BRATISLAVA – Slovak skier Petra Vlhová left the venue of this year’s world championships in the French resort of Courchevel/Méribel without a precious metal. In Saturday’s slalom, she took fifth place with a loss of 85 hundredths of a second to the sensational winner Laurence St. Germain from Canada.
The 27-year-old Liptáčka did not even make it to the podium in the giant slalom, and for the first time since the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics, she leaves a major event without a medal.
“I did my best, but it wasn’t enough. That’s the sport. I rate the championship well, seventh place in the giant slalom, fifth in the slalom. It’s not a bad position, I’m still ahead, but we wanted more. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. We will continue to work and trying to be back on top,” were the first words of the winner of the big crystal globe from the 2020/2021 season after the slalom.
There is no crisis
The best Slovak athlete – although she still achieves excellent results and regularly places herself in the elite five – is not in the same form as in the last or the season before last, when she dominated and collected one victory after another. In the current edition of the SP, she claimed the only triumph and de facto already lost the chance to fight for the small globe in the most rotating discipline in January.
News spread on social networks and many fans began to widely speculate that a crisis in her personal life could be behind the “weaker” performances and results of the Olympic champion from Beijing.
Winner of twenty-seven SP races after the championship in Courchevel for Šport24.sk spoke about alleged problems in the relationship with partner Michal Kyselic. Petra has a clear and concise message for all haters and speculators.
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Source: TASR/Martin Baumann
“I don’t have to explain anything to anyone, because there is no crisis. People should mainly think about themselves and not needlessly deal with my private life. If something doesn’t go as it should and I can’t win, then don’t look for another problem in it, or that there is another person in it,” the star skier told Šport24.sk
“Also, no one around asks them what’s going on and they don’t immediately ask if they have a problem in their relationship. So, in my opinion, people shouldn’t deal with nonsense around them. I repeat, nothing is happening. It’s simply sport and that’s all. what can i say about that. I laugh at that. If people want to solve it, let them solve it. Above all, don’t let them bombard me with what’s going on,” added Vlhová.
She is here because she likes to race
Next weekend’s super-G and the downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, awaits the second woman in the SP standings. This is only the third time this season that she will present herself in the speed discipline, in December she graduated in St. Moritzi downhill and super-G, and she did not finish a single race.
“I’m sorry for Petra that she couldn’t be in the best shape. Everyone saw that she wasn’t as good as usual. If the body is not in the best shape, there are problems with the psyche as well.
But she is here because she likes to race. At the World Championships, she finished fifth, not fiftieth, nor twentieth. She was not the favorite, but she tried very hard. She has a problem with the energy that would lead her to a medal.” her coach Mauro Pini evaluated the Slovak skier’s performance.
- Author: © List
- Source: TASR, Sports shoes
