KOSTELIC Ivica (CRO) 23,Nov,1979. Zagreb 182cm / 88kg Residence: Monaco SKI: Salomon BOOTS: Salomon BINDING: Salomon Suit: Mizuno First Win / Aspen 02 Slalom Soelden 02 GS/28th Madonna 02 SL/10th Kranjska Gora 02 SL/ 3rd Wengen 02, SL/ 1st World Cup 02/ Slalom Champion Sestriere 03 Ko-SL/ 1st Wengen 03 SL/ 3rd St.Moritz WM03 Slalom/ 1st Ivo & Jani at St.Moritz Soelden 04 GS Park City 04 SL Madonna di Canpiglio 04 SL/1st Wengen 04 SL/3rd Beaver Creek 07 SL Alta Badia 07 SL / 3rd World Cup Ranking General 2001/107th, 2002/7th, 2003/7th, 2004/34th, 2005/31st, 2006/40th, 2007/25th, Special 2001 SL/25th. 2002 SL/1st. 2003/2nd, GS/27th. 2004 SL/14th, GS/30th, SG/37th. 2005 SL/7th. 2006 SL/15th. 2007 SL/16th, K-3rd. World Championships 2003 St.Moritz SL/1st.GS/DNF. 2005 Bormio. SL/DNF. 2007 Are. SC/12th, DH/18th, SL/DNF. Olympic Games 2002 Salt Lake City: GS/9th, SL/DNF. 2006 Torino. K/2nd, SL/6th. World Cup - 8 w. ( 7 SL, 1 K) 1. SL: Aspen 02-I, Wengen 02, Flachau 02, Sestriere 03-KO, Kranjska Gora 03, Bormio 03, Madonna di Campiglio 04, K: Reiteralm 07(SC), 2. SL: Adelboden 02, Wemgen 05, 3. SL: Kranjska Gora 02, Schladming 02, Wengen 03, 04, Kitzbuhel 05, Alta Badia 07, 4. SL: Kitzbuhel 03, Schladming 03, Shigakogen 03, Are 06, K: Wengen 07(SC), Kvitfjell 07, 5. SL: Aspen 02-II, Chamonix 05, 7. SL: Lillehammer 03, Flachau 05, Beaver Creek 06, Madonna 06, Kitzbuhel 07, 9. K: Val d'Isere 06, 10. SL: Madonna 02, Kitzbuhel 04, Lenzerheide 05, Kranjska Gora 07, Ivica Kostelic is way more than Janica's older brother - he became himself one of the most flamboyant stars of the 2002 season when he won the first slalom of the winter despite starting in 64th position. He ended the tour on another triumph as he captured the slalom World Cup title after a breathtaking fight against USA's Bode Miller. Johnny be good! He also dominated the “Classical” Lauberhorn slalom at Wengen but his best performance certainly took place a week earlier at Adelboden, after the slalom won by Bode. Ivica was extremely pleased to finish in 2nd place that day despite a major mistake at the end of the second run and he rushed to the stage where a rock band was playing for the huge crowd. He took the guitar of one of the musicians and song himself in front of ten thousand spectators his best lyric - “Johnny Be Good” (Ivica means Johnny in Croatian!). The racers were as impressed and excited as the audience which enjoyed his show a lot! Many talents But the smart Croatian has many other talents including his impressive will. He expressed it perfectly by surviving a series of nasty ski accidents and several knee surgeries which prevented him to finish a season in good health from 1997 to 2001. His last bad crash happened in January 2001 just before the Ski World's at St Anton. Two months earlier, he finally scored his very first World Cup points at Sestriere and he felt quite confident at that point. He was operated in Basle (Switzerland) at the Bruderholzklinik by the team of Pr. Mueller who still believes it's kind of a wonder that his young patient was able to recover so well from this terrible injury. Ivica trained very hard and skied a lot during the next summer with his own team lead by Vincencij Jovan, his Slovenian trainer. It was paid back immediately at Aspen two days after celebrating his 22nd birthday with his mother Marijca and his staff. After his first run, Janica called him on a cellular phone to congratulate him. “You're going to win” she shouted him several times. Only one fall He finished all the World Cup slaloms among the top-10, reaching the podium also in Kranjska Gora (3rd) Adelboden (2nd) and Schladming (3rd). He only failed to end one major race: the Olympic slalom at Deer Valley after missing a medal by only a few tenths in the previous giant slalom. After a strong first run, he was skiing very fast at the end of second run when he suddenly lost his balance after straddling a gate. He went out the course only a few meters before the finish line! It was a very difficult time for him but the wonderful welcome party which took place at home in Zagreb boosted his moral for the Finals at Flachau. He gave everything he had in him to win the last slalom and successfully defend his lead in the World Cup standings in front of an impressive crowd of passionate and loud Croatian skifans. Finally be beat by a few hundredths his last rival, Bode Miller after clocking the best time in the first run, while France’s Jean Pierre Vidal, the Olympic Champion, was a far 3rd. More to reach His family and himself are convinced that he can excel also in other events - even in the speed disciplines. In fact, Ivica loves speeding down the mountain through a Super-G run . In the past he also raced downhill. He plans to enter some combined this season - especially at St Moritz during the 2003 World Championships. A addicted scuba diver, Ivo is the happiest man on earth when he lives on some Dalmatian Island near Mljet where his parents owns a wild place near the sea. Patric Lang Biorama Basel