Lila Lapanja
American Slovenian alpine ski racer (born 1994)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lila Grace Lapanja (born December 3, 1994) is an American and Slovenian alpine ski racer. She specializes in slalom and giant slalom.
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SloveniaLapanja in Soldeu 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Lila Grace Lapanja |
| Born | December 3, 1994 Truckee, California, U.S. |
| Sport | |
| Country | Slovenia |
| Sport | Alpine skiing |
Life
Lila Lapanja was born in 1994 in Truckee, California, and grew up in Incline Village on Lake Tahoe in Nevada.[1] She learned to ski at the age of two with the help of her Slovenian father, Vojko, a former ski racer, at Diamond Peak.[2] Later, she attended the Sugar Bowl Ski Academy. Lapanja speaks fluent Slovenian and German in addition to English and is involved in snow leopard conservation.[3]
At age 15, she competed in her first FIS race and immediately finished third. After two successful winters, she was selected for the US Ski Team in 2011. She participated in the World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships twice , achieving her best result of sixth place in the slalom in Jasná in 2014. That same season, she won the Nor-Am Cup slalom title for the first time. After her first three victories, she won the title again in the 2015/16 season. She has also finished second in slalom at the US Championships three times (2014, 2016, and 2017).[4]
In February 2015, she was nominated for the World Championships in Vail / Beaver Creek , but withdrew due to injury. Lapanja made her World Cup debut on November 28, 2015, in the slalom in Aspen. In her third start, she earned her first World Cup points in January 2016 with a 23rd-place finish in Flachau.[5]
In the following years, Lapanja primarily competed in Nor-Am Cup races. There she celebrated several victories and won the slalom title in both the 2019/20 and 2021/22 seasons. Lapanja only occasionally competed in the World Cup, without achieving any major successes.
In May 2024, it was announced that Lapanja would compete for the Slovenian federation starting in the 2024/25 season. She competed in her first race for Slovenia on 16 November 2024 in Levi, Finland.[6][7]
At her first World Championships in Saalbach , she was eliminated in the first run of the slalom.[8]
At the 2026 Winter Olympics, she competed in Women's Slalom.[8]
