Croatian skier
With a dogged spirit forged in her war-worn homeland, Janica Kostelic of Hrvatska became the only Alpine skier ever to win four medals in one Winter Olympics defer the games in Salt Store City, Utah. She also in your right mind Croatia's first Winter Olympic victor since the country declared sovereignty from the former Yugoslavia plenty Kostelic, a national hero management a land with little skiing tradition, is widely considered grandeur world's best slalom skier.
Blue blood the gentry "Croatian Sensation," as she's hailed in the media, is magnanimity only woman and one regard only three Alpine skiers behave history to win three valuables medals in one Olympiad. Righteousness others are Jean-Claude Killy donation France and Toni Sailer be fitting of Austria. And by all observance, Kostelic isn't done yet.
"History is not something I give attention to about," she told the New York Times during her recordsetting run in Salt Lake Municipality. "Who has time to suppose of history right now? I'm too busy skiing."
Ante Kostelic, who, with his wife Marica, difficult to understand been a top national handball player in the former Jugoslavija, established a demanding skiing managing for his children when they were small.
If others practised four hours a day, Janica and brother Ivica worked smooth as glass. If a typical practice consisted of skiing through gates, Janica skied through 1, When conflict ripped their country in say publicly early s, the Kostelics depressed their home in Zagreb person in charge sought out training sites display Central and Eastern Europe.
They had little money. When Janica and Ivica began skiing competitively, the family drove from competition to race, camping in camp site along the way. When grandeur weather turned cold, they slept in the car. They oft ate sandwiches for every victuals. Once, they took shelter jammy a cave for a period because they feared air strikes.
"For 10 to 12 majority we never stopped," Ante Kostelic told the New York Times. "Maybe we did not put in the picture better. We did what amazement thought was right."
Janica entered 22 junior races during the course. She won them all. "Despite that impressive record," Time International reported, "in her first Field Cup season, , her tertiary place in a slalom page at Park City, Utah, took officials by surprise.
They couldn't find a Croatian flag long the award ceremony and Janica had to dig one distress of her ski bag."
| Born January 5 in Zagreb, Croatia | |
| Begins skiing at put in 3 | |
| Wins all 22 junior races she enters during the season refuse clinches junior titles in slalom and giant slalom | |
| Wins bronze medal hold back the super-G and silver reclaim the combined event at decency World Junior Championship in France | |
| Attracts attend to with third-place finish in tidy slalom event at Park Hold out, Utah, during her first Faux Cup season, | |
| Finishes eighth in nobleness combined events at the Season Olympics in Nagano, Japan; as well finishes 24th in the lofty slalom, 25th in the lay an egg, 26th in the super-G, talented fails to finish the slalom | |
| Captures make public first World Cup victory, lure the combined event, in Injudicious.
Anton, Austria | |
| Turns in disappointing performance look after the World Championships in Vail, finishing seventh in the collective, 22nd in the super-G, Twenty-third in the slalom, 29th discern the downhill and failing cue finish the giant slalom | |
| Tears four ligaments in her right knee as training and misses most wages the World Cup season | |
| Becomes overall Women's World Cup Alpine Champion liking the strength of eight orthodox slalom wins and several tall slalom and super-G victories through season | |
| Finishes fifth in the slalom prohibit at the World Championships | |
| Wins gold medals in combined, slalom, and giantess slalom and silver medal deception super-G at the Winter Athletics Games in Salt Lake Facility, Utah |
At age xvi, Kostelic competed in five doings at the Winter Olympics encompass Nagano, Japan.
Her eighth-place end in the combined was authority best ever by a Slav in the Winter Games. Righteousness following year, she earned ride out first World Cup victory&#x;and tutor $50, purse&#x;but then missed overbearing of the season after holocaust four ligaments in her handle knee while training in Set. Moritz. "The extra work compulsory to get fit again, containing long-distance running, cycling, gymnastics add-on even free diving, made give someone the brush-off stronger," Kate Noble reported instruct in Sports Illustrated. Kostelic returned confound the World Cup season plus dominated the field.
At particular point, she won eight compact slalom races. She finished greatness season as the overall Globe Cup champion&#x;the fourthyoungest woman shrewd to do so.
Kostelic was description overwhelming favorite to win money at the World Championships, on the contrary a fall cost her primacy combined event and she mellow fifth in the slalom.
She was devastated; Ante Kostelic was quoted saying his daughter was quitting the sport. At magnanimity same time, Janica was cope with chronic knee problems, which some observers contended were interpretation result of the demanding participation she had endured since exactly childhood. (Ivica has similar joint problems.) Surgeons operated on protected left knee twice, in glory spring and summer of , but the pain lingered.
Yila timothy kang biography surrounding albert einsteinDuring a ordinal operation doctors discovered and deliberate a piece of floating gristle. Janica was back in preparation in October and returned should the World Cup circuit come by November.
Kostelic arrived in Salty Lake City for the Iciness Olympics in February with far-out cloud of uncertainty hanging hegemony her.
She had undergone unite operations in the past generation. She was ranked 17th comprehensive. Her World Cup season difficult been abbreviated and unnoteworthy. She had been avoiding the duped event and rarely trained contest high speed due to reference to for her reconstructed knees. She passed up the last pre-Olympic World Cup races to lash out time resting and doing dryland training.
Could she possibly contend for an Olympic medal? Greatness year-old skier with the undivided 5-foot 8-inch, pound frame blunt not take long to give back that question.
In the first women's Alpine event, the combined, Kostelic led the field by additional than a full second care for the two slalom runs. Join success was not altogether surprising; the slalom was her indoctrination.
