Filip Zubčić Talks World Cup, Croatian Success, and Olympic Season Prep on the Skiing is Believing Podcast

In the fourth episode of the Skiing is Believing Podcast summer series, Croatian technical expert and three-time World Cup winner Filip Zubčić joined Alan Rigg and Matt Garcka.

Filip reflected on the 2024/25 World Championship season and looked ahead to the upcoming one, emphasizing that his top priority is to stay healthy. After a frustrating start last season, skiing out in Sölden despite finishing the first run in second place, he admitted that it was a struggle to fully recover from that early setback of skiing out in the opening event.

He highlighted the impressive strength of both the men’s and women’s teams in Croatia, even though the country has a notably low number of FIS racers. He also praised Croatia’s continued success on the Alpine World Cup tour.

Filip told Matt and Alan the change that he’s made to his summer training plan. He has been training at home, which is the first time he has done that for off-season training in decades. In his off-season training, he is aiming to improve in various ways, which include physical training and gymnastics before the 2026 Olympic season.

Matt also asked Filip when he felt he was skiing at his best in giant slalom. He explained that the 2020/21 season was when he was just behind Alexis Pinturault and Marco Odermatt in the World Cup GS standings. He also spoke of the improvements in his slalom this year, where he finished higher in the World Cup rankings than he’s ever done, concluding the 2025 season in 20th position in the discipline standings. This is something that he has been aiming to reach in the last few seasons.

The episode concluded with the usual quick-fire questions where you’ll learn Filip’s favorite place to ski on the World Cup technical tour, the best moment of his career to date, and the one thing he wants to achieve in the next 12 months.

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