Ljutic gives Croatian women's ski team its 1st win since great Kostelic last triumphed in 2006

SEMMERING, Austria (AP) — Zrinka Ljutic gave the Croatian women's ski team its first World Cup victory in almost 19 years by triumphing in the final race of the calendar year on Sunday.

With injured star Mikaela Shiffrin not racing, Ljutic dominated the fourth slalom of the season, posted the fastest times in both runs and won by a huge margin of 1.75 seconds over runner-up Lena Duerr of Germany.

Katharina Liensberger, the 2021 world champion from Austria, finished 1.85 behind in third.

“It feels like a dream, it was my dream since I was a little kid and to do it today is just amazing,” said Ljutic, who turns 21 next month and had racked up five podium results over the last two years.

It's the first World Cup victory for a Croatian woman since four-time Olympic champion Janica Kostelic earned her 30th and last win in March 2006.

“I felt all over the place and I really didn't know if I'm fast enough so I tried to push all the way down,” Ljutic said about her all-attacking final run.

“I really wanted to take on this chance, and I did,” she added.

Ljutic laid the foundation for her first career win by dominating the opening run on a course set by her father and coach.

After Amir Ljutic placed the 63 gates on the Zauberberg course, his daughter found the fastest line to finish her run well ahead of the field.

“I think my dad is happy. He was a bit nervous, this was his first time as a course setter,” Ljutic said.

The course setter for each run of a World Cup race, usually a coach from one of the participating nations, is determined by lot before the season. The second run was set by Swedish coach Sascha Soria.

“I really wanted to attack, the course required this from me. I wanted to be very active and let the skis go on the more straight parts,” Ljutic said.

Duerr and Camille Rast of Switzerland were the only racers who finished the first run less than a second off the pace.

Rast ultimately placed fourth, four weeks after winning the previous slalom, in Killington, Vermont. The Swiss skier returned to the top of both the slalom and overall standings.

Shiffrin, who triumphed in the first two races in the discipline this season, is recovering from abdominal surgery to clean out a deep wound she suffered in a GS crash on Nov. 30 in Killington. There is no date set for her return.

In Shiffrin's absence, AJ Hurt was the only American racer to qualify for the second run and finished 3.99 seconds behind Ljutic in 18th.

Lindsey Vonn, who last week returned to World Cup racing after nearly six years away from the circuit, competes only in the speed events of downhill and super-G.

Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova is out indefinitely after she suffered a setback in her recovery from knee surgery last season.

The women's World Cup continues with a giant slalom and slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia next weekend.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Austria's Katharina Liensberger speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

Austria's Katharina Liensberger reacts after completing an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Germany's Lena Duerr reacts after completing an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

From left, second placed Germany's Lena Duerr, the winner Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic and third placed Austria's Katharina Liensberger celebrate after an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic celebrates winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic celebrates winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Camille Rast speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

Germany's Lena Duerr speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

HONOLULU (AP) — Harry Chandler, a Navy medic who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after the 1941 Japanese attack on the naval base, has died. He was 103.

Chandler died Monday at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida, according to Ron Mahaffee, the husband of his granddaughter Kelli Fahey. Chandler had congestive heart failure, but Mahaffee said doctors and nurses noted his advanced age when giving a cause of death.

The third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in the past few weeks, Chandler was a hospital corpsman 3rd class on Dec. 7, 1941, when waves of Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs and fired machine guns on battleships in the harbor and plunged the U.S. into World War II.

He told The Associated Press in 2023 that he saw the planes approach as he was raising the flag that morning at a mobile hospital in Aiea Heights, which is in the hills overlooking the base.

“I thought they were planes coming in from the states until I saw the bombs dropping,” Chandler said. His first instinct was to take cover and ”get the hell out of here.”

“I was afraid that they’d start strafing,” he said.

His unit rode trucks down to attend the injured. He said in a Pacific Historic Parks oral history interview that he boarded a boat to help pluck wounded sailors from the water.

The harbor was covered in oil from exploding ships, so Chandler washed the sailors off after lifting them out. He said he was too focused on his work to be afraid.

“It got so busy you weren't scared. Weren’t scared at all. We were busy. It was after you got scared,” Chandler said.

He realized later that he could have been killed, “But you didn’t think about that while you were busy taking care of people.”

The attack killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona, which sank nine minutes after it was bombed.

Chandler's memories came flowing back when he visited Pearl Harbor for a 2023 ceremony commemorating the 82nd anniversary of the bombing.

“I look out there, and I can still see what’s going on. I can still see what was happening,” Chandler told The Associated Press.

Asked what he wanted Americans to know about Pearl Harbor, he said: “Be prepared.”

“We should have known that was going to happen. The intelligence has to be better,” he said.

After the war Chandler worked as a painter and wallpaper hanger and bought an upholstery business with his brother. He also joined the Navy reserves, retiring as a senior chief in 1981.

Chandler was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and lived for most of his adult life in nearby South Hadley, Mahaffee said. In recent decades he split his time between Massachusetts and Florida.

An avid golfer, he shot five hole-in-ones during his lifetime, his grandson-in-law added.

Chandler had one biological daughter and adopted two daughters from his second marriage, to Anna Chandler, who died in 2004. He is survived by two daughters, nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

Military historian J. Michael Wenger has estimated that there were some 87,000 military personnel on the island of Oahu the day of the attack. With Chandler’s death only 15 are still living, according to a tally maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.

Bob Fernandez, who served on the USS Curtiss, also died this month, at age 100, and Warren Upton, 105, who served on the USS Utah, died last week.

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This story has been corrected to show that Chandler was survived by two daughters, not one.

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., attends the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - From left, Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, from left, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab salute while the national anthem is played during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, 102, left, and Herb Elfring, 101, talk during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., leaves the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., speaks to the media during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)