Janica Kostelić

When only 16 years old, Janica Kostelić competed at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, with a best finish of 8th place in the alpine combined. Her skiing improved dramatically as she grew older and in 2000-2001 she won the overall World Cup title, which “stamped” her as a favorite going into the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics; so much so that she was made the first athlete to be featured on a Croatian postage stamp. Although much was expected of her in 2002, she exceeded expectations at Salt Lake City by winning three gold medals and adding a silver for her fourth medal. Her golds were in the slalom, giant slalom, and alpine combined, and she finished second in the Super-G. Kostelić became the first alpine skier, male or female, to win four medals at one Olympics, and the first woman to win three gold medals at the same Olympic Winter Games. As the 2002-2003 World Cup season is underway, she has resumed her winning ways, with four victories before the end of 2002. She is primarily a technical skier, although she does compete in some downhill races as well as the combined. In 2006 at Torino, defended her gold medal in the alpine combined and added a silver in the Super-G, making her the first female alpine skier to win six Olympic medals.