Primož Peterka

Primož Peterka
Peterka in 2004
CountrySlovenia
Born (1979-02-28) 28 February 1979 (age 45)
Ljubljana, SR Slovenia,
SFR Yugoslavia[1]
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[1]
Personal best212 m (696 ft)
Planica, 18 Mar 2000
World Cup career
Seasons1996–2009
Starts230
Podiums32
Wins15
Overall titles2 (1997, 1998)
Four Hills titles1 (1997)
Ski Flying titles1 (1997)
JP titles1 (1998)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Oberstdorf Team NH

Primož Peterka (Slovene pronunciation: [ˈpriːmɔʃ ˈpeːtərka] ⓘ) 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 individual World Cup competitions, two consecutive overall World Cup titles, a Ski Flying World Cup title, and the Four Hills Tournament.

Career

Peterka 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 northeast 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 competitors at the time, Peterka was brought in as a replacement for the Four Hills Tournament event in Innsbruck, where he finished eighth. Peterka continued his good form, winning the competitions in Zakopane and Falun, and finished the season tenth overall. He also finished second behind Michael Uhrmann at the 1996 Junior World Championships.

1996–1997

Peterka in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1997

The 1996–97 season was a great success for Peterka. He won seven individual World Cup competitions and won both the overall World Cup title and the Four Hills Tournament. He also finished first in the ski flying standings. On 9 February 1997, Peterka became the first Slovenian to record a jump over 200 metres, landing at 203 metres in Kulm.[2]

1997–1998

Peterka in Oslo, 1998

In the 1997–98 season, Peterka won four individual competitions and a second consecutive World Cup title, defeating Kazuyoshi Funaki in the final competition of the season. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Peterka claimed fifth place in the individual large hill competition and sixth in the individual normal hill competition.

Later career

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 finished 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.[3]

Personal life

Peterka was born in Prikrnica, near Ljubljana, Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia).

His younger brother Uroš was also a ski jumper.[4]

World Cup

Standings

 Season  Overall 4H SF NT JP
1995–96 10 38 — N/A 9
1996–97 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
1997–98 1st place, gold medalist(s) 22 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 1st place, gold medalist(s)
1998–99 27 28 20 33 31
1999–00 67 51 — — 66
2000–01 — — — — N/A
2001–02 25 13 N/A 14 N/A
2002–03 7 5 N/A 27 N/A
2003–04 45 28 N/A 33 N/A
2004–05 34 38 N/A 23 N/A
2005–06 32 21 N/A 33 N/A
2006–07 81 — N/A — N/A
2007–08 40 — N/A 39 N/A
2008–09 47 45 — — N/A

Individual wins

No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1995–96 27 January 1996   Poland Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K116 LH
2 13 March 1996   Sweden Falun Lugnet K90 NH
3 1996–97 8 December 1996   Finland Kuusamo Rukatunturi K120 LH
4 15 December 1996   Czech Republic Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH
5 1 January 1997   Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K115 LH
6 11 January 1997   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH
7 12 January 1997   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH
8 9 February 1997   Austria Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm K185 FH
9 13 March 1997   Sweden Falun Lugnet K115 LH
10 1997–98 18 January 1998   Poland Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K116 LH
11 8 March 1998   Finland Lahti Salpausselkä K116 LH
12 11 March 1998   Sweden Falun Lugnet K115 LH
13 15 March 1998   Norway Oslo Holmenkollbakken K112 LH
14 2002–03 29 November 2002   Finland Kuusamo Rukatunturi K120 LH
15 1 January 2003   Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K115 LH

In popular culture

Three sports documentary films have been made about his life and career.[5] The first is called Vleci, Primož (English: Fly, Primož) and was directed by Beno Hvala in 1997, detailing the story of Peterka's early career. The second, Peterka: leto odločitve (English: Peterka: Year of Decision), was directed by Vlado Škafar in 2003 and focuses on Peterka's personal crisis and his struggle to find his way back to the top.[6] The third was made in 2011 by RTV Slovenija, called Skoki so moje življenje (English: Ski jumping is my life), directed by Tomaž Kovšca and starring Aleš Potočnik and Polona Bertoncelj.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "Primož Peterka – Player Profile – Ski Jumping". Eurosport. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Prvi Peterka, 15. Tepeš. Kdo bo naslednji?" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. ^ C. R. (28 February 2018). "28. februar: Vse najboljše, Primož Peterka" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  4. ^ F. T. (1 June 2021). "Umrl Uroš Peterka". Delo (in Slovenian). Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  5. ^ Teran Košir, Alenka (18 March 2017). "Primož Peterka: Iz moje zgodbe smo se vsi veliko naučili #intervju" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Peterka: leto odločitve (2003)". bsf.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  7. ^ M. R. (28 June 2011). "Dokumentarec o Peterki: "Skoki so moje življenje"" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 13 May 2021.

External links

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