Janica Kostelic is AMAZING

[anitram]

Her parents have been friends with mine since the late 1970s, and we are just in shock of her performance at the Olympic games. Definitely the skiing story at Salt Lake City. 2 gold medals, one silver and an absolutely incredible first run in Giant Slalom today, which is her WORST discipline. If she wins a medal today, she will be the first person ever to win 4 Olympic medals at a single Olympic games.

Keep in mind, she comes from a country of less than 5 million people, roughly the size of West Virginia. There are no world class ski resorts in Croatia, and snow can be infrequent. My dad remembers her dad saying, "Those kids are going to go and prove to the world that it's not about which country has the most money, or the best skiing programs or the best coaches, but it's about hard work and having heart."

Incredible story. I hope to get to see her and her brother this summer in Croatia.

 

[kobayashi]

that is so cool!

a lot of those women have slipped going through that same corner.

[This message has been edited by kobayashi (edited 02-22-2002).]

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Yay! I was thinking of starting a thread for her, but much better that you (someone who knows her) did it.

She's been fantabulous over these Games and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's great to see someone who people didn't expect to be the big gold medalist come in and have great runs and show that heart, soul, and perseverance IS what makes the Olympics great. It's also way cool to see a lesser known country like Croatia have some success at these Games...it gets a bit boring when all the regulars come in and win everything.

Cheers to Janica!

 

[anitram]

She had 3 surgeries this past summer, and hardly raced on the World Cup, so people didn't know what to expect from her. Last year, she won the World Cup easily, but this year struggled to get to the podium after the surgeries. The thing you have to realize, is that she and her family wanted Olympic medals. She said she didn't care what colour they were, but she just wanted a medal to have. And while the other skiers competed on World Cup, she went home and trained, exclusively, for the Olympic games. It's an absolutely incredible story, especially today in the GS. She is ranked 30th in the world, yet is leading by a half a second after the first run! Can you imagine the 30th ranked skater in the world coming in first after the short program? That's how incredible this story has been. We're so proud of her.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Originally posted by anitram:
It's an absolutely incredible story, especially today in the GS. She is ranked 30th in the world, yet is leading by a half a second after the first run! Can you imagine the 30th ranked skater in the world coming in first after the short program? That's how incredible this story has been. We're so proud of her.

hehe. That's something that would NEVER happen in figure skating because the judges base their marks on reputation as well as performance. Although Sarah Hughes coming from 4th last night to win the gold is about as close to that scenario as you will find.

And yes, how amazing is Janica's story? Not only to come from such a low placement, but to win not just ANY medal and not just ONE medal but several medals and some of them GOLD medals! Wow. Definitely something that will be talked about and remember for some time to come.

You make sure to give our congratulations to her and her family when you see them. lol.

 

[anitram]

Could be a third gold today.

She will make Olympic history today if she wins a medal. A couple of hours to go....

 

[PopFly]

Originally posted by anitram:
If she wins a medal today, she will be the first person ever to win 4 Olympic medals at a single Olympic games.

You must mean from your country, since Eric Heiden won five gold medals in 1980, and Mark Spitz won SEVEN (if you can believe it) in 1972 Summer Games. Some Norwegian biathlete has four medals at this games, as well.

Still, four medals is nothing to sneeze at. Congratulations.


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"You gotta love living, baby, 'cause dyin's a pain in the ass."-- Frank Sinatra

Adam: Look guys, I got a Springfield spoon for my spoon collection.
Edge: Oh boy, here we go...
Bono: Wow, how many is that now Adam?
Adam: Nine. If I didn't have my spoons, I'd go insane.
Bono: Can I see it?
*adam gives bono the spoon, bono throws it away*
Adam: My spoon!

 

[anitram]

Originally posted by PopFly:
You must mean from your country, since Eric Heiden won five gold medals in 1980, and Mark Spitz won SEVEN (if you can believe it) in 1972 Summer Games. Some Norwegian biathlete has four medals at this games, as well.

