Janica Kostelić facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Janica Kostelić

Alpine skier
Janica Kostelić in Maribor, January 2001
Disciplines	Slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill, combined
Born	(1982-01-05) 5 January 1982 (age 43) Zagreb, Croatia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
World Cup debut	23 January 1998 (age 16)
Retired	April 2007 (age 25)
Website	janica.hr
Olympics
Teams	3 – (1998–2006)
Medals	6 (4 gold)
World Championships
Teams	4 – (1999–2005)
Medals	5 (5 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	8 – (1998–2003, 2005-2006)
Wins	30
Podiums	55
Overall titles	3 – (2001, 2003, 2006)
Discipline titles	7 – (3 SL, 4 K)
Medal record Women's alpine skiing Representing  Croatia World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Slalom 20 9 6 Giant slalom 2 3 2 Downhill 1 2 1 Super-G 1 1 0 Combined 6 1 0 International competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 4 2 0 World Championships 5 0 0 World Junior Championships 0 1 1 Olympic Games Gold 2002 Salt Lake City Slalom Gold 2002 Salt Lake City Giant slalom Gold 2002 Salt Lake City Combined Gold 2006 Turin Combined Silver 2002 Salt Lake City Super-G Silver 2006 Turin Super-G World Championships Gold 2003 St. Moritz Slalom Gold 2003 St. Moritz Combined Gold 2005 Bormio Slalom Gold 2005 Bormio Downhill Gold 2005 Bormio Combined Junior World Ski Championships Silver 1998 Megève Combined Bronze 1998 Megève Super-G

Ivica Kostelić

Janica Kostelić (born 5 January 1982) is a famous former alpine ski racer from Croatia. She is known for winning many big competitions. Janica won four gold medals at the Olympic Games. She also earned five gold medals at the World Championships. In the World Cup, she won 30 individual races and three overall titles. Many people think Janica Kostelić is one of the greatest female ski racers ever.

Janica's Amazing Ski Career

Janica Kostelić is the only woman to win four gold medals in alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics. She achieved this in 2002 and 2006. She is also the only woman to win three alpine skiing gold medals in just one Olympics, which she did in 2002.

Janica was the overall champion of the World Cup in 2001, 2003, and 2006. On January 15, 2006, she made history. She became only the third woman to win World Cup races in all five types of alpine skiing. A few weeks later, on February 5, 2006, she became the second female skier ever to win all five types of races in a single season.

After the 2006 season, Janica decided not to compete in 2007. This was because she had a lot of pain in her knees and back. She had undergone ten knee surgeries and a thyroid surgery during her career. After taking a year off, Janica announced she was retiring from racing in April 2007. She was only 25 years old.

Since 2016, Janica has worked for the Croatian Government. She is the State Secretary for Science, Education, and Sports.

Early Life and First Races

Janica was born in Zagreb, Croatia. She grew up in a family that loved winter sports. Her father, Ante Kostelić, was also her coach. Her older brother, Ivica Kostelić, is also a famous ski racer. He won the overall World Cup title in 2011. Janica started skiing when she was three years old. She began serious training at age nine and quickly won many junior competitions.

When she was 16, Janica joined the Croatian team for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Her best result was 8th place in the combined event. She competed in all five types of skiing races there. She won her first World Cup slalom race in December 1999.

After this, Janica hurt her knee ligaments. This injury kept her from competing until late 2000. But she came back strong! She won the World Cup overall title in the 2001 season, with eight more victories.

Olympic Glory in 2002

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Janica won three gold medals and one silver medal. These were the first Winter Olympic medals ever for an athlete from Croatia! No other female alpine skier has won four medals or three gold medals at one Olympics.

Janica decided not to race in the downhill event. She focused on the combined race instead. She did very well in the downhill part of the combined. Then, she won the gold medal after the two slalom runs. Next, she won a silver medal in the super-G race. She was just behind Daniela Ceccarelli.

Her next race was the slalom. Janica won her second gold medal, beating Laure Péquegnot by a small amount. Her final victory was in the giant slalom. She finished a huge 1.32 seconds ahead of the silver medalist, Anja Pärson.

Continued Success and Retirement

Janica won the World Cup overall title again in 2003. However, she missed the next season because of more knee surgeries. She had her fourth knee surgery in ten months in October, and then thyroid surgery in January 2004. Because of this, 2004 was the only year from 1998 to 2006 that she was not named "Croatian Sportswoman of the Year."

After more than 18 months away from racing, she returned to the World Cup in October 2004. She finished eighth in the giant slalom. At the World Championships in February 2005, she won three gold medals. She did this even though she was not feeling well. She won the downhill and kept her world titles in slalom and combined.

In the 2006 season, Janica won the World Cup overall title for the third time. She also finished in the Top 5 in all four types of races, including being number one in slalom. She won her first World Cup races in giant slalom (two wins), super-G, and downhill in 2006.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, she won a gold medal in the women's alpine combined. This was her fourth Olympic gold medal. This made her the most successful female skier in the history of the Olympic Games. She set this record on February 18, 2006.

She also became the first alpine skier to win the "Sportswoman of the Year" award in 2006. This was partly because she won races in every type of skiing that year. Due to her injuries, Janica did not compete after the 2006 season. As many expected, she announced her retirement a year later, on April 19, 2007. She said it was because of constant pain from her injuries.

World Cup Achievements

Janica won three overall World Cup titles: 2001, 2003, and 2006. In 2005, she was second overall. She was only three points behind the winner, Anja Pärson. This was the smallest difference between 1st and 2nd place in women's World Cup history.

Janica also won the slalom season title three times, in the same years she won the overall titles. She would have won the trophy for the combined event four times (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006). However, the combined trophy was not given to women during her career. It was only added in 2007. She won a total of 30 World Cup races. This includes at least one win in every type of skiing: 20 in slalom, 6 in combined, 2 in giant slalom, 1 in super-G, and 1 in downhill.

Janica's Race Results

World Cup Season Titles

• 6 titles – (3 overall, 3 slalom) plus 4 combined (unofficial)

World Cup Season Standings

World Cup Race Victories

• 30 wins – (1 DH, 1 SG, 2 GS, 20 SL, 6 K)

World Championship Results

Olympic Results

Janica's Personal Life

On January 1, 2019, Janica Kostelić became a mother. She gave birth to her first child.

See also

In Spanish: Janica Kostelić para niños

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• Ante Kostelić
• List of FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women's race winners