In the spirit of world championships

In the beginning of January of next year, Zagreb will again be host to the best skiers in the world who will be participating in the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup “VIP Snow Queen Trophy”. Zagreb will also be one of seven Croatian cities that will host the World Handball Championship.

In the beginning of January of next year, Zagreb will be host to great world sports championships – the Men's and Women's Alpine Ski World Cup on Sljeme and the World Handball Championship. For the fifth time in a row, Zagreb will again welcome the world's best skiers, who will fight for the title of Snow Queen, and Sljeme will also get its second Snow King.
The Women's Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup “VIP Snow Queen Trophy 2009” will be held on January 4th, while the fight for the men’s best skier will be on January 6th. Both races will take place in the evening under the lights. 

Many of the competitors have praised the slalom race on Sljeme, not only because of the quality of the organization and expertly prepared slope, but for the special atmosphere created by the audience. That is, the race on Zagreb's Sljeme stands out from the other World Cup races due to the fans and their passionate cheering of every competitor, which makes the event particularly attractive. Unaccustomed to that type of support on the ski slopes around the world, many of the competitors have remarked that they have never before experienced that type of atmosphere. In the future, they will continue to come to this race, just because of that special atmosphere. 

Besides the Men's and Women's Alpine Ski World Cup, Zagreb will also host the second round and the finals of the World Handball Championship, which will kick off on January 16th with a game in Split. The Championship will be held in seven cities in Croatia – Split, Osijek, Varaždin, Zadar, Poreč, Pula and Zagreb.  New, modern sports halls have been built in each city and the first game of the second round that will take place in Zagreb will be on January 24th in the new Arena Zagreb.