Ilka Stuhec Extends Contract With Kastle
Downhill and Super-G specialist Ilka Štuhec extends her contract with the ski brand from Hohenems for further two seasons. Therefor she will ride with Kästle skis at the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach Hinterglemm and the 2026 Olympics in Cortina.
Up to now the cooperation of Kästle and Ilka Štuhec has been characterized by great successes and big trust. Within her first season on the skis from Vorarlberg the Speed Queen returned, years after her heavy injury, onto the road to victory and became second in this discipline that year. In 2023/2024 she, again, climbed the podium at the Worldcup finale in Saalbach Hinterglemm.
This journey should now continue in view of the upcoming major events. ”The company and its products fit perfect with my style of skiing. Kästle listens to me, supports me and makes me faster. Everyone is in with full heart and I can ́t wish for any better support,” says the world champion from 2017 and 2019.
Since exactly 100 years precision, power and passion define the work and the products of Kästle. Today top athletes, like Ilka Štuhec, Ester Ledecká, Jasmine Flury und Tamara Tippler count on many years of experience and the values of Kästle. Personal engagement and great experience at the location in Hohenems, within the centre of the alps, are essential components for successful working as a supplier in the skiing Worldcup.
“We are happy, that Ilka continues within our team and maybe she can celebrate another highlight within her career on Kästle in Saalbach Hinterglemm,” comments Kästle R&D Director Rainer Nachbaur.
Štuhec gained her first World Cup victories in December 2016, back-to-back wins in downhill at Lake Louise. She had consecutive wins two weeks later in Val d'Isère, France, and won her fifth event of the 2017 season in late January in Italy. At the 2017 World Championships in February, she won the gold medal in downhill, and clinched the World Cup season title in combined two weeks later. At the finals in mid-March she secured another title in downhill, and was the runner-up for the season in super-G and overall.
Štuhec was sidelined for the entire 2017–18 season, including the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, due to a left knee injury (ACL) in October 2017.[10] She returned to the winner's circle with consecutive World Cup victories in Val Gardena in December 2018,[10] and successfully defended her World Championships title in downhill in February 2019. Two weeks later, a crash at Crans-Montana injured the same knee (PCL); it was reported that she would recover without surgery
