Veronika Velez-Zuzulová
Veronika Velez-Zuzulová (née Zuzulová; born 15 July 1984) is a retired Slovakian alpine ski racer. Born in Bratislava, she specialised in the slalom and is the most successful Slovak alpine skier in recent years. She was coached by her father, Timotej Zuzula, and Vladimír Kovár. In April 2012, she married coach Romain Velez and added her maiden name to her married name becoming Velez-Zuzulová.[1]
| Alpine skier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Zuzulová at Aspen in November 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Slalom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Vojenské športové centrum Dukla Banská Bystrica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 July 1984 Bratislava, Czechoslovakia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | 28 October 2000 (age 16) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 10 March 2018 (age 33) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | zuzulova.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 – (2002, 2006, 2010, 2018) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 8 – (2001, 2005-17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 17 – (2001–2013, 2015–2018) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 5 – (4 SL, 1 CE) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 30 – (27 SL, 3 CE) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (12th in 2013) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 – (2nd in SL, 2016 & 2017) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Velez-Zuzulová started skiing at age 3; at 14 she won the Trofeo Topolino in Italy, an unofficial children's world championship.
Europa Cup
She started competing in the Europa Cup from the 2000/2001 season, and she took Europa Cup race wins on 21 December 2003, 23 February 2004 and 19 December 2006, and 3rd place on 6 and 22 February 2004.[2]
World championships
At the 2007 World Championships in Åre, Sweden, she scored 9th place in super combined, 13th place in slalom and 21st place in giant slalom.
Velez-Zuzulová was part of the Slovakian team which took a surprise silver in the team event at the 2017 World Championships in St. Moritz, defeating Germany, Italy and Switzerland before being beaten by France in the final on time by eight hundredths of a second after a 2-2 tie.[3]
World Cup
Velez-Zuzulová made her World Cup debut in a giant slalom at Sölden, Austria, on 28 October 2000. In November 2002, she started competing in slalom. Her first major win was in 2002 when she became the World Junior Champion. Her first run in super combined was in 2006.
Across her career, Velez-Zuzulová took 30 World Cup podiums with five victories, all in slalom (or parallel slalom).[4] Her best results in the World Cup season standings came in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, when she finished second in the slalom discipline.[5] In the 2013 season, she finished third in slalom and 12th overall; she also finished third in slalom in 2008. She retired from competition in 2018, with her final World Cup start being in a slalom in Ofterschwang.[5]
Season results
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 17 | 68 | 23 | — | — |
| 2003 | 18 | injured | |||
| 2004 | 19 | 42 | 15 | — | — |
| 2005 | 20 | 37 | 9 | — | — |
| 2006 | 21 | 77 | 28 | — | 44 |
| 2007 | 22 | 19 | 5 | 32 | 37 |
| 2008 | 23 | 15 | 3 | 41 | — |
| 2009 | 24 | 65 | 22 | — | — |
| 2010 | 25 | 94 | 36 | — | — |
| 2011 | 26 | 19 | 5 | 42 | — |
| 2012 | 27 | 17 | 4 | 42 | — |
| 2013 | 28 | 12 | 3 | — | — |
| 2014 | 29 | injured | |||
| 2015 | 30 | 24 | 6 | — | — |
| 2016 | 31 | 13 | 2 | — | — |
| 2017 | 32 | 11 | 2 | — | — |
| 2018 | 33 | 97 | 42 | — | — |
- Standings through 4 February 2018
Race podiums
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 8 Feb 2004 |  Zwiesel, Germany | Slalom | 3rd |
| 2007 | 7 Jan 2007 |  Kranjska Gora, Slovenia | Slalom | 3rd |
| 25 Feb 2007 |  Sierra Nevada, Spain | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 17 Mar 2007 |  Lenzerheide, Switzerland | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 2008 | 6 Jan 2008 |  Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic | Slalom | 2nd |
| 13 Jan 2008 | Maribor, Slovenia | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 15 Feb 2008 |  Zagreb, Croatia | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 14 Mar 2008 |  Bormio, Italy | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 2011 | 4 Feb 2011 | Zwiesel, Germany | Slalom | 2nd |
| 18 Mar 2011 | Lenzerheide, Switzerland | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 2012 | 22 Jan 2012 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia | Slalom | 3rd |
| 10 Mar 2012 |  Åre, Sweden | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 17 Mar 2012 |  Schladming, Austria | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 2013 | 29 Dec 2012 | Semmering, Austria | Slalom | 1st |
| 1 Jan 2013 | Munich, Germany | City event | 1st | |
| 29 Jan 2013 |  Moscow, Russia | City event | 2nd | |
| 2015 | 22 Feb 2015 | Maribor, Slovenia | Slalom | 2nd |
| 14 Mar 2015 | Åre, Sweden | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 21 Mar 2015 |  Méribel, France | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 2016 | 28 Nov 2015 |  Aspen, USA | Slalom | 2nd |
| 5 Jan 2016 | Santa Caterina, Italy | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 12 Jan 2016 | Flachau, Austria | Slalom | 1st | |
| 15 Jan 2016 | Slalom | 1st | ||
| 6 Mar 2016 |  Jasná, Slovakia | Slalom | 3rd | |
| 19 Mar 2016 | St. Moritz, Switzerland | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 2017 | 27 Nov 2016 | Killington, USA | Slalom | 2nd |
| 11 Dec 2016 | Sestriere, Italy | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 29 Dec 2016 | Semmering, Austria | Slalom | 2nd | |
| 3 Jan 2017 | Zagreb, Croatia | Slalom | 1st | |
| 31 Jan 2017 | Stockholm, Sweden | City event | 2nd |
World Championship results
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined | Team event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 16 | DNF1 | 34 | — | — | — | — |
| 2003 | 18 | injured, did not compete | |||||
| 2005 | 20 | DSQ1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | 22 | 13 | 21 | — | — | 9 | — |
| 2009 | 24 | — | DNS1 | — | — | — | — |
| 2011 | 26 | 10 | 15 | — | — | — | — |
| 2013 | 28 | 7 | — | — | — | — | 9 |
| 2015 | 30 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 32 | DNF2 | — | — | — | — | 2 |
Olympic results
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 17 | DNF1 | 32 | — | — | — |
| 2006 | 21 | 22 | — | — | — | 15 |
| 2010 | 25 | 10 | DNS2 | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 29 | injured, did not compete | ||||
| 2018 | 33 | 17 | — | — | — | — |
References
- Veronika Zuzulová at Osobnosti.sk(in Slovak)
- Baldwin, Alan (14 February 2017). Shine, Ossian (ed.). "France opens medal account with team gold". reuters.com. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- "Velez Zuzulova Veronika - Biographie". International Ski Federation. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- "Retiring ski stars dress to impress on final run". news.yahoo.com. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
External links
Media related to Veronika Velez-Zuzulová at Wikimedia Commons
- Veronika Velez-Zuzulová at the International Ski Federation
- Veronika Zuzulová World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Veronika Velez-Zuzulová at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Veronika Velez-Zuzulová at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Official website (in Slovak)
| Olympic Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Zdeno Chára |
Flagbearer for Slovakia PyeongChang 2018 |
Succeeded by incumbent |