Quick Facts
Biography
Petra Vlhová (born 13 June 1995) is a Slovak World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom. She is the current world champion in giant slalom.
Background and early years
Born in Liptovský Mikuláš, Vlhová won a gold medal in 2012 Winter Youth Olympics and represented Slovakia in the 2014 Winter Olympics. She also won gold in the slalom at the Junior World Championships in 2014 in Jasná, Slovakia.
World Cup
She made her World Cup debut at age 17 in December 2012 and her first World Cup podium came three years later, a victory in slalom in December 2015 at Åre, Sweden. On 17 January 2016, for the first time she entered second run in giant slalom in Flachau and finished 14th.
2019 season
In December 2018, Vlhová scored the first World Cup giant slalom win for Slovakia in a race in Semmering, Austria – she was in fourth place after the first run, but set the second fastest time on the second runfor the victory: her previous best GS result had been seventh. A few days later she won a parallel slalom at the foot of the Holmenkollbakken in Oslo, the sixth win of her career, setting a new record for the most World Cup wins by a Slovak alpine skier, eclipsing Veronika Velez-Zuzulová.
In January 2019, having finished as runner-up to Mikaela Shiffrin in the first five classic slaloms of the World Cup season, Vlhová defeated Shiffrin in a slalom in Flachau, setting the fastest time on the second run to take the win after placing third in the first run, and taking the winner's €70,000 prize, the biggest women's prize purse of the World Cup season. The race was her fifth win in classic slalom, putting her one ahead of Velez-Zuzulová in terms of wins in the discipline.
At the Alpine World Ski Championships in February 2019, Vlhová took a complete set of medals. She claimed the first individual medal for a Slovak skier - a silver in the combined - after being edged out by Wendy Holdener by three hundredths of a second. She then won the first gold medal for Slovakia in the giant slalom, before taking the bronze in theslalom.
2020 season
Vlhová started the 2020 season with a 14th place finish in giant slalom at Sölden. She reached her first podium in season on Killington, when she finished second in Slalom. On December 15, 2019 she won a Parallel slalom race inSt. Moritz. In the last race of year 2019, she finished second again in Lienz, when she lost with her big rival from USA, Mikaela Shiffrin.
World Cup results
Season titles
- 2 titles – (1 Slalom, 1 Parallel)
| Discipline | |
| 2020 | Slalom |
|---|---|
| Parallel |
Season standings
| Season | ||||||||
| Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined | Parallel | |
| 2013 | 17 | 91 | 42 | — | — | — | — | N/A |
| 2014 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2015 | 19 | 81 | 34 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2016 | 20 | 24 | 6 | 40 | — | — | — | |
| 2017 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 11 | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | — | — | 7 | |
| 2019 | 23 |  | | | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | 24 |  |  | | 14 | 16 | — | |
- Standings through 11 March 2020
Race podiums
| Total | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Downhill | Super G | Combined | Parallel | |
| Wins | 14 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Podiums | 34 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Season | ||||
| Date | Location | Discipline | Place | |
| 2016 3 podiums (3 SL) | 13 December 2015 | Åre, Sweden | Slalom | 1st |
| 29 December 2015 | Lienz, Austria | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 15 January 2016 | Flachau, Austria | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 2017 3 podiums (3 SL) | 12 November 2016 | Levi, Finland | Slalom | 3rd |
| 3 January 2017 | Zagreb, Croatia | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 18 March 2017 | Aspen, USA | Slalom | 1st | |
| 2018 6 podiums (3 SL, 1 AC, 1 PS, 1 CE) | 11 November 2017 | Levi, Finland | Slalom | 1st |
| 26 November 2017 | Killington, USA | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 20 December 2017 | Courchevel, France | Parallel slalom | 2nd | |
| 28 January 2018 | Lenzerheide, Switzerland | Slalom | 1st | |
| 30 January 2018 | Stockholm, Sweden | City event | 3rd | |
| 4 March 2018 | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | Combined | 3rd | |
| 2019 14 podiums (8 SL, 4 GS, 1 PS, 1 CE) | 17 November 2018 | Levi, Finland | Slalom | 2nd |
| 25 November 2018 | Killington, USA | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 9 December 2018 | St. Moritz, Switzerland | Parallel slalom | 2nd | |
| 22 December 2018 | Courchevel, France | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 28 December 2018 | Semmering, Austria | Giant slalom | 1st | |
| 29 December 2018 | Slalom | 2nd | ||
| 1 January 2019 | Oslo, Norway | City event | 1st | |
| 5 January 2019 | Zagreb, Croatia | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 8 January 2019 | Flachau, Austria | Slalom | 1st | |
| 1 February 2019 | Maribor, Slovenia | Giant Slalom | 1st | |
| 8 March 2019 | Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic | Giant Slalom | 1st | |
| 9 March 2019 | Slalom | 3rd | ||
| 16 March 2019 | Soldeu, Andorra | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 17 March 2019 | Giant Slalom | 3rd | ||
| 2020 8 podiums (5 SL, 2 GS, 1 PS) | 1 December 2019 | Killington, USA | Slalom | 2nd |
| 15 December 2019 | St. Moritz, Switzerland | Parallel slalom | 1st | |
| 29 December 2019 | Lienz, Austria | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 4 January 2020 | Zagreb, Croatia | Slalom | 1st | |
| 14 January 2020 | Flachau, Austria | Slalom | 1st | |
| 18 January 2020 | Sestriere, Italy | Giant Slalom | 1st | |
| 15 February 2020 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia | Giant Slalom | 2nd | |
| 16 February 2020 | Slalom | 1st |
World Championship results
| Year | |||||||
| Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined | Team Event | |
| 2013 | 17 | DNF1 | — | — | — | — | 9 |
| 2015 | 19 | 44 | 30 | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 21 | 4 | 8 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 2019 | 23 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 2 | — |
Olympic results
| Year | |||||||
| Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined | Team Event | |
| 2014 | 18 | 19 | 24 | — | — | — | N/A |
| 2018 | 22 | 13 | 13 | 32 | DNF | 5 | 9 |