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Two medals for Slovenia

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 11:13:00 +0100

Urban Rogelj, Tine Bogataj, Bor Pavlovčič and Domen Prevc won the ski jumping tournament ahead of the Finns and Austrians. The best member of the team was Domen Prevc. “I am even happier than after the silver yesterday, the jumps were better and the team spirit was amazing, but the main thing is that we got the gold,” said Prevc. “My wish is to follow Peter and Cene as best as I can and be the best athlete I can be,” Prevc commented on statements that he is following in his older brothers’ footsteps. Jumpers are now waiting for the mixed team competition on Friday. The Nordic combined team also finished their competition. Slovenians (Jaka Matko, Vid Vrhovnik, Gašper Brecl and Matevž Malovrh) had an excellent result in the jumps, coming in third. As expected, they fell behind in the cross country skiing and finished in eighth place. Domen Prevc finished second in the ski jumping event after coming third after the first series. Following Peter Prevc and Cene Prevc who both won the European Youth Olympic Festival in the past, Domen is the third brother to win a medal in this competition. “I am not happy with my jumps, but the result is quite good. I couldn’t find the right feeling I had in training and the nerves took a lot of energy today. My expectations were very high. Competition in the field was strong, but I can now enter the team competition a lot more relaxed,” said Prevc. The other Slovenian competitors showed strong jumps themselves. Bor Pavlovič finished seventh, Tine Bogataj eighth and Urban Rogelj tenth.

Bogdan Gabrovec new president of NOC Slovenia

Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:50:00 +0100

Gabrovec emerged the winner after two rounds of voting at the OKS assembly featuring delegates form the country's sports associations, securing 89 votes out of 145 against Janković's 51, to become only the second OKS president since Slovenia went independent in 1991. The run-off was needed after the two front-runners failed to muster an absolute majority in the first round of the secret ballot. Gabrovec won 64 votes, Jankovič 40 and the third candidate, former canoeist Andraž Vehovar, finished with 38 to fall out of contention. In his acceptance speech, Gabrovec thanked the delegates for showing trust in him, adding: "I see this as a sporting decision". He was congratulated by Janković, who said he "is happy to have been part of the race" and wished the organisation luck under its new boss. The victory for Gabrovec brings to an end more than three weeks of campaigning to find a successor to Kocijančič, who is widely credited with building Slovenian Olympic sports from scratch into a perennial top-five finisher when measured by medals per capita. Presenting his bid, Gabrovec said his priority was promoting youth development and ensuring a future for retired athletes in sports either as coaches or experts.He added that his work in the Judo Association was the best proof that offering strong development for young athletes is the only guarantee for future success. Mostly ceremonial and lacking a professional pay package, the position carries weight due to the role of the OKS as the umbrella sports body in the country which helps guide the work of various associations and engages stakeholders on key issues related to sport in the country. The vote was therefore closely watched by the country's top athletes, who expect the position to be filled by a charismatic leader capable of securing financing for sport and standing up for the interests of professional and amateur athletes alike. Among the key issues for them is regulating the status of top-flight athletes, many of whom are employed by the state as a stop-gap solution to provide them with financial security, and a retirement scheme. The associations are meanwhile looking for the OKS president to strengthen the financial backbone of sports, as many are struggling with money, by increasing sponsorship and state funding. With a significant chunk of steady financing coming from taxes on sports betting, a key issue for the future president will be finding a way of regulating foreign online betting sites. Gabrovec said he favoured liberalisation with a good measure of regulation. He also said his focus will be on providing a strong framework for the various sports associations to build their programmes and have at least basic financial security. "I want to make sure that the case of the Waterpolo Association never happens again," he said in a reference to debts at waterpolo's governing body that have led to its paralysis. The 61-year-old black-belt judoka had been widely viewed as a natural choice to succeed Kocijančič, after acting as his vice-president for many years. However, lacking the political clout of Janković, he appeared to stumble somewhat during the campaign despite a successful tenure as president of the Slovenian Judo Association, thereby opening the door for the Ljubljana mayor to mount a serious challenge. Tapping into his political-savvy, Janković shook up the race with promises of better funding prospects for sports under his watch and bids for major international competitions. He also ate away at Gabrovec's broad support by snaring some of the vice-president's biggest backers among sports officials. This would prove to be too little, however, as the associations opted for a familiar face in Kocijančič's right-hand man.In 2012 Gabrovec was the head of the Slovenian Olympic delegation to the London Games, where Slovenia won four medals, a gold, a silver and two bronze. The gold was won by judoka Urška Žolnir. Meanwhile, the OKC celebrated Kocijančič's achievements during his 23-year tenure today by granting him the status of president emeritus. Accepting the title, Kocijančič said the achievements of the OKS in this time were the result of hard work by the whole team. Elected to joining Gabrovec at the helm of the Olympic Committee as vice-presidents were Janez Sodržnik, the head of the Ljubljana Sports Association, multiple Olympic rowing medallist Iztok Čop and former world taekwon-do champion Tomaž Barada.

