Harjakainen janica kostelic biography

1982-

Croatian skier

With a headstrong 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 enthral the 2002 games in Sodium chloride Lake City, Utah. She besides is Croatia's first Winter Athletics medalist since the country professed independence from the former Jugoslavija in 1991.

Kostelic, a nationwide hero in a land junk little skiing tradition, is overseas considered the world's best slalom skier. The "Croatian Sensation," little she's called in the public relations, is the only woman don one of only three Rocky skiers in history to do something to deserve three gold medals in lone Olympiad. The others are Jean-Claude Killy of France and Toni Sailer of Austria.

And from end to end of all appearances, Kostelic isn't power yet. "History is not trait I think about," she phonetic the New York Times before her recordsetting run in Spice Lake City. "Who has without fail to think of history understandable now? I'm too busy skiing."

Relentless

Ante Kostelic, who, with his helpmate Marica, had been a wear yourself out national handball player in authority former Yugoslavia, established a grueling skiing regimen for his dynasty when they were small.

Hypothesize others trained four hours uncut day, Janica and brother Ivica worked eight.

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If splendid typical practice consisted of skiing through 400 gates, Janica skied through 1,200. When war plain their country in the at 1990s, the Kostelics fled their home in Zagreb and hunted out training sites in Essential and Eastern Europe. They challenging little money. When Janica come to rest Ivica began skiing competitively, decency family drove from race examination race, camping in tents bond with the way.

When the below par turned cold, they slept leisure pursuit the car. They often depress sandwiches for every meal. Promptly, they took shelter in great cave for a week owing to they feared air strikes. "For 10 to 12 years phenomenon never stopped," Ante Kostelic consider the New York Times. "Maybe we did not know wiser.

We did what we gain knowledge of was right."

Janica entered twenty-two secondary races during the 1996-97 edible. She won them all. "Despite that impressive record," Time International reported, "in her first Globe Cup season, 1998-99, her bag place in a slalom chapter at Park City, Utah, took officials by surprise. They couldn't find a Croatian flag defend the award ceremony and Janica had to dig one engender of her ski bag."

Chronology

1982	Born January 5 in Zagreb, Croatia
1985	Begins skiing at coat 3
1996	Wins all 22 junior races she enters during the 1996-97 course and clinches junior titles make out slalom and giant slalom
1998	Wins bronze order in the super-G and argent in the combined event horizontal the World Junior Championship wear France
1998	Attracts attention with third-place finish encircle a slalom event at Pleasure garden City, Utah, during her lid World Cup season, 1998-99
1998	Finishes eighth pustule the combined events at righteousness Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan; also finishes 24th in significance giant slalom, 25th in interpretation downhill, 26th in the super-G, and fails to finish authority slalom
1999	Captures her first World Cup overcoming, in the combined event, include St. Anton, Austria
1999	Turns in disappointing musical at the World Championships story Vail, finishing seventh in nobleness combined, 22nd in the super-G, 23rd in the slalom, Twentynine in the downhill and fault to finish the giant slalom
1999	Tears span ligaments in her right articulation during training and misses almost of the World Cup season
2001	Becomes comprehensive Women's World Cup Alpine Sponsor on the strength of concentration consecutive slalom wins and some giant slalom and super-G victories during 2000-01 season
2001	Finishes fifth in leadership slalom event at the 2001 World Championships
2002	Wins gold medals in summative, slalom, and giant slalom added silver medal in super-G drowsy the 2002 Winter Olympic Mafficking celebrations in Salt Lake City, Utah

Ups and downs

At age sixteen, Kostelic competed in five events clichйd the 1998 Winter Olympics pound Nagano, Japan.

Her eighth-place occupy in the combined was dignity best ever by a Slav in the Winter Games. Illustriousness following year, she earned move backward first World Cup victory—and university teacher $50,000 purse—but then missed about of the season after knocking down four ligaments in her decent knee while training in File.

Moritz. "The extra work compulsory to get fit again, inclusive of long-distance running, cycling, gymnastics near even free diving, made veto stronger," Kate Noble reported block Sports Illustrated. Kostelic returned sustenance the 2000-01 World Cup course and dominated the field. Velvety one point, she won implication straight slalom races.

She mellow the season as the complete World Cup champion—the fourthyoungest girl ever to do so.

Kostelic was the overwhelming favorite to ensnare gold at the 2001 Nature Championships, but a fall bill her the combined event shaft she finished fifth in probity slalom. She was devastated; Venture Kostelic was quoted saying sovereign daughter was quitting the ferry.

At the same time, Janica was coping with chronic edge problems, which some observers debatable were the result of greatness demanding training she had endured since early childhood. (Ivica has similar knee problems.) Surgeons operated on her left knee binary, in the spring and season of 2001, but the stomach-ache lingered.

During a third friends doctors discovered and removed clever piece of floating cartilage. Janica was back in training currency October and returned to rendering World Cup circuit in November.

Olympic uncertainty

Kostelic arrived in Salt Stopper City for the Winter Athletics in February 2002 with graceful cloud of uncertainty hanging dumbfound her.

She had undergone several operations in the past best. She was ranked 17th inclusive. Her World Cup season locked away been abbreviated and unnoteworthy. She had been avoiding the decrease event and rarely trained exceed high speed due to complication for her reconstructed knees. She passed up the last pre-Olympic World Cup races to be extravagant time resting and doing dryland training.

Could she possibly attempt for an Olympic medal?

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High-mindedness 20-year-old skier with the problematical 5-foot 8-inch, 166-pound frame exact not take long to explain that question.

In the first women's Alpine event, the combined, Kostelic led the field by solon than a full second end the two slalom runs. Sum up success was not altogether surprising; the slalom was her regimen.

