Kristaps Zvejnieks

Kristaps Zvejnieks (born 15 February 1992 in Riga) is an Alpine ski racer and inline Alpine slalom racer from Latvia. He competed for Latvia at the 2010 Winter Olympics.[1] He competed in slalom and giant slalom and his best result was a 37th place in the slalom.[2] He competes in FIS, CIT, EC and WC levels. He had his first World Cup start in Schladming on 24 January 2012.[3]

Kristaps Zvejnieks
Alpine skier
Zvejnieks in February 2014
DisciplinesDownhill, Super-G,
Giant Slalom, Slalom,
Combined
ClubSK Virsotne
Born (1992-02-15) 15 February 1992
Riga, Latvia
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
World Cup debut24 January, 2012
(age 20)
Websitekristapszvejnieks.com
Olympics
Teams3 – (2010, 2014, 2018)
World Championships
Teams3 – (2011, 2013, 2015, )
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Latvia
Winter Universiade
2017 AlmatyCombined

Alpine skiing career

He was born to Jana Zvejniece and Raivo Zvejnieks in Riga, Latvia, and grew up there. The closest ski area was in Sigulda, 60 km from his house. The biggest skiing slopes in Sigulda are Pilsētas trase, Kaķīškalns and Kordes trase, all more than 100 m above the sea level with a vertical drop of 80 – 90 m and length of 275 – 350 m.[4][5][6] He began skiing at three and racing at eight. In his first race he finished in 6th place. He made his first start in a World Cup event during the 2012 World Cup season in the slalom at Schladming.

2008 season

Zvejnieks started his FIS career in Geilo, Norway, with a GS race on 6 December 2008, finishing in 65th position with 127.47 FIS points.[7] Two days later, he finished the slalom in 31st position with start number 141, gaining 78.89 FIS points in his first slalom FIS race.[8] In the whole season, Zvejnieks had 40 races and he achieved to 50.42 FIS points in slalom. This was the first season with his trainer, the former Austrian and Japanese Olympic coach, the Austrian Peter Prodinger. After his first FIS races he was added to the Latvia National ski A team.

2009 season

On 16 July 2008, during the last training run in Mölltaler Gletscher, Austria, Zvejnieks crashed badly and broke his leg (fibula and tibia). He was determined to get back to skis as soon as possible, but it was too early. On 3 February 2009, he broke the same leg again. After several operations and a long time recovering, he began skiing again back in Mölltaler Gletcher on 14 October 2009.

2010 season

Zvejnieks recorded his first FIS race podium and victory at Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, in December with 39.10 FIS points. He qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics on 26 January. In Vancouver, he competed in giant slalom and slalom disciplines. In giant slalom he finished in 62nd position,. In slalom he was 37th with +11.97 seconds from the leader Giuliano Razzoli. He was one of the youngest athletes to perform in Alpine skiing when he turned 18 years old during the Olympics.

2011 season

Zvejnieks started with a podium in the Levi FIS race. He finished in third position with 33.66 FIS points.[9] During the season he had 47 races.

2012 season

Zvejnieks started the 2012 season with 34.37 FIS points (567 in World ranking) in slalom. He made his first start in a World Cup slalom event at Schladming where he was disqualified for struggling a gate. Schladming seemed to be a turning point for Zvejnieks' success. He competed in many races and had great results. He moved down from 34.37 to 19.61 FIS Points in slalom at an Austrian Cup race in Gaal, where he finished 1st and 2nd in two-day races. He finished 1st in the German Junior race in Lenggries. At the end of the season he finished 2nd in the Norway National Championships with 14.55 FIS points.[10] He finished season 2011/2012 on 16 April in Finland with 15.84 FIS Points in Slalom (156 in World ranking).

2013 season

In 2013 season Zvejnieks got his best FIS points, 12.41 (118 in World Ranking) in slalom discipline.

2014 season

Zvejnieks started in Sochi winter Olympics. He got his best place in Giant Slalom discipline (43 place), but got disqualified in Slalom after a mistake. He didn't make any improvements in FIS points list in Slalom, but he got better points in Giant Slalom discipline.

