Not just Slokar: Slovenia welcomes back Neja Dvornik, working hard at Coronet Peak to return to the top immediately

Not only Andreja Slokar, who, having already established herself as a winning talent in the World Cup, has experienced the ups and downs of recent seasons due to serious knee injuries, but the Slovenian women’s national team, after bidding farewell to Ilka Stuhec, is also placing enormous faith in Neja Dvornik in the technical events.

The 25-year-old has now returned to full training, joining her teammates at Coronet Peak in the days leading up to mid-August, after getting back on snow at the end of February (and then tackling her first gates the following month), just three months after the serious accident she suffered during the warm-up for the Gurgl slalom. It was November 23, and Neja sustained fractures to the tibia and fibula of her right leg, immediately losing any chance of competing in her second Olympics.

Her recovery was somewhat faster than expected, despite missing the rest of a season that had begun very well, with a 7th-place finish in Levi. The Slovenian had concluded the previous season with 6th place in the giant slalom at the finals in Sun Valley, while the final race of 2023/24, in Saalbach, gave her what remains her best World Cup result to date: fourth place in the slalom on the Austrian snow.