Youth Olympic Gold for Handball Players

Wed, 27 Aug 2014 06:10:00 +0200

This is Slovenia’s seventh medal at the largest youth sports competition in the world. "The team was determined to win from the very beginning. You could tell. We owned the game. We took it up an extra notch in the second half-time, and whenever we do that, no team can compete with us", explained team captain Malus with a broad smile on his face. Janc added: "First, we need to thank all our supporters from Slovenia who came to cheer for us. I think it will only be tomorrow when we realise what our victory actually means for Slovenian handball. We are extremely happy."

The gold was won by the dream team of Jakob Beđeti, Aleks Kavčič, Urh Kastelic, Matic Kotar, Jan Prevolnik, Rok Cvetko, Žiga Urbič, Blaž Janc, Jaka Malus, Gal Marguč, Luka Kikanović, Tilen Sokolič, Darko Stojnić and Leon Rašo. The team was completed by the coach Janez Klemenčič, assistant coach Vanja Kralj, and masseur Matej Kramer.

Leda Krošelj jumps for bronze

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:07:00 +0200

A jump of 4.36 meters brought gold to Angelica Moser of Switzerland, with Robeilys Peinado of Venezuela coming in second with 4.10 m.

“My first goal for the Games was the A final, coming in the final eight. You always wish for the highest placement, medals, but I would not dare forecast the result in advance,” admitted the 16 year old member of the Brežice athletic club and said that it was a pleasure to compete before bleachers with approximately 20,000 spectators. Krošelj failed to clear four metres, which would have been her new personal best.

“I knew I had a medal. After that, it was hard to concentrate. I was hoping for a personal best. I need to get over four metres soon, it’s now my first goal. Maybe I can do it this year,” said the Slovenian athlete, with her coach Timotej Kostrevec watching from the stands.

Three new medals for Slovenia

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 17:43:00 +0200

Slovenia won three new medals today at the Youth Olympic Games in China. Žiga Lah and Ela Mičunović won silver medals in the 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Ela was silver in three-pointers and Žiga in slam-dunks. The amazing success of our basketballers is a huge encouragement and motivation for the rest of the 3-on-3 basketball tournament. "I am extremely happy! I sprang my ankle yesterday, but I trusted my physiotherapist and today I felt excellent, and I am truly ecstatic about this silver medal, which will be a great motivation for the rest of the 3-on-3 tournament", said Lah. "I am happy, completely over the moon, I did not expect for this to happen", said Mičunović after the game, who now expects to make it through to the eighth-finals of the 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
Maruša Štangar also gave a spectacular performance today. She won all her matches, but unfortunately her team lost the semi-finals 3:4. »I am very happy, I put on a good fight, unfortunately things didn't work out at the end, the Italian judoist lost a few seconds before the end, but I can't complain because I know my co-competitors gave it their best. Now we can enjoy the Games and cheer for other Slovenian athletes", Štangar commented on the performances of Slovenian judoists.

Bronze for Govejšek

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:36:00 +0200

Clocking a time of 27.66, she finished in third place behind the winner, Nasretdinova from Russia, and runner-up, Stoffelova from Switzerland. "I am very happy I came in third, my performance was good, except for the finish, which was a bit poor. I felt more pressure to win a medal than I did at any other match, also from others, but this result met my own expectations as well. From now on, it will get easier with each jump in the pool, and I hope to continue in this direction," said Govejšek.

"London was about gaining experience and not worrying about the outcome, but here, I wanted high results. This is a great motivation for the future, and proof that I am on the right track", she continued. Nastja won her sixth Slovenian medal at Summer Youth Olympics, the first in swimming.

The morning portion of performances at the Youth Olympic Games did not live up to the expectations of the Slovenian youth national Olympic team. Vid Pugelj and Žiga Zarič missed out on the bronze medal in coxless pair by 9 hundredths of a second. They were on the way to victory at 50 m before the finish line, but made a mistake and hit a buoy with a paddle, lost their rhythm and came in fourth. The gold went to Dedu and Todosa from Romania.

Maruša Štangar wins bronze in Nanjing

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 15:26:00 +0200

In judo in the up to 52 category, Maruša Štangar subdued Xiaoyu Liu of China in the bronze medal bout, having previously won over Minenko of Belarus, Siderota of Portugal and Elizechejeva of Argentina. In the semifinal, Štangar lost to Temelkova of Bulgaria who lost to Colman of Brasil in the final.

