Kristina Koznick

Last updated
Kristina Koznick
Personal information
Born (1975-11-24) November 24, 1975 (age 50)
Occupation Alpine skier
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Sport
Skiing career
Disciplines Slalom, giant slalom
Club Buck Hill Ski Racing
World Cup debutJanuary 24, 1993 (age 17)
RetiredJuly 2006 (age 30) [1]
Website koznick.com
Olympics
Teams3 - (1998, 2002, 2006)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams6 - (1996 2005)
Medals0
World Cup
Seasons12 - (1995 2006)
Wins6 - (6 SL)
Podiums20 - (20 SL)
Overall titles0 - (8th in 2002)
Discipline titles0 - (2nd in SL, 1998, 2002)

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.

Contents

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 Slalom
1999 28 Dec 1998 Semmering, AustriaSlalom
2000 10 Mar 2000 Sestriere, ItalySlalom
19 Mar 2000 Bormio, ItalySlalom
2002 20 Jan 2002 Berchtesgaden, GermanySlalom
2003 15 Mar 2003 Lillehammer, NorwaySlalom

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
slalom
Super GDownhillCombined
1993 178741
1994 18
1995 197526
1996 208040
1997 218035
1998 22112
1999 23366
2000 2419529
2001 257726
2002 268222
2003 27271130
2004 2821827
2005 2915423
2006 30311328

References

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