Slovenia_at_the_2018_Winter_Olympics

Slovenia at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Slovenia at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Sporting event delegation


Slovenia competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018. 71 athletes competed in 9 sports, including the men's national ice hockey team.[3]

Quick Facts Slovenia at the 2018 Winter Olympics, IOC code ...

Slovenian athletes won two Olympic medals: biathlete Jakov Fak won silver in men's individual while snowboarder Žan Košir won bronze in men's parallel giant slalom, his third Olympic medal in total. The country ranked 24th in the medal table. The ice hockey team won two games in the preliminary round, against United States and Slovakia, but lost in the playoffs against Norway.

Medalists

More information Medal, Name ...

Summary

Biathlete Jakov Fak (here pictured in 2015) won a silver medal in men's individual, his second Olympic medal
Snowboarder Žan Košir (here pictured in 2015) won a bronze medal in parallel giant slalom, his third Olympic medal

In January 2018, the Olympic Committee of Slovenia officially confirmed 71 competitors who would represent the country at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.[4][3] Slovenia men's national ice hockey team already qualified for the Olympic tournament at the qualification tournament in 2016.[5] Vesna Fabjan, a cross-country skier and a bronze medalist from Sochi, was chosen as the flag-bearer for the opening ceremony. The selection was conducted using a Facebook poll among three candidates, Fabjan, biathlete Jakov Fak, and ice hockey player Mitja Robar. Fak later distanced himself from the poll after being targeted by hate speech in online forums, having previously represented Croatia at the 2010 Winter Olympics.[6] In Vancouver, Fak won a bronze medal in men's sprint.[7]

In Sochi, Slovenia won a record eight medals, including two gold by alpine skier Tina Maze.[8] Since the 2014 Olympics, Maze retired from competitive skiing, as did the biathlete Teja Gregorin. The media expectations were lower than before the Sochi Olympics. Alpine skier Ilka Štuhec, the 2017 downhill World Champion and second in the overall 2016-17 World Cup standings, suffered an injury in autumn 2017 and had to skip the entire 2017-18 season. The strongest potential candidate for medals was Jakov Fak, who had strong World Cup performances earlier in the season, with media noting that freestyle skier Filip Flisar, ski jumpers, or alpine skiers were also capable of achieving good results.[9]

In alpine skiing, the best Slovenian result was a 4th place of Žan Kranjec in giant slalom,[10] while skiers won three more top-10 finishes. In team event, Slovenian team was eliminated in the round of 16 against Sweden. The best result in women's events was an 11th place of Ana Bucik in women's combined.[11]

In biathlon, five men and two women competed. Jakov Fak faced some problems at the first two events but won a silver medal at the men's individual event, covering all 20 targets.[12] Among other prominent results, Fak finished 10th in mass start, Klemen Bauer 10th in individual, and Urška Poje 12th in women's individual, covering all 20 targets.[11]

In cross-country skiing, the best results were achieved by Anamarija Lampič who finished 7th in sprint and 6th in team sprint together with Alenka Čebašek.[11]

At the men's ice hockey tournament, Slovenia competed in Group B with United States, Slovakia, and Olympic Athletes from Russia in the preliminary round. Following the NHL's decision not to allow its players to participate at the tournament, Slovenia's top player Anže Kopitar of Los Angeles Kings was unable to join the team.[13] In their first game, Slovenia beat the United States 3-2 in overtime, having returned from 0-2 in the last third. Goal scorers for Slovenia were Jan Urbas and Jan Muršak.[14] In the second game, Slovenia lost 2-8 to the OAR team, with Žiga Pance and Muršak scoring for Slovenia.[15] Slovenia won against Slovakia 3-2 after a penalty shootout.[16] Slovenia finished 2nd in their group and faced Norway in the playoff. Norway won 2-1 in overtime[17] and Slovenia finished 9th in the overall ranking.[11] Just before the game against Norway, the IOC announced that Žiga Jeglič tested positive for doping. In his reaction, Jeglič stated that he had neglected to report his use of an asthma drug containing fenoterol which his doctor had prescribed for him. Jelgič was suspended from the games and had to skip the game against Norway.[18][19]

In ski jumping, the best individual results were a 7th place of Nika Križnar in women's normal hill individual and an 11th place of Peter Prevc in men's large hill individual. Slovenian team finished 5th at the team event.[11]

In snowboarding, none of the three athletes in freestyle events qualified for the finals. In parallel event (giant slalom), Žan Košir, Tim Mastnak, and Glorija Kotnik qualified to the finals. Mastnak and Kotnik were eliminated in the round of 16 while Košir won a bronze medal after defeating Sylvain Dufour of France. Košir's semifinal defeat against Lee Sang-ho of South Korea caused some controversy as the photo finish clearly showed Košir crossing the finish line well ahead of Lee.[20] Later, FIS officials explained that the time was measured correctly and that the photo finish footage is irrelevant.[21] Ultimately, Košir stated that he was happy with the medal he won, having skipped the previous two seasons due to back injuries.[22]

Among other events, Tilen Sirše finished 39th in luge, the best Slovenian result in Nordic combined was a 28th place of Vid Vrhovnik in normal hill/10 km, and Filip Flisar finished 7th in men's ski cross.[11] Flisar was the flagbearer for Slovenia at the closing ceremony.[2]

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors participating at the Games per sport/discipline.