2015 season

In 2015 Zvejnieks started in 5 World Cup Slalom races, but did not qualify for Top 30. Zvejnieks got better FIS points in Slalom. For first he made his points up to 10.72 FIS points in FIS races in Chamonix, France, but in late 2015 season, in April, Zvejnieks made Latvia's best FIS points ever with moving up to 9.57 FIS points in Slalom, which gave him 66th place in World Ranking before 2016 season start.

Other sports and achievements

Zvejnieks plays golf during summer time at GC Viesturi in Latvia. In May 2012, he started in the Ski & Golf World Championships in Zell am See, Austria, with the 4th best time in skiing.[11] As a better skier than golf player, he finished in 15th place overall in the men's professional group.[12]

He is overall winner of Latvian Cup 2008–2012, and Baltic Cup winner 2010–2012.

Zvejnieks was the inline Alpine slalom World Champion and World Cup overall winner in the 2012 Inline Alpine Slalom season.[13][14]

Inline Alpine slalom career

Zvejnieks started inline Alpine as a part of ski training in summer. As a Latvian with the biggest mountain of 312 m above sea level, it was a good part of physical and psychological training for summer. He started to attend international European races in the 2005 season. In 2008, he won his first European Cup in Smiltene, Latvia.[15]

Alpine skiing career results

FIS points at the end of the season
SeasonRaces
in season		SlalomGiant
slalom		Super GDownhillCombined
20084050,4286,8972,97–104,55
20091248,1481.2771,39–97,78
20104138,9957,5460,5572,53115,25
20114734,9547,2762,5373,5971,35
20124715,8431,4958,5969,6242,04
20134812,4123,6645,3669,6242,04
20144312,4116,8545,3683,2562,65
2015419,5721,57102,06124,8893,98

Individual FIS races
  • 39 podiums −26 slalom, 2 super combined, 11 giant slalom,
Season Date Location Discipline Position FIS points
201020 Dec 2010Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech RepublicSlalom139,10
19 Jan 2010Vratna, SlovakiaSlalom144,47
201127 Nov 2010Levi, FinlandSlalom333,66
19 Dec 2010Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech RepublicGiant slalom251,44
20 Dec 2010Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech RepublicSlalom135,95
7 Jan 2011Liptovska Teplicka, SlovakiaGiant slalom257,19
201220 Dec 2011Solda, ItaliaGiant slalom337,32
20 Jan 2012Hafjell Olympiabakken, NorwaySuper combined247,80
11 Feb 2012Lenggries, GermanySlalom125,53
12 Feb 2012Gaal, AustriaSlalom117,13
25 Mar 2012Hafjell Olympiabakken, NorwaySlalom214,55
201325 Jan 2013Hafjell Olympiabakken, NorwaySuper Combined252,21
11 Feb 2013Wildhaus, SwitzerlandSlalom315,61
14 Feb 2013Schladming, AustriaGiant slalom222,36
13 Mar 2013S. Valentino Alla Muta, ItaliaSlalom322,51
13 Mar 2013Vratna, SlovakiaGiant slalom234,95
14 Mar 2013Vratna, SlovakiaGiant slalom131,83
28 Mar 2013Jasna, SlovakiaGiant slalom331,90
4 Apr 2013Kirovsk, RussiaSlalom311,30
5 Apr 2013Kirovsk, RussiaSlalom213,51
201423 Nov 2013Ruka, FinlandSlalom222,97
21 Mar 2014Suomu, FinlandSlalom216,92
22 Mar 2014Suomu, FinlandSlalom114,99
3 Apr 2014Polyarny Zori, RussiaSlalom314,82
6 Apr 2014Polyarny Zori, RussiaGiant Slalom214,35
201527 Nov 2014Pyha, FinlandGiant Slalom326,58
28 Nov 2014Pyha, FinlandSlalom113,31
29 Nov 2014Salla, FinlandSlalom116,37
5 Jan 2015Chamonix, FranceSlalom113,14
6 Jan 2015Chamonix, FranceSlalom317,42
7 Jan 2015Chamonix, FranceSlalom110,14
8 Jan 2015Chamonix, FranceSlalom111,30
20 Mar 2015Pyha, FinlandSlalom217,47
21 Mar 2015Pyha, FinlandSlalom118,38
30 Mar 2015Kouty, Czech RepublicSlalom315,52
3 Apr 2015Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech RepublicGiant Slalom119,28
9 Apr 2015Polyarny Zory, RussiaSlalom19,00
10 Apr 2015Polyarny Zory, RussiaSlalom217,05
11 Apr 2015Polyarny Zory, RussiaGiant Slalom323,86

