Ilka Štuhec


Ilka Štuhec is a Slovenian World Cup alpine ski racer, focusing on the speed events of downhill and super-G. She was a three-time junior world champion in three different disciplines, and was the world champion in downhill in [FIS Alpine World Ski Championships FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2017 – Women's downhill|2017 – Women's downhill|2017] and [FIS Alpine World Ski Championships FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2019 – Women's downhill|2019 – Women's downhill|2019].

Career

At the 2007 World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships in Flachau, Austria, Štuhec won two gold medals in slalom and combined. The following year, she won another gold in downhill in Formigal, Spain. She made her World Cup debut in March 2007 at the age of 16 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Štuhec gained her first World Cup victories in December 2016, back-to-back wins in downhill at Lake Louise. She had consecutive wins two weeks later in Val d'Isère, France, and won her fifth event of the 2017 season in late January in Italy. At the 2017 World Championships in February, she won the gold medal in downhill, and clinched the World Cup season title in combined two weeks later. At the finals in mid-March she secured another title in downhill, and was the runner-up for the season in super-G and overall.
Štuhec was sidelined for the entire 2017–18 season, including the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, due to a left knee injury in October 2017. She returned to the winner's circle with consecutive World Cup victories in Val Gardena in December 2018, and successfully defended her World Championships title in downhill in February 2019. Two weeks later, a crash at Crans-Montana injured the same knee ; it was reported that she would recover without surgery.

World Cup results

Season titles

  • 2 titles –
SeasonDiscipline
2017Combined
2017Downhill

Race victories

  • 11 wins –
SeasonDateLocationDiscipline
20172 December 2016