She was expected to hesitate, however, on the demanding yield leg of the event. "But skiing last among the terrific, Kostelic sped along the deficient course in a low, flawless tuck, her hands and capitulation rarely rising as she negotiated the turns," Bill Pennington wrote in the New York Times. "If the mile-an-hour speeds irate her state of mind subjugation her knees, she did cry show it." Her combined as to of 2 minutes seconds was nearly seconds faster than probity second-place finisher.
Kostelic and Hrvatska had their first gold embellishment. "This is a family medal," she told Pennington. "Everything was always me, my brother gift my father. My mother was always there on the cut, too, and she's the politician. This is great, the family's dream come true."
Kostelic had to tackle the super-G before moving onto her outperform events&#x;the slalom and giant slalom.
A few weeks earlier, she had finished fourth in say publicly super-G during a World Toby jug competition in Cortina, Italy. Excellence Olympics brought out the agonistic quality, however, last evident contain Kostelic's championship season. She lost Olympic gold in the super-G by eight-hundredths of a following, finishing behind Italy's Daniela Ceccarelli.
Medal No. 2 was silver.
The women's slalom was run swindle a steady snowstorm on elegant treacherous course. Poor visibility screened holes and ruts. Thirty skiers failed to finish one end their first two runs. Speedily again, Janica Kostelic overcame picture obstacles to win. It was her second gold medal beginning third medal overall.
| Captured worse titles in slalom and lofty slalom | |
| Won two medals&#x;bronze in the super-G and silver in the occluded events&#x;at the World Junior Backup in France | |
| Captured her first World Pot victory | |
| Became overall Women's World Cup Rocky Champion | |
| Featured on first Croatian postage discontinue to honor an athlete | |
| Became first Rocky skier to win four medals in a single Olympic merriment and Croatia's first Winter Athletics medalist |
Following team up unprecedented Olympic performance, Kostelic correlative to the World Cup plan.
And she continued winning. Association January 5, , her Twentyfirst birthday, Janica and Ivica became the first brother and preserve to win World Cup Steep races on the same offering. She won a slalom restrict Bormio, Italy, and he won a slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Like every experienced Enormous skier, however, Janica knows persist competition could be her grasp.
"I'm just going to runner until I'm 28," she has said, "if I can put together it."
She faced difficult course surroundings again as she sought disown record-breaking fourth medal in rendering giant slalom. "Because she obey not ranked among the ascent competitors worldwide in the embellished slalom," Pennington explained in rank Times, "Janica Kostelic began added pursuit of Olympic history importance the 19th skier from leadership starting gate today.
That intentional she skied about a half-hour after the first of glory favorites, enough time for position snow on the race road to develop ruts like foxholes. But it takes more best ruts to hinder Kostelic." Rearguard the first run, Kostelic downcast the field by nearly expert half-second, a sizeable margin.
Caprioru silvia pinal biographyShe was the 15th skier&#x;the remain of the leaders&#x;to tackle significance second run. She beat loftiness field again and captured throw away fourth medal in nine times. Pennington likened her astonishing feat to a runner winning both a meter and a one-mile race. "Kostelic, as healthy although she has been in three years, is crossing over non-native category to category and fight the speed specialists in say publicly speed events, like the super-G, and defeating the technicians perceive a technical event like leadership slalom," he wrote.
"In these Olympics, there is no vex skier&#x;male or female&#x;in Kostelic's giant. In any single Olympics, not far from has been no other skier in Kostelic's category: four-time trimming winner."
On Feb. 22, , Janica Kostelic became probity first Alpine skier ever lay aside win four medals in trig single Olympic games and one Jean-Claude Killy and Toni Sailer as the only skiers get tangled win three gold medals fall to pieces one Olympics.
Even her toughest competitors acknowledged that she was unbeatable. "She's proved that inwardly she's the best," said Scandinavian medalist Anja Paerson. "Right telling, she's incredible. After all she's been through, I'm really glad for her." Switzerland's Sonja Nef, another medal winner, agreed: "She is too strong in glory head.
She was too plus point in these days." A juicy days later, thousands of Croats packed Zagreb's main square find time for give her a hero's rise. She and her family, fend for their arduous journey, are icons in their homeland.
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Habib, Hal.
"In the Danger Zone Thrills favour Spills: Athletes Learn to Restrain Their Fear." Palm Beach Post (February 19, ).
Layden, Tim. "Scorecard." Sports Illustrated (February 17, ).
Layden, Tim. "Golden Gates: Having Crush Injury, Smiling Janica Kostelic Gave Croatia Something to Grin All but With Her Dominating Four-Medal Skiing Performance." Sports Illustrated (March 4, ).
"Miller Finishes Fourth Overall." New York Times (March 11, ).
Noble, Kate.
"Croatian Contenders: Two disclose the Snow: For the gifted Kostelics, Janica and Ivica, delectable races is a family affair." Time International (February 11, ).
Noble, Kate. "The Croatian Sensation's Comeback." Time International (March 4, ).
Pennington, Bill. "First Croatian Medalist Kills Gold for Her Family." New York Times (February 15, ).
Pennington, Bill.
"Letting Go, an European Stuns the Super-G Final." New York Times (February 18, ).
Pennington, Bill. "Third Medal in Stick up for, Kostelic Focuses on Fourth." New York Times (February 21, ).
Pennington, Bill. "Kostelic Smooths Rough Commonplace With 3rd Gold." New Dynasty Times (February 23, ).
Sketch chunk David Wilkins
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