This Year was Good, the Next Year must be Better

Avtor:
Datum: 11. 12. 2003
Sportsmen of the year 2003 in Slovenia
This Year was Good, the Next Year must be Better

Every year in December Slovenian sport journalists vote for the best Sportsmen in Slovenia. The awards ceremony will take place in Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana on December 22nd at 20.00. In the past 12 months Slovenia has had a lot of success, but we all hope to see even better performances at the Olympic games, in Athens in August 2004. In the categories for best Sportsman and Sportswoman the first three places will receive awards but only the winners will be announced in the categories for best team in team sports and best team in individual sports. There is also a prize for fair play.
Gymnast Aljaž Pegan was Sportsman of the year in 2002, receiving 199 votes from journalists. In second place was another gymnast Mitja Petkovšek (140 votes), while third place went to swimmer Peter Mankoč. In the women’s competition the 800-metres European Champion in Munich, Jolanda Čeplak, received 335 votes, swimmer Alenka Kejžar was second and cross-county runner Petra Majdič took third position. The best team in team sports for 2002 was the Slovenian national icehockey team and the best team in individual sports were the Ski jumpers, who won the bronze medal in the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City 2002.
Slovenian sportsmen had a lot of good results in 2003 and the final decision on this year’s winners will be very tough. Ski jumper Primož Peterka won two World Cup competitions in Kuusamo and Garmisch-Partenkirchen and made a big comeback last season. Hammer thrower Primož Kozmus was fifth in the Athletics World Championships in Paris, he also set a new national record and broke the 80 meter barrier. Dejan Košir became World Champion in Snowboarding, and won the Giant Slalom event in Kreischberg. Iztok Čop was third in the Rowing World Championships in Milan. Peter Mankoč won gold medal in the 100 metres medley at the European Swimming Championships, and Janez Marič won the Biathlon World Cup event in Oestersund. Vasilij žbogar became Sailing European champion in Split, while Aleš Gorza was fourth in the Giant Slalom in the Alpine Skiing World Championships in St. Moritz.
Slovenia’s women also had some tremendous results. 800-metres runner Jolanda Čeplak won 10 international meetings, came second twice in the Golden League, behind Maria Mutola, and she came fourth in the Indoor World Championships in Birmingham. Helena Javornik won the European Cross-Country Championships gold medal. Raša Sraka is the current European Judo champion, winning her title in Düsseldorf. Tina Maze was fifth in the Giant slalom in the Alpine skiing World Championships in St. Moritz.
The decision will be much easier in the team sports category, since the best team will most likely be Krim Electa, the women’s handball team who won their second title in the Champions League and also won the European Supercup in Farum, Denmark. There are a few candidates for the best team in the individual sports category. Vesna Dekleva and Klara Maučec won silver medal in the European Sailing Championships in class 470, while the Slovenian parachute team became world champions. The Fair Play prize will probably go to table tennis player Bojan Tokič, who deserves this prize, because he admitted to the referee that the ball touched the end of the table in a very important match. It was matchpoint for him, two points later his Chinese opponent won the match.
Some of the decisions are very tough and too close to call, but it is certain that the event at Cankarjev dom on December 22 will be very interesting.