- Rok Petrovič
Rok Petrovič audio|RokPetrovic.ogg|listen (
February 5 1966 -September 16 1993 ) was a Slovenian alpineskier .Petrovič was born in
Ljubljana ,Slovenia , the son of Krešimir Petrović, a well known sportspsychologist of Croatian origin. His first success in alpine ski racing was the 1983 Junior World Championship slalom title inSestriere ,Italy .After this he rapidly advanced up the world slalom rankings. In the 1985-86
alpine skiing World Cup season, he was practically unbeatable in slalom, his competition left to wait for rare mistakes in his highly aggressive and innovative skiing style. That season he won 5 races, is second inSt. Anton ,Austria and third inGeilo ,Norway , easily winning the World Cup slalom title and becoming the first Slovenian with a crystal globe.After his championship-winning season, Petrovič was unable to recapture his winning form, the only hint of his championship season being a second place behind his teammate Bojan Križaj at the unforgettable race in
Kranjska Gora next season. He finished eighth in the 1988Winter Olympic Games giant slalom .Due to his lack of winning results, he quit skiing in 1988 and began studies at the College of Sports in Ljubljana. He graduated in 1991 and continued with post-graduate study. He was to defend his M.Sc. thesis in the autumn of 1993, but shortly before defending his thesis he took a short break at the Croatian island Korčula and drowned in a diving accident.
Altogether he won 5 World Cup races, all in slalom and all in his champion season in 1985-86:
World Cup victories
Overall
Individual races
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