“It was great, I got a difficult group, but everything went to plan. Then I lost in the semifinal, but fortunately the third place bout finished quickly. I didn’t mind fighting the local girl. It’s a great success and I am very happy,” said Štangar after the match. She is now waiting to take part in the team competition.

Afternoon competitions brought two semifinals in swimming, with Nastja Govejšek coming in 9th and Tjaša Pintar 13th in 100m freestyle, so we are still waiting for the first Slovenian swimming final at the Games. In 3:3 basketball the boys beat Hungary by 21:19 and France by 15:11 while the girls lost to Hungary at 12:18.

Another good performance was recorded in cycling, with Jon Božič coming 8th and Katja Jeretina 13th in the time trial. It should be emphasised, however, that cyclists collect points in various disciplines and all points count towards a national team competition, while medals are not given out for individual disciplines.

Jože Čeper was pleased with his performance in the shooting competition today, scoring 550 in the 10m air pistol (15th position). Rowers Pugelj and Zarič finished their qualifications in coxless doubles as third and will need to win their place in the final in the repechage. Surfer Toni Vršaj sailed well on his first day of competition, finishing in 12th place.
Katarina Beton and Andraž Krapež are doing very well in their badminton competition. They both won their second matches in mixed pairs. In the qualifying rounds Andraž Krapež is playing with Alida Chen of the Netherlands. They won against the Indian - Botswanan pair with 2:1 (21:13; 17:21; 21:13). Katarina Beton and the excellent Indonesian Anthonyem Sinisuka Giting beat the Croatian - Turkish pair with 2:0 (18;19). Pairs for mixed doubles are selected randomly and players cannot come from the same country.

Team Slovenia arrives in Nanjing

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 16:25:00 +0200

After just over 26 hours of travel, the Slovenian Youth Olympic Team has arrived in the Olympic Village in Nanjing (China), where the 2nd Youth Olympic Games will begin on Saturday. After a brief look around the village and lunch, the team sat down for its first meeting, where the management has already appointed the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the world's biggest youth sporting event.

This honour will go to the captain of Slovenia's Olympic handball team, Jaka Malus. »It was quite a big surprise, it's a responsibility to lead out the team bearing the flag of the country you are representing. It's hard enough getting into the Olympic team, while bearing the flag is an additional honour«, said Malus.

43 Slovene athletes will take part in their first training sessions tomorrow, while four swimmers have already dived into the water of the Olympic pool. The Olympic village already features more than 3.000 athletes, while the organisers are promising a majestic opening to the Games on Saturday.

The first Slovenian appearances, which you will be able to follow on www.olympic.si, on social networks of the Slovenian Olympic team and the mobile app Team Slovenia, will begin this Sunday 17 August, kicking off with swimming, cycling, badminton and rowing.

Presentation of the Slovenian Youth Olympic Team members

Sat, 09 Aug 2014 11:34:00 +0200

48 Slovenian athletes, 32 boys and 16 girls, who will compete in 14 different sports, will be leaving for China on Tuesday. For comparison, only 24 Slovenian athletes participated in the 1st Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Among those welcoming the young athletes at Terme Zreče was the President of the Slovenian Olympic Committee - Association of Sports Federations, dr. Janez Kocijančič, and the Ambassador of China in Slovenia, His Excellency Xianyi Zhang.
The most experienced of the selected athletes is swimmer Nastja Govejšek, who already performed at the London Olympics; we will also be able to see our best right-back handball player of the just finished Youth European Handball Championship, Blaž Janc. Golf makes its return to the Olympic programme, where Slovenia will be represented by two golfers, Ana Belac and Žan Luka Štirna. Basketball player Maruša Seničar will be staying home due to injury at the last minute, and her replacement will be announced shortly.

You will be able to watch the first Slovenian performances at www.olympic.si, on social networks of the Slovenian Olympic Team or via mobile application Team Slovenia, on Sunday, 17 August, namely in swimming, biking, badminton and rowing.

The Youth Olympic Team Slovenia - Nanjing 2014

Thu, 10 Jul 2014 14:14:00 +0200

The Slovenian athletes will be competing in 14 different disciplines: • Archery
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Canoe-kayak
• Cycling
• Golf
• Handball
• Judo
• Rowing
• Sailing
• Shooting
• Swimming
• Taekwondo Altogether there will be 48 young Slovenians competing, 32 boys and 16 girls. They’re leaving for Nanjing on August 12th. Before that there will be an official presentation of the entire team in Terme Zreče. The members of the handball team will also be announced in August.

More than a quarter of a million tickets have been sold

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 14:16:00 +0200

There are different tickets available, you can see the opening ceremony, different competitions and games and/or the closing ceremony. More than half of the tickets have already been sold for badminton, taekwondo, the modern pentathlon and fencing and more than a third for weight lifting, tennis, table-tennis and shooting.
The stadiums and halls can take a lot of people so there is still time to buy your tickets for all of the events. There are also special tickets and offers for families and students.

