|
In the territory of today's Slovenia, activities that could be
regarded as early forms of sport were already being pursued in the
Middle Ages. In 1689, the Slovene polymath Janez Vajkard Valvasor
wrote about boating, speleology, fishing, hunting, mountaineering and
shooting. His description of autochthonous skiing at Bloke deserves
special mention, since it is the oldest record of its kind in the
Central Europe.
The first great achievements of Slovenian sportsmen and sportswomen
in the history of world sports were mainly in
gymnastics. Particularly famous was Leon
Štukelj (1898-1999), who, between 1922 and 1936, won eight gold,
four silver and five bronze medals in three Olympic Games and three
World Championships. The unforgettable Leon Štukelj died in 1999
shortly before he could celebrate his 101st birthday. In 1996, he was
invited to the Olympic Games in Atlanta as a guest of honour, where he
was enthusiastically welcomed by thousands of spectators, including
then US President Clinton, who again met Štukelj during his visit to
Slovenia in June 2000.
In the recent time the gymnasts Aljaž Pegan and Mitja Petkovšek
have received international recognition.
The dreams of many Slovenes became reality when the Slovene
national football team qualified for the first time for the
European Championship in 2000 and for the 2002 Football World
Cup.
Slovene sportsmen are also achieving excellent results in other
team sports: basketball, volleyball and handball.
Over the last twenty years it is the skiers who have
achieved the best results and stood on the winners' podiums at
major world competitions. Slovene ski jumpers are also very
successful. The annual final competition of the ski-jumping
World Cup each year takes place at Planica, at the largest natural
ski-jump in the world.
Since 1992, Slovenes have also been extremely successful in
rowing. In addition to earning numerous top titles, Iztok Čop and Luka Špik won a gold
medal in men's double sculls at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and a silver
medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2005, at the World Rowing
Championships, they won gold medals in the men's double sculls and
silver medals in the men's quadruple sculls. They were crowned world
champions in Munich on 1 September 2007.
Slovenian athletes are also very successful. Jolanda Čeplak the
world indoor record holder in the women's 800 metres, won a bronze
medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens in the 800-metre run.
Slovenia also boasts important international achievements in
dancesport, ninepins, boules, skydiving, paragliding, gliding,
etc.
Alpinists occupy a special place in Slovene
sport. Mountaineering and alpinism have a very long tradition
in Slovenia. In mid-November 1999, Tomaž Humar completed a solo
ascent of the south face of Daulaghiri, described as a challenge for
the third millennium. And on 7 October 2000, Davo Karničar
became the first person to ski non-stop down from the 8,848- metre
summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.
|
