Slovenia National Thread / Paris 2024

[justony 454]

 

 OLYMPIC FOCUS  

 

I will try to go through all previous performances and to find out, what the future brings, if particular sport will have  representatives in Tokio.

 

PART 3

 

Athletics

 

This is probably one of most demanding topics in my trip through Slovenian sport, so apologies if I miss something.

Athletics is by far the most attended sport in Slovenian Olympic history. In all sporting events there were around 451 athletes so far representing this country (or previous one, such as Yugoslavia, Austria,...). 93 of them came from Athletics (50 men, 43 women), therefore almost a quarter of all.

 

Let me start with our biggest achievements. In Atlanta 1996 Brigita Bukovec, who competed in her second Olympics after Barcelona, took silver medal in women's 100 m Hurdles final, missing gold to Enquist (SWE) by a single hundred of a second. 

 

Eight years later, in Athens, Jolanda Čeplak (now Batagelj) finished strong in an 800 metres women final, being 7th 100 metres before finish line, and ending with bronze. Jolanda was then already a World Indoor Record holder (still is, since 2002) and a top 10 all-time runner on this distance.

 

Then came Beijing 2008 and Primož Kozmus. For hammer thrower this were his 3rd Olympics, finishing in Sydney at the bottom and being 6th in Athens. But in Beijing he was performing as main favorite to win and so he did. He became first ever Slovenian to win a gold medal in Athletics. Later on, he took also silver medal in London 2012.

 

To wrap things up, Slovenia won so far 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal.

Other significant results were:

4. Brigita Langerholc (800 m W; Sydney 2000)

4. Marija Šestak (Triple Jump W; Beijing 2008)

5. Stanko Lorger (110 m Hurdles M; Melbourne 1956)

5. Draga Stamejčič Pokovec (Pentathlon W; Tokio 1964)

5. Nataša Urbančič Bezjak (Javelin Throw W; Muenchen 1972)

5. Rok Kopitar (400 m Hurdles M; Moscow 1980)

 

First Slovenian ever to compete in Athletics at the Olympic Games was Stane Perpar in Paris way back in 1924. He took a 200 metres race and was eliminated in the heats. First female athlete was a sprinter Alma Butia, as she attended 1948 London Olympics. 

 

Since 1992 there was always at least one finalist, in Rio it was Tina Šutej in women's pole vault (11th). Biggest delegations were in Sydney and Athens with 19 athletes, but most of those in Sydney 2000 competed only in relays (there were not so strict standards back then, so we had 3 relay teams, all except women 4x100). In Beijing 2008 there were 17 athletes, four years later in London 11, and in Rio only 10, which shows, how really harsh these standards are nowadays.

 

Slovenian Athletics Federation will be celebrating 100th anniversary next year, hopefuly with a medal in Tokio, but it will be hard. On this day (16/08/19) only two athletes are already confirmed. Tina Šutej will compete in Pole Vault on her 3rd Olympics and Maruša Mišmaš in Steeplechase on her first.

Very close to achieve entry standard are Martina Ratej (Javelin), which will put her aside Primož Kozmus, as the only one competing fourth time, and Luka Janežič (400 m), semifinalist in Rio.

 

Other candidates are: Maja Mihalinec (100 / 200), Anita Horvat (400), Maruša Černjul (High Jump), Barbara Špiler (Hammer Throw), Nejc Pleško (Hammer Throw), Kristjan Čeh (Discus Throw), maybe even Matija Kranjc (Javelin Throw) or Agata Zupin (400 H). I counted 12 names, mystery remains around mixed relay, most likely final number of athletes will be same in Rio or maybe even lower.

 

Realistic goal is 2 to 3 finals (Ratej, Mišmaš, Šutej), with only Ratej or Šutej (with some luck) to contend for a medal.

 

And at the end a special dedication to a woman, who put in her own Slovenian athletics and sport itself to a world map. The one and only Merlene Ottey competed for  in Athens 2004, where she came in as 10th at 100 m at the age of 44. This is her one of final competitive run footage from Nova Gorica, where she was still able to run under 12 second in 100 metres, and obviously she won. Four weeks after this she competed at her last big event, in a relay at the European Championships in Helsinki.

Thank you, Merlene, for all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[justony 454]

First ever climber with three gold medals in one WCH

 

 

 

JANJA GARNBRET

She has also qualified for the Olympics and is nominated for Sportswoman of the Year Award, presented by Women's Sport Foundation. 

