová |  | F | 2003–2017 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 18 | Henrik Kristoffersen | | M | 2013– | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
References
- Hebar, Srđan (31 December 2014). "Sandra Švaljek: Sufinancirat ćemo Kraljicu unatoč teškoj situaciji". vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- Tomičić, Goran (13 February 2008). "Janica može i bez štapa, Ana na postolju". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- Tomić, Antonija (3 January 2012). "Sljeme je spremno za najbolje". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- Tolić, Josip (8 January 2013). "Sljemenski spektakl još je jednom zadivio svijet. Je li i Hrvatsku?". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- Jurišić, Bernard (28 December 2013). "Otkazana Snježna kraljica na Sljemenu". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- Rukavina, Niko (4 January 2015). "Mikaela Shiffrin najvećom razlikom u povijesti Sljemena obranila titulu Snježne kraljice". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- Pavić, Marko (28 December 2015). "Stigla službena potvrda: Snježna kraljica otkazana!". vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- "Results Archive". snowqueentrophy.com. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- "Moelgg enjoys first World Cup slalom win in almost eight years, GB's Ryding secures top-ten finish". Eurosport. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