Still, four medals is nothing to sneeze at. Congratulations.

I meant in alpine events.

 

[The_Sweetest_Thing]

Wow! I was just blown away by her performance...even the commentators agreed, "These skiiers don't even look like Olympic caliber when they're missing by over a second.." Her lead was incredible. I'm so happy for her (I didn't even know about the surgery). Awesome for her for helping to put Croatia on the map. I'll definitely look at the country a lot differently the next time I'm in Zagreb.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Originally posted by PopFly:
You must mean from your country, since Eric Heiden won five gold medals in 1980, and Mark Spitz won SEVEN (if you can believe it) in 1972 Summer Games. Some Norwegian biathlete has four medals at this games, as well.

Still, four medals is nothing to sneeze at. Congratulations.

...and it looks like she has done it! btw, that's the first athlete to win four medals in Alpine events.

Kostelic wins historic fourth medal

Giant slalom gold gives Croat record fourth Alpine medal

PARK CITY, Feb. 22 ? Janica Kostelic won her record fourth Alpine medal of the Salt Lake City Games in Friday?s giant slalom, joining Jean-Claude Killy and Toni Sailer as the only skiers with three golds at one Olympics. THE 20-YEAR-OLD Croat, who already had gold medals in the slalom and the combined event and a silver in the super-G, was not considered among the favorites in the giant slalom.
But she blew away the rest of the field by an amazing 1.32 seconds in a race often decided by hundredths of seconds.
Kostelic finished the two runs in 2 minutes, 30.01 seconds. Sweden?s Anja Paerson won silver in 2:31.33, adding to the bronze she won in Wednesday?s slalom. World champion Sonja Nef of Switzerland was third.
Kostelic, who missed the first half of the World Cup season while recovering from three offseason operations on her left knee, ranks only 30th in the giant slalom on the World Cup circuit this season.
She has never placed higher than fourth in a World Cup giant slalom.
After finishing, Kostelic kissed a small Croatian flag and then got a high-five and a big hug from Paerson.
The sharply sloping course and tight turns forced the skiers to fling their bodies from side to side as they raced down the course on a balmy day with temperatures in the mid-40s.
Kostelic became the only skier to ever win four Alpine medals at an Olympics.
Five men and five women, including Kostelic, 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.
Kostelic won a medal in every event in which she competed. She did not participate in the downhill.

 

[Marko]

I'm too late but I just have to post something on this topic.

Croatia for 2 weeks now braths, eats and lives Janica Kostelic and the whole Kostelic family.

We knew that Janica can do something like this based on her's performances on the last years world cup when she won it and noone could come close (she won 8 out of 9 slalom races...). But b/c of her surgeries wh didn't think that she will do it this year or in this fashion... we thought that her brother Ivica has mor chance for gold in slalom (he leads the slalom competition in the worl cup, and there is only one more race to go)...

but I'm writeing to you to tell you about the welcome party in Zagreb. estimated 400 000 people meeted her on her ariwal to Zagreb on Monday. She come on stage in the centre of town to apear in front of 150 000-200 000 crowd and it was fabulous. Than her brothe Ivica picked up the guitar and stud in fornt of microphone and together with a band played and sung (he sung alone) two songs - Johny be good (with refrain going "Go Janica go"), and Honky tonk woman. They all danced like they were having their own private party in their apartement...

that's why they are so great (Kostelic family) - they are so natural, they are not making a big deal about their success...

and Janica set the new record in fornt covers of Croatian news-papers for a two-week period...
right now she is Croatian queen and she acts like she's totaly normal girl, not realising what's happening...

The_Sweetest_Thing: where are you from? if you are coming to Zagreb this year try to come on August 11th - that's the date when U2 are playing Zagreb!!!


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"Everyone loves me
everyone thinks I'm georgeous
they wait for their turn to meet me..." - Me, 2001.