 

Edited August 20, 2019 by justony

[justony 454]

 

 OLYMPIC FOCUS  

 

I will try to go through all previous performances and to find out, what the future brings, if particular sport will have  representatives in Tokio.

 

PART 4

 

Badminton

 

It is quite unusual, that so far there were only two female representatives at the Olympics. Why is that, you ask? Because badminton is one of most played sport in our country, ofcourse on recreative level (I am playing every season for fun from October to May, sometimes even three times a week. ) 

But to be serious, Maja Pohar became first Olympian, as she competed in Sydney 2000, where her coach was her brother Andrej Pohar, who was also close to qualify for an Olympic appearance.

Maja Tvrdy took the legacy of Pohar family and competed in 2008 and 2012.

Sadly, none of the girls have won a single match of tournament.

 

It is very hard for an European athlete to succeed in sport, dominated by Asians, especially Chinese and Koreans, but it is even harder, because of low financial budget. 

 

At the moment, there is absolutely no chance to have an athlete in Tokio. These are current rankings from the best:

Men: 143. Miha Ivanič, 216. Andraž Krapež

Women: 251. Lia Šalehar, 297. Petra Polanc

Women Doubles: 111. Lia Šalehar / Iza Šalehar

 

There are a few young talents, so maybe Paris 2024 is an option or at least Los Angeles 2028. But it has been 5 years since last Slovenian took place at the World Championships (Iztok Utroša).

Edited August 23, 2019 by justony

[justony 454]

 

 OLYMPIC FOCUS  

 

I will try to go through all previous performances and to find out, what the future brings, if particular sport will have  representatives in Tokio.

 

PART 5

 

Baseball

 

This is going to be one of the easiest topic in my Olympic Focus. Baseball started developing already in 1974, but it was not until 1987, when national federation was recognized. Current Men's Team is 52nd at World Rankings among around 80 nations, being highest at the end of 2014, placing 40th position.

There were even times, when National Team played in elite group of European baseball, among top 12 teams. Currently they are playing in lowest tier, group C, with no chances to compete for Olympic qualification.

 

There are four teams in national league: Ljubljana, Ježica, Zajčki (all from Ljubljana) and Lisjaki (Kranj).

 

 

[justony 454]

 

 OLYMPIC FOCUS  

 

I will try to go through all previous performances and to find out, what the future brings, if particular sport will have  representatives in Tokio.

 

PART 6

 

Basketball

 

Welcome to the Land of Champions.

Men's National Team took gold at the Eurobasket 2017, becoming first team ever to secure gold on international level in history of our team sports.  But, as you probably all know, FIBA has some issues on club and also on national level, so those qualifiers for latest World Cup were a bunch of ***.

 

OK, let us leave this sad part behind and focus on history. Slovenia had never send their team at the Olympics, but this does not mean, there were no  basketball players at the tournaments. 8 male and 1 female player represented former Yugoslavia.

Aljoša Žorga won silver medal in 1968, Vinko Jelovac took silver in 1976, while Jure Zdovc (men) and Polona Dornik (women) were both second with last team of former Yugoslavia in 1988.

Others to compete were Ivo Daneu (1960, 1964, 1968), Marjan Kandus (1960), Boris Kristančič (1960), Miha Lokar (1960) and Vital Eiselt (1964).

 

The closest ever to qualify as an independent nation, was in 1992. Bilbao in Spain hosted European Qualifying Tournament for 25 (!) teams. Slovenia came through to final eight, and they needed only one win against CIS (former Soviet Union). A single basket (only two points !) came our team short of victory. Later, Croatia went on to take silver, Lithuania was third and CIS fourth, so having been qualified,  would probably fight for medals.

 

For next couple of Games, placing at previous Eurobasket or World Cup was crucial, so Slovenian team was not eligible to participate. For Beijing 2008  ended 7th in Eurobasket 2007, which was enough to secure place in so called Wild Card Tournament.

Athens hosted Qualifiers, best 3 teams out of 12 should compete in China. It all went well until quarterfinal match against Puerto Rico, who had an excellent day in the office, and Slovenia once again came short.

 

For next two tournaments  came in short for at least qualifying tournament, and because Eurobasket is now playing ever four years (next in 2021),  is first ever European champion not to have direct place at the Olympic Games. 

