There are many fascinating Europeans throughout Europe and we feel one of the most fascinating of them all is our own Janica Kostelic. Janica is the hottest, athletic phenomena cruising on the World Cup tour.  She owns a remarkable personality and is an intriguing champion. Janica has gained her fame and notoriety by participating in the one thing she loves doing and has done since she was very young, skiing.  Almost everything about her is unique – starting from her talent, her incredible determination, her courage and her staff. One of the most fascinating things about her is that she is the world’s greatest skier even though she grew up in Zagreb, Croatia, in a small country without any great alpine traditions.

        Janica accomplished her greatest feat to date on the grandest stage of them all, the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. She continues to amaze and dazzle everyone as she continues to dominate her sport like no one else.  Fascinating is just one of a countless number of words that has been used to describe Janica Kostelic.
 

       OVERCOMING OBSTACLES


        The 1999/2000 season was marked, above all, by her knee injury from a fall during training in St Moritz in December 1999. Sadly, due to operation after operation, her season finished disappointingly, and she was classed only 22nd in the general rankings at the World Cup.

        Kostelic was leading the Overall World Cup standings in mid December when the dramatic crash at St Moritz prevented her from having any strong chance of becoming one of the youngest ski racers ever to clinch the slalom World Cup title.
She severely damaged most of the ligaments in her right knee in that accident and underwent a dramatic surgery. For a while, many were afraid that her career was over.

        After numerous injuries, her return to the 2000/2001 World Cup was remarkable. Janica won seven of the eight slalom events. She could have completed the grand slam if her knee had not given way in the last event. Nevertheless, it held up long enough for her to win the World Cup after a fierce battle with defending Champion Renate Goetschl. When Janica won the title, she became the youngest World Champion at 20 years of age. She remarked simply that she "didn't think about it" and that "it was nothing special". She added that her aim was to win the gold at the Games in Salt Lake City: "My aim is the Olympic medal. The rest is just work. It's just skiing." 
 

GETTING AN EARLY START
 

        Janica Kostelic was born on January 5, 1982 in Zagreb, Croatia to Mara and Ante Kostelic.  It wasn’t long before Janica strapped on her first pair of skis and hit the slopes; in fact she was only three.  When reflecting on those early days on the slopes her mom remembers, “She kept falling and getting into the other children’s way, and we thought that she’d never learn how to ski.”  Well she did learn how to ski and is now considered the top female skier in the world.

        Janica and her family had to overcome some difficult moments during her childhood because they lived in a region plagued by civil war, political unrest and economical difficulties.  Janica increased in her interest with skiing during her formative years and was now no longer falling but instead showing signs that she was a champion in the making. Her father, Ante, liked to ski with his kids on a slope near Zagreb. Janica had fun playing and competing with her older brother, Ivica, and soon she decided to become a ski racer.  Between age nine and ten she started training and was part of the SC Zagreb club. Janica trained all the time with her family, mostly on the Austrian glaciers. Janica's training was spurred on by her coach and father.

        By the age of 13, Janica’s remarkable talent led to her winning gold and silver medals in slalom and giant slalom at all the Junior European competitions.  These accomplishments led to her receiving an Olympic scholarship for young, promising athletes at the recommendation of the Croatian Olympic Committee. While traveling on the junior ski circuit in Europe, Janica and her family did not have enough money to stay in hotels, so they slept in tents and in their car.  Ante worked hard to find the money to cover the training and transportation expenses, including scuba diving to catch fish that he would then sell to local restaurants.

        From 1995 to 1997, Janica continued her schooling despite the numerous training sessions and competitions in which she participated as a member of the Croatian national team.  Her school results were exemplary.

        Her Olympic triumph is only the latest on an already long list of impressive achievements since the start of her career and her three victories on the Pinocchio Ski Trophy in the mid 1990’s.

        In January 1998, she was only 16 when she competed for the first time in a World Cup race at Cortina d’Ampezzo a month before the Olympics at Nagano.  In February 1998, Janica participated in the Nagano Winter Games where she was the youngest participant in the Alpine skiing events.  She finished eighth overall but gained valuable experience.  She would go on and finish eleventh  in the World Cup general rankings. 
 

2002/2003 Europe at School Group
Coordinator: Boris Vidovic, Principal