Kristina Koznick Explained

Kristina Koznick
Disciplines:Slalom, giant slalom
Club:Buck Hill Ski Racing
Birth Date:24 November 1975
Birth Place:Apple Valley, Minnesota, U.S.
Wcdebut:January 24, 1993 (age 17)
Retired:July 2006 (age 30)[1]
Website:koznick.com
Olympicteams:3 - (1998, 2002, 2006)
Olympicmedals:0
Worldsteams:6 - (1996 - 2005)
Worldsmedals:0
Wcseasons:12 - (1995 - 2006)
Wcwins:6 - (6 SL)
Wcpodiums:20 - (20 SL)
Wcoveralls:0 - (8th in 2002)
Wctitles:0 - (2nd in SL, 1998, 2002)
Show-Medals:yes

Kristina Lyn Koznick (born November 24, 1975) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. She raced in the technical events and specialized in slalom.

Racing career

Born in Apple Valley, Minnesota, Koznick learned to ski and race at the modest Buck Hill ski area in her hometown of Burnsville, a suburb south of Minneapolis.

Koznick has six World Cup victories, 20 podiums (all in slalom), and 55 top ten finishes (4 in giant slalom, 51 in slalom). She was the runner-up in the slalom season standings twice (1998, 2002), and her best overall World Cup placing was 8th in the 2002 season.[2]

Koznick competed in three Winter Olympics (1998 - 2006)[1] Her last World Cup race was in February 2006, prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, her last international event.

Following the 2000 World Cup season, a 24-year-old Koznick left the U.S. Ski Team and raced for the United States as an independent for the next six seasons, until her retirement.[3] This set a precedent, as Bode Miller would later follow in her footsteps as an independent for two seasons in 2008 and 2009. In 2015, she was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

After racing

After retiring from international competition in July 2006,[1] Koznick started her ski business in Vail and became a broadcaster for NBC Sports. She made her debut that December, handling post-race interviews for alpine skiing events.[4] Her most recent appearance on the network was in December 2008, covering the men's World Cup races in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Kozlack is also a certified massage therapist, focused on neuromuscular programming.[5]

Media

Kristina Kozlack is present in photoshoots for Vail resorts and other freelance photographers. She can be seen in some Volkl Ski and Marker helmet advertisements. Koznac once starred in a spotlight article for the Vail Luxury magazine.

Koznick now has a family and plays for the Vail Breakaways, a women's hockey team in Vail, Colorado.

World Cup results

Race victories

SeasonDateLocationDiscipline
1998 29 Jan 1998 Åre, Sweden
28 Dec 1998 Semmering, Austria Slalom
align=center rowspan=22000 10 Mar 2000 Sestriere, Italy Slalom
19 Mar 2000 Bormio, Italy Slalom
2002 20 Jan 2002 Berchtesgaden, Germany Slalom
2003 15 Mar 2003 Lillehammer, Norway Slalom

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
slalom
Super G Downhill Combined
17 87 41
18
19 75 26
20 80 40
21 80 35
22 11 2
23 36 6
24 19 5 29
25 7 7 26
26 8 2 22
27 27 11 30
28 21 8 27
29 15 4 23
30 31 13 28

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: U.S. skier Koznick retires after three Olympics . ESPN . Associated Press. July 12, 2006. February 9, 2013.
  2. News: PLUS: Skiing; Miller finishes fourth overall . New York Times. March 11, 2002.
  3. News: 'Team Koz': For Self and for Country. Washington Post. Svrluga. Barry. December 12, 2005.
  4. Web site: Koz and Jonna Mendes, working for NBC. Ski Racing.com. December 3, 2006.
  5. Web site: Kristina Koznick Bio . www.koznick.com . SKIKZ PERFORMANCE STUDIOS . 25 October 2023.