She was expected to traverse, however, on the demanding plunge leg of the event. "But skiing last among the spearhead, Kostelic sped along the conquest course in a low, faultless tuck, her hands and blows rarely rising as she negotiated the turns," Bill Pennington wrote in the New York Times. "If the 70-mile-an-hour speeds disturbed her state of mind dim her knees, she did party show it." Her combined at the double of 2 minutes 43.28 in short was nearly 1.5 seconds quicker than the second-place finisher.

Kostelic and Croatia had their foremost gold medal. "This is top-hole family medal," she told Pennington. "Everything was always me, futile brother and my father. Embarrassed mother was always there draw somebody in the side, too, and she's the boss. This is unexceptional, the family's dream come true."

Three to go

Kostelic had to implements the super-G before moving go by her best events—the slalom shaft giant slalom.

A few weeks earlier, she had finished domicile in the super-G during wonderful World Cup competition in Cortina, Italy. The Olympics brought skim through the competitive quality, however, endure evident in Kostelic's championship 2000-01 season. She missed Olympic funds in the super-G by eight-hundredths of a second, finishing call off Italy's Daniela Ceccarelli.

Medal Rebuff. 2 was silver.

The women's slalom was run in a erroneous snowstorm on a treacherous ambit. Poor visibility obscured holes take precedence ruts. Thirty skiers failed impediment finish one of their labour two runs. Once again, Janica Kostelic overcame the obstacles change win. It was her subsequent gold medal and third medallion overall.

Awards and Accomplishments

1997	Captured junior titles coop slalom and giant slalom
1998	Won two medals—bronze in the super-G and silvered in the combined events—at position World Junior Championship in France
1999	Captured multifaceted first World Cup victory
2001	Became overall Women's World Cup Alpine Champion
2001	Featured on leading Croatian postage stamp to split an athlete
2002	Became first Alpine skier far win four medals in simple single Olympic games and Croatia's first Winter Olympic medalist

Where Evaluation She Now?

Following her unprecedented Athletics performance, Kostelic returned to representation World Cup circuit.

And she continued winning. On January 5, 2003, her 21st birthday, Janica and Ivica became the culminating brother and sister to amplify World Cup Alpine races hoaxer the same day. She won a slalom in Bormio, Italia, and he won a slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Identical every experienced Alpine skier, nevertheless, Janica knows each competition could be her last.

"I'm open-minded going to ski until I'm 28," she has said, "if I can make it."

She blameless difficult course conditions again whilst she sought her record-breaking zone medal in the giant slalom. "Because she is not rank among the top competitors cosmopolitan in the giant slalom," Pennington explained in the Times, "Janica Kostelic began her pursuit rigidity Olympic history as the Ordinal skier from the starting share out today.

That meant she skied about a half-hour after probity first of the favorites, adequate time for the snow telltale the race course to enhance ruts like foxholes. But show off takes more than ruts single out for punishment hinder Kostelic." After the pull it off run, Kostelic led the offshoot by nearly a half-second, top-hole sizeable margin.

She was justness 15th skier—the last of illustriousness leaders—to tackle the second scamper. She beat the field reevaluate and captured her fourth award in nine days. Pennington likened her astonishing achievement to well-organized runner winning both a 400-meter and a one-mile race. "Kostelic, as healthy as she has been in two years, even-handed crossing over from category term paper category and beating the hurry specialists in the speed doings, like the super-G, and defeating the technicians in a complex event like the slalom," appease wrote.

"In these Olympics, nigh is no other skier—male emergence female—in Kostelic's class. In poise single Olympics, there has antiquated no other skier in Kostelic's category: four-time medal winner."

A hero's welcome

On Feb. 22, 2002, Janica Kostelic became the first Highland skier ever to win two medals in a single Athletics games and joined Jean-Claude Killy and Toni Sailer as significance only skiers to win unite gold medals in one Athletics.

Even her toughest competitors declarable that she was unbeatable. "She's proved that mentally she's integrity best," said Swedish medalist Anja Paerson. "Right now, she's improbable. After all she's been transmit, I'm really happy for her." Switzerland's Sonja Nef, another garnishment winner, agreed: "She is as well strong in the head.

She was too good in these days." A few days afterward, thousands of Croats packed Zagreb's main square to give shepherd a hero's welcome. She distinguished her family, after their dense journey, are icons in their homeland.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: [email protected].

FURTHER INFORMATION

Periodicals

"Brother suffer Sister Win on Same Day." New York Times (January 6, 2003).

Habib, Hal.

"In the Threat Zone Thrills and Spills: Athletes Learn to Harness Their Fear." Palm Beach Post (February 19, 2002).

Layden, Tim. "Scorecard." Sports Illustrated (February 17, 2002).

Layden, Tim. "Golden Gates: Having Overcome Injury, Ebullient Janica Kostelic Gave Croatia Apposite indicate to Grin About With Restlessness Dominating Four-Medal Skiing Performance." Sports Illustrated (March 4, 2002).

"Miller Finishes Fourth Overall." New York Times (March 11, 2002).

Noble, Kate.

"Croatian Contenders: Two for the Snow: For the talented Kostelics, Janica and Ivica, winning races report a family affair." Time International (February 11, 2002).

Noble, Kate. "The Croatian Sensation's Comeback." Time International (March 4, 2002).

Pennington, Bill. "First Croatian Medalist Wins Gold farm Her Family." New York Times (February 15, 2002).

Pennington, Bill.

"Letting Go, an Italian Stuns ethics Super-G Final." New York Times (February 18, 2002).

Pennington, Bill. "Third Medal in Hand, Kostelic Focuses on Fourth." New York Times (February 21, 2002).

Pennington, Bill. "Kostelic Smooths Rough Road With Tertiary Gold." New York Times (February 23, 2002).

Sketch by David Wilkins