As part of the celebration of 50 years of the World Ski Cup, and an overture to the men’ slalom race on Sljeme peak on Thursday, in the very centre of Zagreb a show was held by 18 World Cup winners
On a course less than 200 metres long from the Zagreb cathedral to the Manduševac fountain on the main square, with several thousand spectators, 18 skiing legends took part in a race, among them local legends Janica and Ivica Kostelić. Ivica, who may be competing for the last time tomorrow on his home course on Sljeme, was the first to go down the course, while the most successful Croatian skier Janica Kostelić skied down Bakačeva street last, stopping to greet spectators along the way, Jutarnji List reported on January 4, 2017.
Although time was officially recorded, the result was not important for the participants, the best time going to Austrian Renate Goetschl ahead of Ivica.
The show race was led by two World Cup winners, legendary Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy (1967, 1968) and Austrian Karl Schranz (1969, 1970). Present was also the record holder for Large Globe winners, Annemarie Moser-Pröll who was a World Cup winner six times, with other legends including Marc Girardelli, Alberto Tomba, Petra Kronberger, Tamara McKinney, Tina Maze, Andreas Wenzel, Michele Jacot Herry, Lise-Marie Morerod, Michaele Dorfmeister, Renate Götschl, Pernilla Wiberg and Nicole Hosp, as well as the best skier of modern day Marcela Hirschera, who stopped halfway to take selfies with the spectators.
Zagreb is the only capital hosting a World Ski Cup race, while this show race took the organisation a notch higher. The course runs down Bakačeva street, is 165 metres long, 8 metres wide at the start and 10.5 metres wide at the finish, while trucks brought in 900 cubic metres of snow. The start had slalom gates used half a century ago, while the finish had the most modern version, meant to show the progress of technology. Each of the participants wore equipment from their competition period.
The course in Bakačeva will remain until January 15, with a ski school for kids.