The young athletes are already preparing for Nanjing

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 14:18:00 +0200

The activities that were being held there by the Olympic committee of Slovenia were meant for all the competitors. In the morning part of the program the young athletes had a chance to step on training mats with Urška Žolnir (olympic champion), who showed and guided them through a judo training session, trying to portray the elements of this discipline.
They continued with testing, organised by the company S2P d.o.o, under the leadership of Dr. Nejc Šarabon and then they took part in a workshop on public speaking and performing, under the management of a Slovenian journalist Anja Hlače Ferjančič. n the afternoon they could participate in a workshop on sports and sponsors that was organised by Iztok Sila, as well as a psychological workshop, led by Aleš Vičič and Blaž Zagorec, Later the young ambassadors presented the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs and Bojan Jurovič talked about the Olympics.
In the last part, the young athletes were visited by Lea Medvešek, who is working on the Youth Olympic Games at the international Olympic committee.

Bronze for Žan Košir in Sochi

Fri, 21 Feb 2014 15:03:00 +0100

“I haven’t collected my thoughts yet, I feel like I’m at the world cup. I have to wait and hang the medal around my neck to really understand that all my efforts were not in vain, because there is a lot of hard work behind this result. Thank god I finally did it so you can stop teasing me about not being a competitor for big events. There was also some luck involved, if I missed a medal by a few hundredths at the world cup, it all came back here. My path was a gradual one, just as everything in my life,” were the first words of the bronze medalist.

If his results grew gradually, so did his performance at the Rosa Khutor snow park. He was not feeling well after a bad night’s sleep and was dismayed after checking the iced-over track. Is this a hockey game, he asked himself. He had a hard time selecting a board. Taking a chance, he selected a board he would never have used in different circumstances.

It proved to be the right choice. Košir qualified eighth and went on to beat Olympic champion from Torino Philipp Schoch of Switzerland, then last year’s world cup winner Andreas Prommegger of Austria. In the semifinal, Košir was beaten by Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland, who also beat Rok Marguč by a few hundredths of a second in his previous run. Žan Košir concentrated well for his small final run for third place against Patrick Bussler of Germany (he eliminated Rok Flander in the quarterfinal) and managed to finish in the bronze medal position.

“Psychologically I had no problems, but physically it was tough. Physical conditioning really played a big part today. My legs were less than stellar on this track but I was so relieved when I reached the finish and saw that I won a medal. I must admit that today my runs were somewhat below my ability and I am far from satisfied with them. For the most part it was due to a lack of strength. But I showed experience and good tactics which proved very important today. I did not want to go all out in the beginning but rather chose to escalate my runs. I think I had a chance of running in the final,” said Košir, who tried to distance himself from thinking about a medal as much as possible, although he knew it was within his reach.

Košir was very confident before the Games. In his statements he said he would be tough to beat, but was afraid of mistakes. He was obviously able to remedy them as he showed a level of consistency he was not quite able to reach before. “I was confident, yes, but you’ll never hear me say I’m the best. I have my monologues, I encourage myself because I do not trust in myself one hundred percent. Not so far anyway, perhaps it will be easier in the slalom race on Saturday, now that I have a medal. But I don’t want to be a hero, I want to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. I do know my capabilities are good,” stated Košir, remaining somewhat unsure of himself in spite of his confident statements.

The man from Tržič can nevertheless be very pleased as he achieved great success on a very demanding track: “You can tell it’s the Olympics because the track needs to be something special for such an event. I have to say I haven’t competed at a track like that since the previous Games. Today the most complete rider won. And I was among the elite few. Circumstances changed from run to run and the race was like travelling through the four seasons, from rock hard ice in the qualifying run, like driving down an icy slope on summer tires, to soft snow and deep ruts.

Slovenia in the quarter final

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:32:00 +0100

The Slovenian hockey team has already surpassed all expectations in the first three games. After thrilling the country just by earning a place in the Olympic tournament, they brought highly esteemed rival team Slovakia to its knees and won an exceptional opportunity for an even greater success. Just one obstacle was left between team Slovenia and the quarterfinal - the old rival Austria. Before the game, both teams thought they got a beatable rival in the draw. In the end, Austrians were proved wrong and team Slovenia’s historic achievements in Sochi were supplemented with a placement in the quarterfinal, where they will be meeting another giant of the hockey world, Sweden.

Slovenia started the very important game with excellence and resolve. The goal was defended by Robert Kristan after Luka Gračnar was given a chance against the USA and Sabahudin Kovačevič, another pillar of the Slovenian defense, returned to the team after sitting out his penalty. And most importantly: Slovenia played with the main star Anže Kopitar - his health was one of the major topics of the Slovenian Olympic camp - who was fit and ready for the important match.

