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By:
Arsim Magjera
- February 16, 2025 21:15 AM
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The Alpine Skiing World Championships concluded in Saalbach, Austria, on Sunday. Kosovo also participated in this important event of the main winter sport. With a total of six skiers.
Kosovo's skiers competed in giant slalom and slalom, but without leaving any mark. There is no improvement in the results, even if compared to past world championships.
Initially, the Kosovo skiers competed in the giant slalom. Lirika Deva and Arba Pupovci completed the first run, while Kiana Kryeziu went off the track. Neither qualified for the second run. In the final standings, according to the official results published by the International Ski Federation, Lirika Deva was 51st and Arba Pupovci was 63rd.
Two years ago at the World Championships in France, Kosovo skiers also competed only in the first run of the giant slalom, without qualifying for the second. Kiana Kryeziu was 71st in the first run, Enxhi Sefaj 86th and Arba Pupovci 89th.
In the slalom, at this year's World Championships in Austria, three Kosovo skiers went off the track in the first run. Two years ago in France, Lirika Deva was 53rd, Enxhi Sefaj 65th and Arba Pupovci 75th. None had qualified for the second run.
The Kosovo Ski Federation has written about the skiers' "strong performance" in the giant slalom qualifying race.
Drin Kokaj ranked 62nd, Klos Vokshi 70th, while Arbi Pupovci did not complete the first launch.
Kokaj also competed in the main giant slalom competition, due to the rule that each country must be represented by at least one skier.
He completed the first run, but did not qualify for the second run. He was 66th in the final standings.
Two years ago, Klos Vokshi ranked 77th and Drin Kokaj 80th.
In the slalom, Drin Kokaj competed on Sunday. He went off the track in the first run, after just a few gates. Kokaj also went off the track on Saturday in the qualifying race. But he secured a place in the main race, as, according to the Kosovo federation, he had more points than the other two skiers from the country.
On Saturday in the qualifying race, Klos Vokshi ranked 56th, while Arbi Pupovci was 73rd.
Two years ago, Kosovo skier Arbi Pupovci went off the track in the slalom race.
Kosovo skiers again frequently went off the track, and even when the competitions ended, they were far from the positions that would have ensured qualification for the second run. The gap with the best skiers continues to be very large.
No current Kosovo skier is coming close to the results of Albin Tahiri, the former Kosovo skier. At the 2021 World Championships, he finished 32nd in slalom and 37th in giant slalom. These are Tahiri's two best rankings in the three World Championships he has competed for Kosovo. Tahiri even qualified for the second run in both disciplines.
The Kosovo Ski Federation has not yet held any local competitions this season. So the first activities for this competition season were international, the youth festival and the World Cup. There has been no increase in the festival either.
From the World Cup in Saalbach, skiers gain experience.
"This championship served as a valuable experience for our athletes, facing challenges at the highest level of world skiing," the KSF wrote.
Currently, Kosovo's skiers are not at the level of the skiers representing Albania. Italian Lara Colturi, who competes for Albania, was seventh in the giant slalom. In the qualifying slalom race on Saturday, Albania's Denni Xhepa placed fourth. Xhepa also lives in Italy.