More information Sport, Men ...

Alpine skiing

Men
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Women
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Mixed
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Source:[23]

Biathlon

Based on their Nations Cup ranking in the 2016–17 Biathlon World Cup, Slovenia has qualified 5 men and 2 women.[24][25]

Men
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Women
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Mixed
More information Athlete, Event ...

Source:[23]

Cross-country skiing

Distance
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Sprint
More information Athlete, Event ...

Source:[23]

Freestyle skiing

Ski cross
More information Athlete, Event ...

Qualification legend: FA – Qualify to medal round; FB – Qualify to consolation round Source:[23]

Ice hockey

Summary
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Men's tournament

Slovenia men's national ice hockey team qualified by winning the final qualification tournament in Minsk, Belarus.[26][27]

Team roster

The following is the Slovenian roster for the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[28]

Head coach: Finland Kari Savolainen     Assistant coaches: Slovenia Nik Zupančič, Slovenia Edo Terglav

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Preliminary round

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: IIHF
Notes:
  1. Slovenia 4 Pts; USA 4 Pts; Slovakia 1 Pts. Slovenia defeated USA 3–2 in overtime.
14 February 2018
21:10
United States 2–3 OT
(1–0, 1–0, 0–2)
(OT 0–1)
 SloveniaKwandong Hockey Centre, Pyeongchang
Attendance: 3,348
More information Game reference ...

16 February 2018
16:40
Olympic Athletes from Russia 8–2
(2–0, 4–1, 2–1)
 SloveniaGangneung Hockey Centre, Pyeongchang
Attendance: 6,018
More information Game reference ...

17 February 2018
21:10
Slovenia 3–2 GWS
(0–0, 2–1, 0–1)
(OT: 0–0)
(SO: 1–0)
 SlovakiaKwandong Hockey Centre, Pyeongchang
Attendance: 4,085
More information Game reference ...
Qualification playoffs
20 February 2018
16:40
Slovenia 1–2 OT
(1–0, 0–0, 0–1)
(OT: 0–1)
 NorwayGangneung Hockey Centre, Pyeongchang
Attendance: 6,312
More information Game reference ...

Luge

Based on the results from the World Cups during the 2017–18 Luge World Cup season, Slovenia qualified 2 sleds, but rejected one quota.[29]

More information Athlete, Event ...

Source:[23]

Nordic combined

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Source:[23]

Ski jumping

Slovenia qualified nine quota places in ski jumping.

Men
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Women
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Source:[23]

Snowboarding

Freestyle
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Parallel
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Source:[23]


References

  1. "Opening Ceremony Flagbearers - Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018" (PDF). olympic.org. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 9 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  2. "Flisar bo nosil zastavo". siol.net. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  3. "Slovenski hokejisti gredo na ZOI 2016 - Olimpijski komite Slovenije". Olympic.si. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  4. Oznake (29 January 2018). "Večer - Po odstopu Faka bo zastavo v Južni Koreji nosila Vesna Fabjan". Vecer.com. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  5. "Biathlon at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games: Men's 10 kilometres Sprint | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. 14 February 2010. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  6. "Men's Giant Slalom" (PDF). FIS. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  7. "Brezhibni Jakov Fak srebrn na 20 km! (FOTO)". Delo.si. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  8. "Slovenia vs. United States Game Summary" (PDF). IIHF. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  9. "Slovenia vs. Russia Game Summary" (PDF). IIHF. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  10. "Slovenia vs. Slovakia Game Summary" (PDF). IIHF. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  11. "Slovenia vs. Norway Game Summary" (PDF). IIHF. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  12. Lehourites, Chris (20 February 2018). "Slovenia hockey player tests positive for doping at Olympics". ABC News. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  13. "Žiga Jeglič drugi slovenski hokejist, pozitiven na dopingu". siol.net. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  14. Abreu, Danielle (24 February 2018). "Dramatic Finishes of the 2018 Winter Games". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  15. "Men's Nation Cup Score" (PDF). www.docs.google.com/. International Biathlon Union (IBU). 5 March 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  16. "Women's Nation Cup Score" (PDF). www.docs.google.com/. International Biathlon Union (IBU). 5 March 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  17. Peters, Chris (4 September 2016). "Olympics: NHLers help Germany, Norway and Slovenia qualify for PyeongChang 2018". www.cbssports.com/. CBS Sports. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  18. Dickie, Justin (6 September 2016). "Norway, Slovenia, Germany qualify for men's hockey at 2018 Olympics". The Hockey News. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  19. "Slovenia's selection". IIHF. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  20. "2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang – Ranking list LUGE" (PDF). fil-luge.org. Retrieved 19 December 2017.

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