Slovenia started just as as Slovenian fans wished, the opposing team was squeezed into its third. The Austrian goalkeeper Mathias Lange was tested by Kopitar already in the first minute and in the sixth minute the team selected by Matjaž Kopitar was in the lead. The puck was shot by Anže Kopitar during power play and it found its way into the goal between the goalkeeper’s legs. Then things got even better. After David Rodman and Robert Sabolič both threatened Lange’s goal, he was beaten again in the 12th minute by Jan Urbas. Slovenia was a player short at the time, but the Slovenian offensive player stole the puck and tricked Lange after a great solo play. Team Slovenia was not happy with two goals and continued to attack, preparing several new opportunities by the end of the first third.

The rest of the game was more of the same. Slovenia kept the rhythm from the first 20 minutes and continued to score goals. After a pass behind the goal by David Rodman, defender Kovačevič hit a bomb and put the puck into the net for 3:0.

In the following minutes Austria pushed very hard, but the strong Slovenian defense and excellent Kristan left them without success. The Slovenian defense was concentrated, firm and would not allow the opposing team to achieve a goal even during power plays. Slovenia could, on the other hand, have scored another goal, particularly in the 37th minute when Rok Tičar narrowly missed a pass in front of the goal.

In the last 20 minutes our northern neighbours were faced by a very difficult task. They needed three goals to gain the option of extending the game. But Slovenians wouldn’t let them even think about it. Kristan’s excellent defense stopped what was most likely Thomas Vanek’s last chance in the 47th minute and the entire team’s accurate defense and concentration throughout the ice assured that the score of 3:0 held until the 57th minute. When the Austrian team exchanged the goalkeeper in a last ditch attempt three minutes before the end of the game, Muršak scored another goal for a 4:0 win, one of the biggest in the history of Slovenian hockey and historic placement in the quarter final of the Olympic Games.

“I don’t know where to start... to finish such a game with a zero. We left our hearts on the ice, for us, for Slovenia. Thanks to everybody who believed in us. I think we can be happy and play with no pressure until the end of the Games” said Slovenian hero, goalkeeper Robert Kristan in an interview with Slovenian Television.

Second gold for Tina Maze

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 15:55:00 +0100

Sochi will be noted in the history books of Slovenian alpine skiing and sports in general in gold letters. Slovenian athletes have never won a gold medal at Winter Olympics before Sochi and now we have two. This time the game of hundredths of seconds belonged to the Slovenian Champion. After she missed the supercombination and super G medals for mere tenths of seconds, hundreds of seconds were on her side this time.

Maze started her new Olympic fairytale at the Rosa Khutor resort as the number one starter. She opened up the competition with a convincing first run and never let the winning position out of her sight. In the second run, she finished in true champion style and defended her lead. She started as the last of the top thirty and beat Anna Fenninger of Austria by seven hundredths of a second for a new gold medal. The Austrian skier won silver and the defender of the giant slalom title from Vancouver, Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany had to settle for third.

Competitors were forced to deal with poor weather conditions and mixed rain and snow throughout the first and second run, there was even talk of postponing the second run to Wednesday, but to Slovenia’s great joy this did not happen. “Today anything can fall from the sky as far as I’m concerned. I came here for this win. I believed in it so much, I knew it would be tight, but I fought for it and everything went as planned,” said Tina Maze in her first statement for Slovenian Television. Tina Maze is writing history again: “I have been doing it for a while, but I did not let it get to me. I knew my chances and it would have been a shame if I hadn’t used them.”

Maze now has four Olympic medals to her name. She won silver four years ago in Vancouver when Rebensburg beat her by four hundredths. She also won a silver medal in the super G. Although giant slalom was Maze’s main discipline, 13 of her 23 world cup wins were in this discipline, her performance in this year’s season before Sochi was not stellar with only one podium finish, a third place in St. Moritz.

She again proved that she still knows how to ski the giant slalom, a fact never doubted by the head of her Team to aMaze, Andrea Massi, who lost his voice in the finish arena and was beside himself with joy. His only comment for Slovenian Television was: “This was a crazy race, all respect to her.” He also mentioned that Tina is an artist, although she was somewhat nervous at the start of the second run and even lost her backup goggles.

The race for medals in the second run proved unsuccessful for the best giant slalom skier of this winter, Jessica Lindell Vikarby of Sweden, who could not defend her second place from the first run and finished in seventh. Third place holder Nadia Fanchini of Italy finished just below the podium in fourth, missing the bronze by just 11 hundredths of a second. American Mikaela Shiffrin finished out of the medals as well, but she is among the main favorites for the slalom. Overall points leader Maria Höfl-Riesch of Germany did not compete due to illness.

