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| (E) Janica - janica@hrt.hr |
| By Nenad N. Bach |
Published
02/23/2002
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Sports
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Unrated
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(E) Janica - janica@hrt.hr
Shower her with LOVE !
Zatrpajte ju s ljubavlju !
janica@hrt.hr
http://www.janica.croski.hr/
Nenad Bach
(E) Janica Kostelic
Sports
Katarina Tepesh
Feb 23, 2002
N
Janica Kostelic: "To be famous doesn't mean anything to me." February 2002
SNOWBASIN, 18. February - After she won a gold medal, 20 years old Croatian ski champion Janica Kostelic won a silver medal.
"Yes, it is true, I can be found everywhere", she said. She was surprised by the question whether she was thinking about ending her career.
"Now, what kind of question is that? I am only 20 years old and I hope you will be watching me for at least the next eight years" she answered. Talking with journalists, Janica said that she was not a person who cared about fame. "To be famous does not mean anything to me. I don't care about it. My passion is skiing and skiing makes me happy." (Hina) (from the article from Vjesnik, 19.02.2002.)
Janica is the first Croatian sports(wo)man in the history of Croatian sports who won a gold medal at Winter Olympics.
If somebody asked me to describe Janica, I would answer: she is original, self-confident, non-pretentious. She never acts or makes efforts to impress you trying to fit into the preconceived expectations. She appears to be happy to be herself. Watching her during interviews or skiing is so refreshing. With only 20 years of age, Janica is a living proof that the beauty of a person comes from her spirit, the one which relies on its uniqueness. And Janica relies on her own strength, knowledge, skills, potentials. No matter how much the media people try to confuse her asking her questions which are so stereotypically limiting, they can not confuse her. She is sincere and does not think how to impress you. As if she made a decision to be herself whether you like her or not. Janica does not imitate anybody and is not like anybody else. That makes her uniquely beautiful and accomplished young woman. If only other girls would realize that they also possess potentials worthy of exploring and developing, potentials which are unique and unfortunately lost in imposed efforts to imitate others. They should not imitate Janica, no matter how important her role model is, because Janica is and should remain the one and only, just as each one of us.
Written by Nena Sudar, Zagreb, Croatia
http://www.crowmagazine.com
With 4th Medal, Croatia's Kostelic Makes History
PARK CITY, Utah, Feb. 22 -- The Croatian Sensation did it again.
Janica Kostelic blew away the field in the giant slalom today for her record
fourth Alpine medal of the Salt Lake City Games, joining Jean-Claude Killy
and Toni Sailer as the only skiers with three golds at one Olympics.
The 20-year-old Croat -- who had never finished higher than fourth in a
World Cup giant slalom -- also became the first skier ever to win four
Alpine medals at an Olympics, winning a medal in every event in which she
competed.
"I wonder if she's human. She's the greatest right now," said silver
medalist Anja Paerson of Sweden. "She's so mentally tough, nothing bothers
her."
Kostelic, who won gold in the slalom and the combined event and silver in
the super giant slalom, was not considered among the favorites in the giant
slalom.
But she won by 1.32 seconds in an event usually decided by fractions of a
second. She took a half-second lead on the morning run and could have skied
conservatively and still won.
Instead, she more than doubled her lead in the second run.
Five men and four other women have won three Alpine medals at an Olympics.
There were only three Alpine events until 1988, when the Super-G debuted and
the combined event was reintroduced after a 40-year hiatus.
"It's great, but someone is going to break that record soon. The next
Olympics, maybe," Kostelic said. "I just tried to stay calm, because I had
three medals before this. I had nothing to be nervous about."
Kostelic, who won Wednesday's slalom in a heavy snow on a rutty course, won
the giant slalom in spring-like conditions on a well-groomed slope.
She finished the two runs in 2 minutes 30.01 seconds. Paerson was second in
2:31.33, adding to the bronze she won in Wednesday's slalom.
World champion Sonja Nef of Switzerland was third.
Kostelic is the only Croatian to win a Winter Olympics medal, but that
distinction may not last long. Her older brother, Ivica, is a favorite in
Saturday's men's slalom.
The Kostelic siblings are coached by their father, Ante, and the entire
family made big sacrifices for skiing.
Since their embattled homeland has only two small ski resorts, they traveled
around Europe to compete in junior races -- often sleeping in tents or in
the car, living on salami and pickle sandwiches.
In the Croatian capital of Zagreb, screams of joy came out from downtown
apartments and shots were fired in the air as Kostelic won.
"It's unbelievable! She's amazing, I'm so proud of her," said Zagreb
resident Nevena Morandic, wiping away tears of joy. "She's the best thing
our country has."
After her victory, about 20 Croats joined Kostelic for an impromptu dance in
the finish area. They kneeled and formed a chorus line behind Kostelic,
swaying to "That's the Way (I Like It)" over the loudspeakers.
Kostelic, who missed the first half of the World Cup season while recovering
from three operations on her left knee, ranks only 30th in the giant slalom
on the World Cup circuit this season.
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