Bio_PRETNAR-e

PRETNAR Spela ( SLO)

05.03.1973 Bled
168cm / 58kg

SKI: Rossignol
BOOTS: Rossignol
BINDING: Rossignol

2003 retired


Penta Photo

World Cup Ranking
General
1992/99th, 1993/55th, 1994/15th, 1995/7th, 1996/-, 1997/48th,
1998/19th, 1999/19th, 2000/7th, 2001/36th, 2002/49th, 2003/65th,
Special
1995 GS/3rd, 1999 GS/13th, SL/7th, 2000 SL/1st, 2001 SL/13th, GS/44th.
2002 SL/18th, GS/43rd. 2003 SL/25th, GS/56th.
World Championships
1993 Morioka SL/22nd, GS/6th, SG/7th.
1997 Sestriere SL/12th, GS/11th.
1999 Vail GS/8th.
2001 St.Anton SL/DNF, GS/DNF.
2003 St.Moritz SL/DNF.
Olympic Games
1994 Lillehammer DH/23rd, SL/11th, GS/12th.
1998 Nagano SL/DNF, GS/DNF.
2002 Salt Lake City SL/20th, GS/20th.
World Cup - 6 w. (5 SL, 1 GS)

1.	SL:	Are 99, Copper Mtn.00, Berchtesgaden 00, Sant.Caterina 00, Are 00,
1.	GS:	Bormio 95.
2.	SL:	Maribor 00,
	GS:	Maribor 95.
3.	SG	Frachau 95.
	GS:	Cortina 95.
	SL:	Bormio 98 I, II. Sestriere 00,
4.	SL:	Bormio 95, Semmering 99, Berchtesgasden 99, Lienz 2000, Park City 01.
4.	GS:	Are 95, Park City 97,
5.	SL:	Maribor 94 I, Sestriere 02,
6.	SL:	Are 01,
6.	GS:	Cortina 99,
7.	SL:	Mammoth 94, Lienz 98, Flachau 01, Are 02,
7.	GS:	Cortina 93, Sta.Caterina 94, Are 98,
8.	DH:	Garmisch 94,
8.	GS:	Soelden 99, Maribor 99,
9.	SL:	Maribor 95, Bormio 00, Aspen 01,
9.	GS:	Vail 94, Are 99,
10.	SL:	Crans Montana 98, Sestriere 00,
	GS:	Haus 95, Bormio 98, Semmering 99,
	SG:	Bormio 95,

Bormio will for ever remain a special place for Spela Pretnar, the best technical skier in Slovenia's 10-year-old skier racing history. Five years after having celebrated the first of her six World Cup wins in that Italian ski resort, she became the first alpine racer from her young country to clinch a World Cup title after a series if impressive performances in the past months.
With four wins and several top-3 results, the 27-year-old skier from the beautiful town of Bled beat France's Christel Saioni after a tough and spectacular fight throughout the entire season.

They tied for first place in the opening slalom race at Copper Mountain, Colorado, in November and they were by far the most consistent until the last race at Bormio. The most aggressive specialist in second runs, Spela excelled on all kinds of slopes - flat ones as Copper Mountain, Maribor, Berchtesgaden or Santa Caterina, but also steep ones as Sestriere and Are.

In the 1980's other skiers from the region of Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, also won slalom World Cup titles - Rok Petrovic in 1986 and Bojan Krizay in 1987 - when they were still competing for the Republic of Yugoslavia as the 1989 slalom World Champion Mateja Svet. Svet also captured seven World Cup races and several medals at the 1987 World Championships at Crans-Montana.

In 1995, Pretnar was one of the best GS specialists on the tour but she excels now more in slalom thanks to her determination and the shorter skis produced by Rossignol which perfectly suit her technique.

Ironically, Spela's best season ever almost didn't start. Disappointed by her failure to win a medal at the 1999 World Championships in Vail after clocking the best intermediate time in the 2nd slalom run, she was about to give-up ski racing in the spring time. Even her sweet revenge at Are, where she won her first slalom two weeks after straddling that slalom gate at Vail, could not motivate her again.

In fact she skipped the first training camp because she was planning to go to the US and study economy on the West Coast. Fortunately, she changed her mind in time and worked hard in the following summer to reach her best form since 1995.

In 1996 and 1997, she already faced some difficult moments after breaking her left leg for the fourth time while training in Austria in May 1995. She needed almost two years to totally recover from this bad spill. In September 1997, she broke her right hand and lost several week of training yet she was twice 3rd in slalom at Bormio in January 1998. She didn't finish the Olympic races at Shiga Kogen.

At the beginning of the 1999 winter, she was infected by a virus in November and she had to wait the end of the year to recover part of her form and momentum. St Anton will be her fourth World Championships since Morioka, in Japan, where she reached a promising 6th place in GS. She was also 7th in Super-G there.

She hasn't been so lucky in medal events. In 1992, she was disqualified in GS because she lost her startnumber before the second run. In 1994, she clocked the fastest intermediate time in Super-G at Kvitfjell when she crashed in the last steep part.

At 27, she has the maturity and the potential to win more big races in a season. A very outgoing person, Spela work in the off-season as a reporter and an announcer on a private Slovenian TV. Golf and water-skiing are two other sports she likes to practise in the off-season.

Biorama Basel