Beside Maze, Fenninger and Rebensburg can also be considered winners in a way. The former finished second after coming fourth in the first run and the latter improved her sixth place from the first run to finish the race in third.

Tina Maze joined Switzerland’s Marie-Theres Nadig as the second skier to ever win gold in downhill and giant slalom.

Three more Slovenians started the race. Katarina Lavtar finished her first Olympic appearance in 20th place (+ 3.77), Ilka Štuhec finished 31st (+ 7.98) and Maruša Ferk unfortunately didn’t finish her second run.

Kamil Stoch wins at Sochi, bronze for Peter Prevc

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 13:27:00 +0100

Today, Peter Prevc again proved that he truly is a competitor for the greatest events. He reached silver in the middle hill and today his skills brought him a bronze. The large hill competition at the Ruski Gorki centre was marked by changeable circumstances. Wind played a great part in the test series and many jumpers chose not to participate in it. The beginning of the first series was moved back for 15 minutes due to wind and the entire event was in question for a while.
But then it begun. Wind continued to hinder some competitors but Prevc managed to keep his calm. After his first jump sufficed for fourth place, he calmly told reporters that he made a mistake and would need to correct it in his next jump.
A new flawless jump was not far away. Many favorites had problems, even Austrian Thomas Morgenstern and this year’s winner of the four hills tournament Thomas Diethart of Germany were left out of the top thirty. But Prevc was in his element. With his improved second jump, he was able to leap ahead of German Severin Freund into the top three. The only question left was which medal position Prevc would end in, with veteran Kasai and yet unbeaten Stoch, world champion and points leader, still left at the top of the hill.
Kasai flew very far, winning the first individual Olympic medal of his career at 41 years of age, his second Olympic medal after the silver in team competition at Lillehammer in 1994. Stoch won the middle hill and became the third ski jumper in history to achieve sequential gold medals. Switzerland’s Simon Ammann performed the same feat of winning on both hills in 2002 in Salt Lake City and 2010 in Vancouver, but could only manage 23rd place today. In 1988, Finland’s Matti Nykaenen became a double Olympic champion.
In his first statement for Slovenian Television, Prevc said that he was happier with his first medal. He made a mistake in each of his two jumps in this event. “It’s good that they are different and not repeated. But a medal is a medal and I was beaten by masters,” said Prevc.

Tina Maze is Olympic Champion

Wed, 12 Feb 2014 19:11:00 +0100

Following two silver medals in Vancouver four years ago and a superb past season, when she became the first Slovenian to win the overall World Cup in women’s alpine skiing, Tina Maze was filled with great expectations when coming to the Sochi Winter Olympics. Her first race in the super combined discipline did not go exactly as planned. She finished in fourth place, missing a spot on the podium by 0.1 of a second. However, she was not perturbed by the experience, focusing on the downhill race the way she wanted and winning the forth Slovenian medal of the Sochi Olympics.
“After all I’ve gone through, this is incredible”, said the effervescent gold-medal recipient in an interview for the state broadcaster Televizija Slovenija. She also remembered her first race. “My first childhood ski race was a downhill competition in my hometown of Črna na Koroškem. This same downhill race was going through my mind the night before the competition and I thought to myself: ‘If I started off my career by winning a downhill race in Črna, there’s no reason why I can’t win today.’ Downhill is currently my best skiing discipline, something I wouldn’t have believed two years ago. I did a great run. Still, I made an error, but it was enough to win,” said Maze, greeting all her supporters at home: “A big hello to everyone.”
The first fastest time was set by Swiss skier Fabienne Suter, starting in first position, who was only beaten when her Swiss counterpart Dominique Gisin started in eight position. It seemed like a new Olympic surprise was in store, including a Swiss triple win, when Swiss star skier Lara Gut came in only 0.1 seconds behind. Competitors from the elite team, the Austrian Elisabeth Görgl and the German winner of the super combination Maria Höfl-Riesch, came in quite behind. Even before that, the American favourite, Julia Mancuso – downhill silver medallist in the Vancouver games –, crossed the finish line far behind. Lindsey Vonn, her American counterpart who won the downhill Olympic gold medal four years ago, was forced to skip Sochi because of an injury.
Finally, Slovenia’s big moment had arrived. The Slovenian ace from the Carinthia region started in 21st position. She attacked the slope, already surpassing Gisin’s time in the first part of the ski slope. She managed to further increase her lead in the middle and lower parts. An Olympic medal was within her grasp. The last measured time before the finish line showed her 38 hundredths of a second in the lead, but that melted away. The score board still flashed three zeros and the number one, which meant a tie for first place in the women’s Olympic downhill race and the top podium position for the Slovenian skier.
This was the third time Tina Maze stood on the Olympic podium. Gisin, meanwhile, won her first Olympic medal: “I can’t believe I made it to the top. I was quite nervous up to the first 20 racers, but then it got easier when Tina and I both took the lead.” The 28-yearold from Engelberg had never won a medal in a major competition until Sochi. However, she is an expert in fast disciplines and achieved two first-place World Cup positions in downhill and one in Super-G.
The Slovenian skiing fairytale started 30 years ago when Jure Franko from Gorica won a silver medal during his home Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Now, 30 years on, Maze’s historic success is in part due to another inhabitant of Gorica (this time on the Italian side of the border), Andrea Massi, who is her coach, life partner, and leader of their Team to aMaze. Massi, visibly overcome, when asked whether he believed that Tina could bring home the gold medal in the downhill competition, responded by saying he was “not a good liar”. “What can I say in front of all the kids? That I didn’t believe? I believed that one Slovenian skier training hard can win the downhill race. Her win is incredible,” he told Televizija Slovenija.
“I had to calm myself down a bit today, this morning, I could already feel a certain kind of energy, we all know what Tina is like. You need to stay calm. It’s hard, since we don’t ski, which makes us powerless. Everything went well when we reviewed the slope, but it’s the waiting that’s hard, at least for me,” he admitted.
“We waited at the finish line. Luckily, her mistake on the slope didn’t prove to be a fatal one. Mauro screamed that she had made a mistake, but I said that no, she still had enough time and she did,” he described how he believed in his protégé during the race.
When asked whether the medal will make things easier for Tina’s team, he responded by saying no. “You know us. We still have the Super-G, the giant slalom, and the slalom. It’s up to Tina to believe she can achieve great results in slalom as well; we’ll train on this hill until she believes she’s good,” Massi continued, showing he still has high goals in mind

