Beijing, 9 February 2022 (TDI): Petra Vlhova made history for Slovakia after winning the first-ever gold medal for her country in Alpine Skiing. The Olympic gold medal is the latest acquisition of her already growing repertoire of achievements.
Petra Vlhova won the women’s slalom at the Beijing Games, today. She is a Slovak World Cup alpine ski racer and specializes in technical events like slalom and giant slalom.
Petra Vlhova has become Slovakia’s first ever #Gold medallist in #AlpineSkiing.
Congratulations on winning the Women’s Slalom!#Beijing2022
— Olympics (@Olympics) February 9, 2022
Previously, Vlhova won the World Cup overall title in 2021. Her rival from the US, Mikaela Shiffrin, who is the two-time Olympic champion, went out in the first run of the race, however, she failed to finish her opening run.
“I gave everything I had and in the end, I am Olympic champion.”- Petra Vlhová
Katharina Liensberger who is representing Austria was 0.08 slower than Vlhova over the two legs. The Swiss Alpine Skier, Wendy Holdener was 0.12 behind the Slovak athlete and bagged a bronze medal.
09 Feb -Day 5️⃣#AlpineSkiing – Women’s Slalom #Gold PETRA VLHOVA-SVK
Congratulations to PETRA VLHOVA!
Slovakia’s first-ever gold medallist in alpine skiing.#Beijing2022 #Olympics #BingDwenDwen#TogetherForASharedFuture📸GettyImages pic.twitter.com/VI7LE52kGp
— Beijing 2022 (@Beijing2022) February 9, 2022
Petra Vlhova: A Profile
Petra Vlhova was born in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia. She won a gold medal in the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics and represented her country in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Furthermore, she also won a gold in the slalom at the 2014 Junior World Championships. The contests were held in Jasná, Slovakia. Her most recent wins are given below:
The Slovak athlete made her World Cup debut at age of 17 in December 2012. Her first World Cup podium came three years later. It was followed by a victory in slalom in December 2015 at Åre, Sweden.
Furthermore, for the first time, on 17 January 2016, she entered the second run in the giant slalom in Flachau, Austria, and finished 14th.
Petra grew up on skis. Every winter, her family operated buffets ski resorts in Slovakia. In the meantime, Petra and her brother spent their free time skiing all day.
The fun activity of childhood became a passion and the passion eventually turned into a job. When she was eight, she stood third in her first competition.
This made her parents realize that their daughter possesses the talent, dedication as well as willingness to work hard to win. Petra is a competitive person and has always had support from her whole family.
