Primož Peterka

Primož Peterka (Slovene pronunciation: [ˈpriːmɔʃ ˈpeːtərka] (listen); born 28 February 1979) is a Slovenian former ski jumper who competed from 1996 to 2011. He is one of the most successful athletes from Slovenia, having won fifteen Ski Jumping World Cup competitions, two consecutive Ski Jumping World Cup titles, a Ski Flying World Cup title, and the Four Hills Tournament. Peterka currently works as an assistant coach in the Slovenian women's ski jumping team.[1]

Primož Peterka
Peterka in 2004
Country Slovenia
Born (1979-02-28) 28 February 1979
Ljubljana, SR Slovenia,
SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Personal best212 m (696 ft)
Planica, 18 Mar 2000
World Cup career
Seasons1996–2009
Individual wins15
Indiv. podiums32
Team podiums2
Indiv. starts230
Team starts21
Overall titles2 (1997, 1998)
Four Hills titles1 (1997)
Ski Flying titles1 (1997)
JP titles1 (1998)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Olympic Games
2002 Salt Lake City Team LH
World Championships
2005 OberstdorfTeam NH
Updated on 10 February 2016.

Career

Peterka was born in Prikrnica, near Ljubljana, Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia). He started ski jumping on a small hill (with a K-point at around 20 metres) near his hometown of Moravče, a small town about 30 km north-east from Ljubljana. He later joined the Triglav ski club in Kranj.

1995–1996

Peterka made his World Cup debut on 4 January 1996. Due to the poor performance of Slovenian jumpers at the time, Peterka was brought in as a replacement for the Four Hills Tournament event in Innsbruck, where he finished eighth. This was considered a superb result, thereby making him the leading jumper for Slovenia. Peterka continued his good form, winning the events in Zakopane and Falun, and finishing the season ninth overall. He also finished second behind Michael Uhrmann at the 1996 Junior World Championships.

1996–1997
Peterka at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1997

The 1996/97 season was a great success for Peterka. He won seven individual World Cup events, and the Four Hills Tournament. Peterka dominated the overall World Cup standings as only one competitor (Dieter Thoma) finished within 200 points. Peterka finished on top the ski flying standings. On 9 February 1997, Peterka became the first Slovenian to record a jump over 200 metres, landing a 203 m jump at Kulm.

1997–98
Peterka at Holmenkollen in 1998

The 1997/98 season was also successful. Peterka won four individual events and a second consecutive World Cup title, defeating Kazuyoshi Funaki in the final event of the season. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Peterka claimed fifth place in the individual large hill event and sixth in the individual normal hill event.

Later career

Peterka underwent a personality crisis after his success, with significant drop in results. During this time, details of his personal life were discussed in public, mostly his clashes with officials and his relationship with Renata Bohinc, a Slovenian beauty queen who won in 1996.

A turning point in Peterka's life and career came in 2001 when his son was born. In the 2001/02 World Cup season, Peterka returned to the ski jumping elite. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, he won the bronze team medal. The 2002/03 season was also successful, with Peterka winning two individual events (Kuusamo and Garmisch-Partenkirchen) and finishing the season seventh overall.

From 2004 onwards, Peterka never again managed to finish in the top 10 in an individual World Cup event. However, at the 2005 World Championships in Oberstdorf he won another bronze team medal for Slovenia, together with Jure Bogataj, Rok Benkovič and Jernej Damjan. This made Peterka the first Slovenian ski jumper to win medals both at the Olympics and at the World Championships. After the 2010/11 season, Peterka officially retired from competitive ski jumping.[2]

Film

Three sports documentary films were made about his life and career. The first was called Vleci, Primož ("Fly, Primož") and was directed by Beno Hvala in 1997, detailing the story of Peterka's early career. The second, Peterka: leto odločitve ("Peterka: Year of Decision"), was directed by Vlado Škafar in 2002 and focuses on the personality crisis of a young champion who struggles to find his way back to the top. The third one was made in 2011 for TV Slovenia, called Skoki so moje življenje (Ski jumping is my life), directed by Tomaž Kovšca. Screenplay by Aleš Potočnik and Polona Bertoncelj.

World Cup

Standings
Season Overall 4H SF NT JP
1995/96 1038—N/A9
1996/97 6
1997/98 2210
1998/99 2728204131
1999/00 6751——66
2000/01 ————N/A
2001/02 2513N/A13N/A
2002/03 75N/A21N/A
2003/04 4528N/A33N/A
2004/05 3438N/A24N/A
2005/06 3221N/A33N/A
2006/07 81—N/A—N/A
2007/08 4071N/A39N/A
2008/09 474520—N/A

Wins
No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1995/9627 January 1996   ZakopaneWielka Krokiew K116LH
2 13 March 1996   FalunLugnet K90NH
3 1996/978 December 1996   KuusamoRukatunturi K120LH
4 15 December 1996   HarrachovČerťák K120LH
5 1 January 1997   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K115LH
6 11 January 1997   EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
7 12 January 1997   EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
8 9 February 1997   Tauplitz/Bad MitterndorfKulm K185FH
9 13 March 1997   FalunLugnet K115 (night)LH
10 1997/9818 January 1998   ZakopaneWielka Krokiew K116LH
11 8 March 1998   LahtiSalpausselkä K116LH
12 11 March 1998   FalunLugnet K115 (night)LH
13 15 March 1998   OsloHolmenkollbakken K112LH
14 2002/0329 November 2002   KuusamoRukatunturi K120LH
15 1 January 2003   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K115LH

References
  1. Diaz, Stefan (2013-07-29). "Czech and Slovenian teams with new coaches". ladies-skijumping.com. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  2. http://www.rtvslo.si/na-danasnji-dan/28-februar-vse-najboljse-primoz-peterka/330852
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