Inline Alpine slalom career results

World Cup races
  • 32 races – 15 podiums,
Season Date Location Discipline Position
20115 Jun 2011Genoa, ItaliaSlalomDNS
3 Jul 2011Degmarn, GermanySlalom5
9 Jul 2011Tuttlingen, GermanySlalomDNS
13 Aug 2011Neukirchen, AustriaSlalomDNS
28 Aug 20111Turnov, Czech RepublicSlalom1
11 Sep 2011Nemcicky, Czech RepublicSlalom1
201217 Jun 2012Turnov, Czech RepublicSlalom1
1 Jul 2012Degmarn, GermanySlalom5
15 Jul 2012Sigulda, LatviaSlalom2
18 Aug 2012Chammunster, GermanyGiant slalomDNQ2
19 Aug 2012Chammunster, GermanySlalom1
8 Sep 2012Stenenbronn, GermanySlalom2
20132 Jun 2013Genova, ItalySlalom1
9 Jun 2013Oberhundem, GermanySlalom1
23 Jun 2013Jirkov, Chech RepublicSlalom1
13 Jul 2013Tuttlingen, GermanySlalom1
11 Aug 2013Uttendorf, AustriaSlalomDNF
8 Sep 2013Nemcicky, Czech RepublicSlalom16
201417 May 2014Steinenbron, GermanySlalomDNS
6 Jun 2014Turnov, Czech RepublicSlalomDNS
22 Jun 2014Jirkov, Chech RepublicSlalomDNS
6 Jul 2014Degmarn, GermanySlalom2
11 Sep 2014Oberhundem, GermanyGiant Slalom12
14 Sep 2014Oberhundem, GermanySlalom2
201521 Jun 2015Jirkov, Czech RepublicSlalomDNS
26 Jul 2015Pisogne, ItalySlalomDNF
18 Aug 2015Villablino, SpainSlalom2
23 Aug 2015Bramberg, AustriaSlalomDNS
5 Sep 2015Nemcicky, Czech RepublicSlalomDNF
20165 Jun 2015Unterensingen, GermanySlalom3
19 Jun 2015Turnov, Czech RepublicSlalom1
26 Jun 2015Jirkov, Czech RepublicSlalomDNS

[16]

Inline Alpine slalom season standings
SeasonWC racesPodiumsOverall
20104038
2011325
2012541
2013641
2014327
20153112

References
  1. "Profile". Vancouver 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  2. "Men's slalom results". Vancouver 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  3. "World Cup debut". FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  4. "Pilsētas trase". Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  5. "Kaķīškalns". Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  6. "Kordes trase". Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  7. "FIS Giant Slalom race in Geilo results". Kristaps Zvejnieks results. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  8. "FIS Slalom race in Geilo results". Kristaps Zvejnieks results. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  9. "FIS race in Levi Results". FIS races 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  10. "Norway National Championships in Slalom 2012 Results". Norway Alpine Skiing Championships 2012. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  11. "Ski&Golf World Championships 2012 Ski Results Overall" (PDF). Ski&Golf World Championships 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  12. "Ski&Golf World Championships 2012 Overall results PRO group Overall" (PDF). Ski&Golf World Championships 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  13. "Inline Alpine World Championships 2012Results" (PDF). Cham 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  14. "Overall Standings Inline Alpine Slalom World Cup 2012" (PDF). Inline Alpine Slalom. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  15. "Inline Alpine European Cup in Smiltene, Latvia 2008 Results" (PDF). Inline Alpine Slalom. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  16. "Inline Alpine Slalom World Cup Results". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
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