Gregorin Wins first Biathlon Medal at Olympic Games

Tue, 11 Feb 2014 19:15:00 +0100

Darya Domracheva from Belarus defeated the Norwegian athlete Tora Berger and achieved first place. Gregorin, who was once again plagued by shoulder pain, said she will again be aiming for a medal during the 15 km run.
Gergorin managed to achieve third place by finishing her run in excellent style. She wisely distributed her strength throughout the competition, overtaking the other competitors despite a missed shot. She came in third during the last round, which she started in sixth place. “It seemed like the finish line kept moving away. It felt like forever before I finally crossed it. I can’t even remember what kind of feelings were going through my head at the time. As if I didn’t believe I had actually won a medal.”
Two hours before and not far away at the Laura Cross-country Ski & Biathlon Center, the Slovenian Vesna Fabjan won bronze as well. “Before the start of the competition, I heard that Vesna had won a medal and thought that I could win one as well. I started off in 15th place, which made it seem like there was nothing I could do to win a place on the podium. However, it was possible because I was 42-seconds off the pace. I had a shot at a medal. I was also aware that I needed an excellent shooting performance. In the end, I hit 19 targets, which was enough. I’m happy about that.”
She missed one target during her third shooting session. “At that point, I thought it was over and that I had no chance of winning a medal. After finishing the shooting, I came in 11th. I knew it would be very tough. I started the last lap in fifth place, but I concentrated because I saw there were two competitors close enough to overpass and I managed it in the end. I couldn’t be happier. I would like to thank the ski technicians who did the excellent work on my skis.”
The day before the Saturday sprint, she already had shoulder pains. “I was forced to take pain medicine today as well; the pain is back, it was the same yesterday. I hope we can relieve it during the two-day pause. Then I have the 15 km run. I’m once again aiming at a medal. It’s going to be easier this time round. I already have one medal. Every athlete tries to do their best during a competition. I hope I’ll get a good result this time as well.”
Gregorin has two silver medals from the World Championship. During the Olympic Games, she made the top ten five times. Her best result was five years ago, when she came in fifth in Vancouver. In spite of this, she was not the favourite, not even within the Slovenian biathlon team. “This season didn’t start off as planned, so I wasn’t one of the favourites for winning a medal. I think it came as quite a surprise today. Additionally, it was Jakov Fak who ran the show in our group, if I may put it like that. There was more pressure being put on him. I found it easier to focus on trainings and competitions, while it must have been different for him.”
When mounting the podium in the biathlon stadium today, Gregorin was only presented with flowers. “Tomorrow, I have a pleasant trip to Sochi ahead of me. I never thought it would come to this and I can’t wait to get there.” She will receive her Olympic medal on Wednesday during an evening ceremony, together with Vesna Fabjan.

