Primož Peterka

Primož Peterka
Primož Peterka (2003)
Born	(1979-02-28) February 28, 1979 Prikrnica, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Ski club	SK Triglav Kranj
Personal best	212 m. (Planica 2000)
World Cup career
Seasons	1995-2011
Podiums	34
Wins	15
Medal record Men's ski jumping Olympic Games 2002 Salt Lake City Team large hill World Championships 2005 Oberstdorf Team normal hill

Primož Peterka () (born February 28, 1979) is a Slovenian former ski jumper. He has won 15 World Cup events, making him the third most successful Slovenian winter sports athlete and one of the most successful Slovenian sports personalities.

Career

Born in Prikrnica, near Ljubljana, Slovenia (then Yugoslavia), he started ski jumping at a small ski jumping hill (critical point at approx. 20 metres) near his hometown Moravče, a small town about 30 km north east from the capital Ljubljana. He later joined a Ski club Triglav from Kranj.

He first participated in the World Cup on January 4, 1996. Due to poor results of Slovenian jumpers, he was called as replacement for event in Innsbruck, where he finished 8th. That was considered as superb result, so he soon became a leading jumper for Slovenia. For the rest of the season, he was jumping in great form, winning the events in Zakopane and Falun and finishing 9th overall. He also finished second behind Michael Uhrmann at the 1996 Junior World Championships.

The 1996/1997 season was a big success for Peterka. He won 7 individual events, as well as the prestigious Four Hills Tournament. In World Cup overall standings only Dieter Thoma of Germany was able to keep up with him, but Peterka ended the season on top. He also won the ski flying standings. On February 9, 1997 he became the first Slovenian to fly over 200 meters (with 203 meters long jump in Kulm, Austria).

The 1997/1998 season was also successful. Peterka won 4 individual events and for the second time in a row the World Cup overall, defeating Kazuyoshi Funaki of (Japan) in the final event of the season. He also won the ski jumping standings (standings where ski flying results are excluded). At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano he claimed 5th place in the individual large hill event and 6th place in the individual normal hill event, results that some thought were disappointing.

A personality crisis is typical for many young ski jumpers and Peterka was no exception. After three successful seasons his results were suddenly no longer near the standards expected from him. During the few years time details from his personal life were discussed in public, mostly his clashes with officials and his relationship with Renata Bohinc, the 1996 beauty Queen of Slovenia.

A turning point in Peterka's life and career came in 2001, when his son was born. In the 2001/2002 season he returned to the ski jumping elite. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City he won the bronze team medal together with Robert Kranjec, Damijan Fras and Peter Žonta. Season 2002/2003 was also very successful, Peterka won two individual events (Kuusamo and Garmisch-Partenkirchen) and finished the season 7th overall.

Seasons after 2002/2003 were not so good for Peterka. Since 2004 he has never managed to finish inside top 10 in individual World Cup event. However, at the World Championships in Oberstdorf he won another bronze team medal for Slovenia (together with Jure Bogataj, Rok Benkovič and Jernej Damjan). This makes Peterka the first Slovenian jumper with medals from both, Olympic games and the World Championship.

Two sports documentary films were made about his life and career. First is called Vleci, Primož ("Fly, Primož"). It was directed by Beno Hvala in 1997 and it's a story of his early career. Second is called Peterka: leto odločitve ("Peterka: Year of Decision"), it was directed by Vlado Škafar in 2002 and it focuses on personality crisis of young champion and finding his way back to the top.

World Cup victories

Date	Location
January 27, 1996	Zakopane
March 13, 1996	Falun
December 8, 1996	Kuusamo
December 15, 1996	Harrachov
January 1, 1997	Garmisch-Partenkirchen
January 11, 1997	Engelberg
January 12, 1997	Engelberg
February 9, 1997	Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf
March 13, 1997	Falun
January 18, 1998	Zakopane
March 8, 1998	Lahti
March 11, 1998	Falun
March 15, 1998	Holmenkollen
November 29, 2002	Kuusamo
January 1, 2003	Garmisch-Partenkirchen

References

• Primož Peterka at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file Template:No icon