Ilka Štuhec (born 26 October 1990) is a Slovenian World Cupalpine ski racer, focusing on the speed events of downhill and super-G. She was a three-time junior world champion in three different disciplines, and was the world champion in downhill in 2017 and 2019.
Štuhec gained her first World Cup victories in December 2016, back-to-back wins in downhill at Lake Louise.[3] She had consecutive wins two weeks later in Val d'Isère, France,[4] and won her fifth event of the 2017 season in late January in Italy.[5] At the 2017 World Championships in February, she won the gold medal in downhill,[6][7] and clinched the World Cup season title in combined two weeks later.[8] At the finals in mid-March she secured another title in downhill,[9] 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.[11][12] Two weeks later, a crash at Crans-Montana injured the same knee (PCL); it was reported that she would recover without surgery.[13]