 

Because our team did not qualify for 2019 FIBA World Cup, final chance will be Wild Card Tournament, probably played next year.

 

As for women, basketball is growing every year. In 2017, Slovenia took their first appearance in Eurobasket, with almost made it to second round, this year they lost only by 5 points match against Belgium for quarterfinals. First six teams qualified for Qualifying tournament, so with a bit of luck, both men and women could easily qualify for next tournament in Paris 2024.

 

With such great players, like Dončič, Dragič, Nika Barič, not to mention all other exceptional individuals through the years, there is only a matter of time, when we will see first ever Slovenian team at the Olympic Games.

 

[justony 454]

 

 Road to Tokyo 2020  

(Pot v Tokio 2020)

 

 Date: 26/08/2019

(336 days to Games)

 

New qualifed athletes (3):

Janja Garnbret - Sport Climbing - Combined (Gold at WCH 2019)

Anja Osterman, Špela Ponomarenko Janić - Canoe Sprint - K2 500 m Women (Bronze at WCH 2019)

 

Currently qualified athletes(8):

ATHLETICS (2): Maruša Mišmaš, Tina Šutej

CANOE SPRINT (2): Anja Osterman, Špela Ponomarenko Janić

SAILING (2): Tina Mrak, Veronika Macarol

SPORT CLIMBING (1): Janja Garnbret

SWIMMING (1): Tjaša Oder

[mihamiha 124]

last week was awesome,we got 3 world champions:

janja garnbret in climbing, gajser in motocross and alenka artnik with new world record in diving

[justony 454]

 

 Road to Tokyo 2020  

(Pot v Tokio 2020)

 

 Date: 03/09/2019

(328 days to Games)

 

New qualifed athlete (1):

Žan Luka Zelko - Sailing - Laser (26th at WCH)

 

Currently qualified athletes(9):

ATHLETICS (2): Maruša Mišmaš, Tina Šutej

CANOE SPRINT (2): Anja Osterman, Špela Ponomarenko Janić

SAILING (3): Žan Luka Zelko, Tina Mrak, Veronika Macarol

SPORT CLIMBING (1): Janja Garnbret

SWIMMING (1): Tjaša Oder

[justony 454]

 

 OLYMPIC FOCUS  

 

I will try to go through all previous performances and to find out, what the future brings, if particular sport will have  representatives in Tokio.

 

PART 7

 

Basketball 3x3

 

This is one of the new sports in Olympic family, which will make their debut in Tokio. But is also one of two sports (aside from Sport Climbing), in which our country is a serious medal contender. Though mostly recall "street basket" is being played for ages, it was not until 2007, when FIBA recognized this variety of basketball as an official sport.

 

Slovenian team were always extremely succesful, bringing home two bronze medals from World Championships and a bunch of medals from European Championships, including title in 2016.

 

This June  lost to  in Quarterfinals at WCH in Amsterdam, finishing in 7th place. First three teams have already qualified for Olympic Qualifying Tournament, but since there are still 16 spots available from World Ranking, our team will highly likely compete for top 3 places in the tournamen (current FIBA ranking: 6.). 

 

Women's Team is a bit weaker, they have not participated in this year WCH and are ranked 48th in the FIBA Rankings, so there very slim chances to compete at least in Qlympic Qualifying Tournament.

Edited September 3, 2019 by justony

[justony 454]

 

 OLYMPIC FOCUS  

 

I will try to go through all previous performances and to find out, what the future brings, if particular sport will have  representatives in Tokio.

 

PART 8

 

Beach Volleyball

 

Next up is another sport with no Slovenian representatives so far. Beach volleyball was first played in Atlanta 1996 and is one of very few sports, which took Olympic debut before organizing first official World Championships in 1997.

 

In past years, qualification system is a bit kinder to smaller nations, because it enables more options to succeed. Very good examples in Continental Cup, in which countries compete for the right to participate in Olympics.

 

So far, Slovenian players were far of qualifying, but in this cycle Jan Zemljak and Nejc Pokeršnik have maybe the best chances, since they are first team, regularly playing in World Tour. They are currently 54th in special Olympic Ranking (but counting all teams together, so even more than 2 per country; their World Ranking is 59).

 

Main trouble is not enough training area in winter, there are a lot of playgrounds during the year, but there is not a single hall to train in cold winter days.