Bronze Medal for Fabjan Worth its Weight in Gold

Tue, 11 Feb 2014 19:13:00 +0100

Only after reviewing the photo finish was it determined that the Norwegian competitor, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, beat the Slovenian hero by two hundredths of a second, thus taking second place. First place was awarded to another Norwegian competitor, Maiken Caspersen Falla.
Fabjan unexpectedly won the second Olympic medal in cross-country skiing for Slovenia, following in the footsteps of Petra Majdič, the leader of the current Olympic delegation, who took bronze in Vancouver four years ago.
“An Olympic medal is the goal of any athlete. Today, after twenty years of hard work accompanied by difficult and sometimes beautiful moments, it has all paid off. It couldn’t get any better than this. I would like to thank my family, coaches, physiotherapists, as well as my close friends in the Croatian cross-country skiing team who believed in me. It’s a truly wonderful day, no doubt about it”, said a very happy Fabjan.
She came into the home stretch of the final with the other two winners, all having a decisive advantage over their fellow competitors. All that was left was to decide the first three places. “I was in second place after turning into the home stretch. I told myself that I should make this the finishing sprint of my career. I knew I was capable of winning a medal. At first, it looked like I would go even higher, but ended up being more than happy with the bronze medal. I gave more than I thought myself capable at the moment.
She started the day off by qualifying in fourth place, trailing Falla who had the best time by little more than two seconds. “I took it in steps; I wasn’t thinking about winning a medal, focusing on each individual run instead. I was successful in the qualifying round, but I knew that was only the beginning. I knew the elimination round was coming up. I was in the same quarterfinal group as Alenka Čebašek and Nika Razinger. I made it to the semi-finals. I was quite nervous after the quarterfinals.”
Her nerves resulted in a turn where she very nearly fell, almost ending her run in the quarterfinals. “The Norwegian skier Astrid came into the turn at great speed. I tried to follow the outer edge of the track, not knowing what would happen, because the turn was cleaned after the quarterfinals. We didn’t know in what condition the track would be and what could happen. I didn’t lower my skis decisively enough. I didn’t know whether my push was too weak or whether the Norwegian athlete had better skis, since she was behind me before that. My coach, Marko Gracer, raised his voice and scolded me during the break. I got angry too and it helped.”
Fabjan came in second in the semi-finals, which guaranteed her a place in the finals. After the photo finish, she beat the Swedish entry, Ida Ingemarsdotter, by three hundredths of a second. In the end, the third and fourth place entries from this fast group also qualified for the finals. “Falla was in the lead; turning into the home stretch, I went left, while the Swedish athlete chose the inner side of the track. I was relentless to the last centimetre; I wanted to be in second place at all cost, which would mean a guaranteed place in the final. Approaching the finish line, it was all down to a couple of centimetres. I stretched my leg as far as it would go. It was my best finish so far.”
When coming into the home stretch during the finals, she was practically in the running for the gold medal. “I had a different pair of skis in the final race, which gave me a good run, everything fell into place. The flat stretch before the final descent was crucial. I was in second place, behind Falla. I didn’t know what was happening behind me. Suddenly, I was among the first three and managed to keep my place. The work put into this season – the last 20 years, actually – brought me this medal. After last year’s season ended, many started doubting my abilities. I simply knew I was capable of good results, I knew what contributed to the bad season and didn’t give up.”
The warm weather made it difficult to adequately prepare the skis. Some favourites already lost out during the qualifying rounds. Some of the best competitors were eliminated in the following rounds. “It was quite chaotic before the competition. The track was first closed until noon, reopened, and then closed again until 1 pm, allowing for the salt to strengthen the track. By ten minutes to one, the salt wasn’t “working” everywhere, there were soft and hard segments of the track. I didn’t let it bother me. I concentrated on my run.”

Peter Prevc wins silver in Sotchi

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 21:30:00 +0100

Ski jumper Peter Prevc (102,5/99 m; 265,3 points) won the silver medal on the small hill. He was beaten to first place by Polish jumper Kamil Stoch (105,5/103,5; 278), the leader in the overall World Cup rankings, with Norwegian Anders Bardal (101,5/98,5; 264,1) claiming bronze.
Jernej Damjan (99,5/101; 254,7) also put in an excellent performance, climbing to 9th from 11th place in the second series. Following a successful first jump, Jurij Tepeš fared slightly worse in the second round and fell to 26th place (100/93; 236,7). Due to his fall and subsequent injury in Saturday's qualifying, Robert Kranjec did not feature in the event.
The entire event took on a Slovenian note. The trio of Slovenian eagles, headed by the indomitable Peter, had strong support from the stands, as many Slovene athletes took to the jumping arena, including the ice hockey team, who lined up alongside the landing slope of the hill to see Slovenia's first medal being won. At the awards ceremony, one of the officials handing out the customary flowers was also President of Slovenia's Olympic Committee, dr. Janez Kocijančič. The official medal awards ceremony will take place on Monday night in Sochi.