Bio_Brolenius

Johan Brolenius celebrates quite an impressive comeback this winter after struggling a lot in recent years. In January 2000, he finished 9th in a slalom in Chamonix, France and 10th in Kitzbuhel! He was ranked in 18th position in the world list. Yet in the following seasons, Johan was not able to keep the same pace and he lost his position within the national team after a series of disappointing results. He had to train by himself and pay his expenses from his own pocket. It's a great revenge that he can now enjoy!
His performance in Schladming was even more remarkable because of the bad course conditions he faced in the first run. Rain and warm temperatures damaged the piste which became soon soft and very bumpy.
Even skiers from the first seed had a hard time to get close to the leaders. Brolenius was the only athlete with a high number able to qualify for the second run. A better start-order helped him afterwards to move up in the standing and to capture his first top-10 places since Chamonix.
“This is wonderful, I feel great” he said after the race. “The performance in Kitzbuhel was a strong boost for my confidence and I felt relaxed here. The conditions were really demanding but I thought I had nothing to lose since I was sure to compete in St Moritz. I took many risks but it was worth it. Now I should be able to reach the goal I set myself at the start of the season - enter the top-30 in the world rankings and hopefully qualify for the Finals in Lillehammer. I guess that the team will help me now traveling to Korea and Japan”.
Johan only competed in a few World Cup slalom this winter, yet he qualified each time. He is now in 26th place in the slalom World Cup standings just behind his team-mate Markus Larsson. So far, Brolenius mostly raced in Europa Cup and FIS races to improve his position in the FIS start-list.
During the winter time, he lives near Landeck, in Tyrol, where he is supported by a group of people who are helping him in his training. In St Moritz, he will charge again because he believes that everything is possible in such a race. In fact Kalle Palander proved it too in 1999 in Vail! He had to wait four years to win again big races!
Johan is the fourth skier to become for a second time “winStar of the Race” this winter on the men's tour. Before him USA's Daron Rahlves, Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal or Austria's Stephan Eberharter also achieved special performances to get this award. It will be hard for Johan to receive it a third time because he will improve his ranking in the start-list before the next slalom in Korean! So far 24 skiers in total were named “winStar of the Race” in the recent months!