'It feels like a dream': Ljutic dominates Semmering Slalom for first World Cup win

For the last 12 months it has seemed only a matter of time before 20-year-old phenom Zrinka Ljutic (CRO/Atomic) would win her first World Cup race.

It turned out that all she needed was a little help from her dad.

Ljutic confirmed her status as a rising star of Alpine skiing by winning Sunday's Slalom in Semmering, dominating the first run on a course set by her father and doing the same on the second run to storm to victory by 1.75 seconds ahead of Lena Duerr (GER/Head) and Katharina Liensberger (AUT/Rossignol, +1.85s).

In claiming her maiden victory, Ljutic become the first Croatian woman to win at this level in more than 18 years, since the last of Janica Kostelic's 30 World Cup triumphs in March 2006, when Ljutic was two years old.

"It was my dream since I was a little kid, and to do it today was just amazing." Ljutic said of winning a World Cup race.

In the first run on a course designed by her father and coach Amir as part of the the World Cup's rotation of course setters, Ljutic mastered the offset gates to post the fastest time by more than half a second, with only Duerr (+0.51s) and Camille Rast (SUI/Head, +0.98s) within even a second of the Croatian's leading time.

As the final skier in the second run for the first time in her World Cup career, and having already finished second four times in 2024 in search of her first victory, Ljutic had every reason to let the occasion get the better of her.

"In the start hut, I was probably the most nervous I've ever been," she recalled.

But the youngster showed she was more than up for the challenge by recording the fastest second run of the field, extending her lead over Duerr at every split despite having doubts over how well she was skiing.

"I felt all over the place, and I really didn't know if I'm fast enough, so I tried to push all the way down," Ljutic said. "I really wanted to take on this chance, and I did."

She did indeed, winning by such a huge margin that she couldn't even comprehend it.

"I just saw that I was first and that's all I cared about, I just wanted to take the win home," Ljutic said of what she thought when she crossed the line. "And then I saw the 1.75 and thought, 'What? That doesn't make sense.'"

In the absence of injured stars Mikaela Shiffrin (USA/Atomic) and Petra Vlhova (SVK/Rossignol), Ljutic became the second successive debut winner of a World Cup Slalom race, following Rast's triumph in Killington last month.

The most consistent Slalom performer outside Shiffrin and Vlhova in recent times, Duerr entered the contest as one of the favourites and skied an error-free race with bib No.1 in the first run, to be topped by only Ljutic.

With a 1.30-second advantage over Liensberger at the start of her second run, Duerr bled time to the Austrian all the way down the track, only to hold onto the lead by a tenth of a second despite recording only the 20th-fastest time of the run.

"I was just happy that the green light was on after the second run because I did not have this in the last races — my second runs were always not so strong," Duerr said.

"Maybe the day will come (for her first victory of the season) but I know I need two good runs, because the level is pretty high right now in Slalom."

Liensberger bounced back from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the second run of Saturday's Giant Slalom by putting down a second-run charge that lifted her from seventh to third to delight the Austrian fans.

"It was special, because in the first run I knew I could do better, so I really pushed myself and I just let my skis go and it was the right mindset," Liensberger said.

"I was fast and it felt really great. It's really incredible to ski like this in front of the home crowd."

Rast dropped a position from third to fourth to miss the podium, and although she retained her red bib as the leader of the Slalom tour standings, the day belonged to Ljutic.

With her first World Cup win now under her belt, there will surely be many more to come for the daring Croatian. But first, there are other matters to attend to in the wake of Sunday's triumph.

"We have to plan some good party when I get home," Ljutic said.