Collectors of medals

Tina Maze wins gold in the giant slalom in Garmisch

Tina Maze in Garmisch Partenkirchen. Photo: Tanjug/STA

February 2011

Tina Maze, the 27-year-old skier from Črna na Koroškem, has once again proved herself a specialist in big competitions. Following her successes at the World Championships in Val d'Isère and the Olympic Games in Vancouver, she has returned home from Garmisch-Partenkirchen with two medals. This time she won her first gold medal and became the second Slovenian skier (the first was Mateja Svet in Vail in 1989) to become World Champion. The giant slalom course on the famous Kandahar run brought her world glory and the ultimate achievement in Alpine skiing. Following her victory in the giant slalom her silver medal in the super combination was almost overlooked, but with her two medals Tina Maze ranks as one of the top individual competitors at the 41st World Championships.

Downhill specialist Andrej Šporn scored an excellent sixth place but Maze's two medals put all the other fine achievements of Slovenia's Alpine skiers in the shade.

FIS Snowboarding World Championships – Slovenia wins 2 medals

The first of these competitions, the FIS Snowboarding World Championships, was held in La Molina in Spain. Slovenia came home with two medals. Rok Marguč astonished the snowboarding world by taking medals in two Olympic disciplines: silver in the parallel giant slalom and then bronze in the parallel slalom. An outstanding start to the winter medal table!

After La Molina came two championships which, though they may not attract the same level of interest, nevertheless belong in the highest categories. The city of Erzurum in Turkey became a winter sports venue for the first time when it hosted the 2011 Winter Universiade, a competition for the world's top university athletes. Matej Dobovšek, the young ski jumper from Kranj, took the gold medal on the large hill with a new official hill record of 143.5 metres. The success was complemented by the bronze medal won by Žiga Mandl.

The winter world university games are of course all the more important for Slovenia because Maribor is due to host the Winter Universiade  in two years' time. This will be the largest sports event ever held in Slovenia.

The FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships are always a good chance to see future champions. This year it was Estonia's turn to host this meeting of the best young winter athletes, at its wonderful winter sports centre in the little town of Otepää. Slovenia was among the most successful participants. Marjan Jelenko took gold and silver medals in the Nordic combined disciplines, and the young ski jumper Špela Rogelj won the silver medal on the small hill.

Our expectations in Oslo

Petra Majdič. Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

As soon as the 12-day Alpine skiing competition finishes, it is the turn of the Nordic disciplines (ski jumping, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined). Petra Majdič, the first lady of Slovenian cross-country skiing, will attempt to win her second World Championships medal in Hollmenkollen above Oslo in Norway (she took the silver in the individual sprint at Sapporo in 2007). This season Majdič is the best sprinter in the world, with three victories (Oberhof, Toblach, Otepää), one second place and one third place. Now 31, she has reached competitive maturity and it would be no surprise if she were to win more medals in Oslo in her battles with local star Marit Bjørgen, Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland, Arianna Follis of Italy and Charlotte Kalla of Sweden. Slovenia's other two outstanding cross-country sprinters, Vesna Fabjan and Katja Višnar, are also hoping to give them something to think about.

Slovenia's ski jumpers, meanwhile, have met with varying fortunes in the world competition. As usual, it is Robert Kranjec, last year's winner of the Ski Flying World Cup, who has achieved the best results. In Hollmenkollen our eagles Kranjec, Prevc and Damjan will attempt to return to the positions they have already occupied: among the world's top ski jumpers. It is a pity that the World Championships do not include ski flying. If they did, Robert Kranjec would be one of the favourites for the gold medal.

Slovenia's biathletes have taken a major step forwards this season

The last world championship event this winter, the Biathlon World Championships, takes place from 3 to 13 March, with the Russian town of Khanty-Mansiysk. Teja Gregorin has consistently been among the top competitors (her best result so far is a fifth place in Antholz), while Andreja Mali has attracted attention with her excellent shooting (her best classification is a twelfth place in Östersund). Tadeja Brankovič-Likozar is also back among the best.

As regards the men, the Slovenian team has been strengthened by Croatian-born Jakov Fak, who has already stood on the winners' podium in World Cup competitions as a member of the Slovenian biathlon team. He came third in Östersund and also scored two fourth-placed finishes. Our other two aces, Janez Marić (ninth in Östersund) and Klemen Bauer (fourteenth in Östersund) are also aiming to attack the world's top biathletes from behind. The Slovenian relay team could also have a good chance of skiing and shooting its way to a medal at the World Championships.

Slovenia has already scored three victories, two second places and four third places in World Cup events this winter, but a medal from the World Championships would mean much more.

Text by Andrej Stare