Primož Peterka

(born February 28 1979) is a Slovene ski jumper. He has won 15 events, making him the most successful Slovenian winter sports athlete and also one of the most successful Slovene sports personalities.

Career

Peterka was born in Prikrnica, near Ljubljana, Slovenia (former SFR Yugoslavia). He started ski jumping at a small (critical point at approx. 20 metres) ski jumping hill near the school in his hometown Moravče, a small town about 30 km north east from Ljubljana.

He entered a Ski club Triglav from Kranj, a town where he later attended an economics secondary school.

His first world cup event was on January 4 1996 in Innsbruck when he replaced one of team mates. Already at his first event he surprised everyone with an 8th place finish. For the rest of the 1995/96 season, he continued jumping well, with his first two victories in Zakopane, Poland and Falun, Sweden. He finished 2nd in points behind Austrian Andreas Goldberger for that season. Peterka also finished second behind Michael Uhrmann of Germany at the 1996 Junior World Championships.

The 1996/1997 season was his most successful. He won 7 events and the overall standings at the prestigious Four Hills Tournament. Only German Dieter Thoma could keep up with him, but he couldn't win the season's overall World Cup. Peterka also did well in the ski flying standings. On February 9 1997 he flew 203 meters in Kulm, Austria, becoming the first Slovene to fly over 200 metres. This national record, however, didn't last very long. At another ski flying event in Planica, about a month later, a fore jumper Goran Janus flew 206 meters.

The next season, 1997/98, was slightly less successful. He won 4 events (including becoming the first Slovenian to win at the Holmenkollen ski festival), but nevertheless at the final event, in his home Planica, he managed to defend Kazuyoshi Funaki's (Japan) final attack and win once more in the overall standings. He was also the best in ski jumping (ski flying results not taken into account) standings. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, he was quite successful with the 5^th place in the individual large hill event and the 6^th place in the individual normal hill, although slightly less than expected by many Slovenians.

A personality crisis is typical for many young ski jumpers and Primož was no exception. It was really deep, it started right after the 1997/98 season and lasted about 3 years. During this period, he had problems with his coaches and other officials, moved in with his girlfriend Renata Bohinc, the 1996 beauty Queen of Slovenia, to Kranj (they got married in 2003). Meanwhile he was disciplined once by Slovenian ski jumping officials. As the lead jumper at the 2000 ski flying event in Planica, he flew 212 meters. This time, he held the national record for two years until Robert Kranjec, a ski flying specialist, landed at 222.5 meters, again in Planica.

An important turning point in his life and career was the birth of his son Maj in 2001. In the upcoming season 2001/02 he returned to the ski jumping elite. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, together with Robert Kranjec, Damijan Fras and Peter Žonta he won the bronze medal at the team large hill event, the only Slovenian medal at the Olympics.

The next season, 2002/03, was also quite successful. He won in Kuusamo and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,

In 2005, together with Jure Bogataj, Rok Benkovič and Jernej Damjan, he won the bronze medal for Slovenia at the world championships in Oberstdorf.

Two sports documentary films were done on Peterka. "Vleci, Primož" ("Insist, Primož"), directed in 1997 by Beno Hvala is about his early career. In 2002 another documentary "Peterka: leto odločitve" ("Peterka: a Year of Decision") was directed by Vlado Škafar and is about his way out of his personal crisis.

World Cup victories

External links

* [http://skijumping.slonordic.com/profiles/a/peterka.php A site about Primož Peterka]
*FIS|S=JP|ID=47271
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen/holmenkollen_historikk Holmenkollen winners since 1892] - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file no icon
* [http://www.primoz-peterka.com Official site]