Ivica Kostelić: The idea is to play Led Zeppelin with Zrinka! And Vlhova and Shiffrin would not beat her

Zrinka Ljutić (20) climbed to the top of world skiing after the first race of the new calendar year, which took place on Sunday in the Slovenian winter resort of Kranjska Gora. After her first victory in the World Cup, which she achieved a week earlier in Semmering, ‘Zizi’ celebrated in front of Wendy Holdener and Anna Swenn Larsson and with a new 100 points took the lead in the overall standings and the slalom women’s standings.

And as icing on the cake, Zrinka celebrated the 43rd birthday of legendary Croatian skier Janica Kosteli in Slovenia. and the 19th anniversary of Snježna Kraljica in 2006, when Janica ended up on the podium in Sljemen without a cane or gloves.

Ivica Kostelić he shared his impressions for HRT in an interview after the great victory of the new Croatian ski hero.

– The victory in Kranjska Gora has more weight than the first one. We are very proud, satisfied and happy. First of all, Zrinka showed again that she is mentally strong because she managed to win again. At that moment when she created all the preconditions for victory, because if we can say that the first time there might have been a surprise for someone, this time there was no surprise. She was expected to be able to fight for victory.

Legendary Croatian skier moreć has been following Zrinka’s ski ascent for a long time. Moreover, Ivica is part of that rise.

– Our relationship is excellent, especially with Mr Amirom Ljutićem. This is the third season in which we cooperate. I actually followed Zrinka from a distance since she was a child. She was a tremendous talent and still is today. Amir performed that job very carefully and with high quality. And not only that, there is not only Zrinka, there is also a sister and two brothers who are also at the top level in skiing. Amir was always in contact with me both when things were going well and when things were not going well, and so was Zrinka. I was glad to see how she has matured and that I was able to witness her growth from skiing as a child, she is still very young, to the mature athlete she is today.

This season is also the first in the new collaboration between Zrinka and Atomic Skis, the ski manufacturer.

Photo: Borut Zivulovic/REUTERS

– As usual, the approach to the top is a bit layered. First, it is certainly a part of growing up. She is absolutely a more mature person than she was before. Second, change of material. It was absolutely a good move and I think she adapted very quickly to that material. So, if we talk about winning, it was the little things that brought her from the podium to victory and to winning. First with a very dominant advantage, and then now give Boži further in winning the series – said Ivica.

Kostelić it is the same that Zrinka is currently the convincing number one in his generation and that he can reach the top of the world.

– Zrinka can do a lot. He is a stable person and I think that is very important for building a future champion. It is primarily oriented towards technical disciplines. In what way will it develop further? Will her programs include fast disciplines? That is her and her father’s decision. I think that if she wins the series in the technical disciplines, she can be dominant in the overall standings as well. Whether he can do it or not, we will see. She is currently absolutely dominant in her generation, and we will surely see her at the top for many years to come. I honestly said that I don’t think either Shiffrin or Vlhova would get her in Semmering. In Krajinska Gora, maybe. So she is now on their level.

Photo: Borut Zivulovic/REUTERS

And Ivica revealed how he arranged a joint gig with the Ljuti family. after Zrinka’s first victory!

– Već we trained last years and our idea was that when Zrinka wins for the first time, we should play together “It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled”. So Led Zeppelin and that’s what we worked on. It is not excluded that we will play together somewhere. That would be really, really nice.