Wendy Holdener is beaming again after the painful death of her brother Kevin and the long injury break
Image: Keystone
Only Zrinka Ljutic is a touch faster than Wendy Holdener in Kranjska Gora
Image: Keystone
Wendy Holdener spoke about the painful death of her big brother Kevin for the first time in Dübendorf at the beginning of October
Image: Keystone
In February 2023, Wendy Holdener and her family were still celebrating together with Kevin Holdener (2nd from left)
Image: Keystone
Wendy Holdener had to cut short last season in December due to a fracture in her ankle joint
Image: Keystone
Wendy Holdener is beaming again after the painful death of her brother Kevin and the long injury break
Image: Keystone
Only Zrinka Ljutic is a touch faster than Wendy Holdener in Kranjska Gora
Image: Keystone
Wendy Holdener spoke about the painful death of her big brother Kevin for the first time in Dübendorf at the beginning of October
Image: Keystone
In February 2023, Wendy Holdener and her family were still celebrating together with Kevin Holdener (2nd from left)
Image: Keystone
Wendy Holdener had to cut short last season in December due to a fracture in her ankle joint
Image: Keystone
Wendy Holdener scratches for her first World Cup victory in more than two years in Kranjska Gora. Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic is a tick faster, but 2nd place is a perceived victory.
05.01.2025, 16:36
05.01.2025, 16:40
SDA
It could be interpreted negatively: once again Wendy Holdener was unable to capitalize on the absences of Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova by winning a slalom. The 31-year-old has already won two World Cup races in her showpiece discipline, but never when the door to victory had opened due to the absences of the slalom dominators.
In Kranjska Gora, Holdener came second once again - for the second time this season after Killington and for the 18th time in total. But it felt like a victory. "I wasn't feeling so good today. I couldn't recover properly and didn't sleep well. My body was pretty stressed this weekend," Holdener said in a hoarse voice in the SRF interview. The verdict is therefore very okay. "A result like this is good, it's good for the mind and good for recovery."
Renaissance after strokes of fate
What's more, Holdener can look back on 13 difficult months. Due to a fracture in her left ankle, she had to interrupt her last season in mid-December 2023 and undergo an operation. Hopes of a return in the same winter were dashed, especially as a stroke of family fate threw her off track again in the spring.
Wendy Holdener's brother Kevin died in February 2024 at the age of 34 after a long battle with cancer. For the slalom specialist, Kevin Holdener was much more than her big brother, who was four years older: an idol in her younger years, later her manager and constant companion - and always her soulmate and best advisor. "Kevin is always present on the slopes," said Holdener when she spoke about the painful loss for the first time three months ago.
Kevin Holdener's death and the longest injury break of her World Cup career to date did not remain without sporting repercussions, as was shown by her 16th place in Levi in the first slalom of the winter. But Holdener fought her way back and made it back onto the podium for the first time in Killington at the beginning of December.
Another month later, Holdener was back to her old strength in Kranjska Gora. She impressed in both runs - in the first with the fastest time, tied with Zrinka Ljutic, and in the second with the second-best time and more than a second ahead of third-placed Swede Anna Swenn Larsson in the final standings.
Only the exceptional 20-year-old Croatian skier Ljutic, who had already been chosen as the designated successor to Croatian skiing legend Janica Kostelic in her home country prior to her superior victory in Semmering a week ago, was able to keep Holdener just in check. After the first run, Ljutic and Holdener were tied, but in the end the eleven years younger athlete had her nose in front by 16 hundredths.
Swiss women as good as last time 31 years ago
Behind Holdener, other Swiss women took advantage of the absence of Shiffrin, Vlhova and other top skiers to achieve excellent results. Camille Rast and Mélanie Meillard finished right next to the podium in 4th and 5th place. Eliane Christen (15th) made it into the top 15 for the second time in a row, Elena Stoffel (18th), Janine Mächler (21st) and Michelle Gisin (28th) completed the strong team result.
The last time Swiss-Ski was represented with seven athletes in a second slalom run was 31 years ago in Maribor. Gisin was probably the only one of the septet to leave Kranjska Gora disappointed.
Ljutic, for her part, also scored twice in the overall rankings with the slalom double in Semmering and Kranjska Gora: She took the lead from Rast in the slalom World Cup and is now ahead of Sara Hector and Rast in the overall World Cup.
