Sports
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Andrej Šporn (Photo: BOBO)
Alpine Skiing
We Have Another Hero
05.02.2010
At the end of January, many Slovenes made a pilgrimage to the famous Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel for the traditional downhill event to witness another star performance by Andrej Jerman; he had won in Bormio a couple of weeks earlier, sparking “Andrejmania.” Instead, another Andrej – Andrej Šporn – stole the show when he finished second, only behind Didier Cuche.Tens of thousand of spectators and the TV audience couldn’t believe their eyes when Šporn, 28, crossed the finish line in first place and fellow competitors, with the exception of Cuche, were one by one dropping behind the little-known native of Kranjska Gora, whose previous best result was a 13th place in Val Gardena. According to insiders, this was a surprise only to the general public, while the competitors knew very well that Šporn’s success was only a matter of time.
Šporn was ecstatic, exclaiming “Being on the podium feels fantastic! I finally made a run without a major mistake. It was not perfect and that is the difference between me and Cuche. The last part was faultless. So far, I have been able to do it in practices but not during the race.”
He admitted that Kitzbühel was a special place, “It is really crazy when you are speeding along the finish straight, in front of 50,000 fans.” Together with Jerman’s two wins, a second and a third place, Šporn’s second place has taken the tally of Slovene podium finishes to five.
With Šporn, Slovenia will have two weapons at the Olympic downhill race in Vancouver, taking place on 13th February. Downhill racers tend to emphasise that you can only be successful if all the little pieces fit together, so it is difficult to count on a medal. In addition, Šporn concedes that Kitzbühel was the race of the season for him, but nevertheless he set himself the goal of finishing in the top ten.
At the same time, Burkhard Schaffer, the downhill team’s Austrian coach, warns against euphoria, saying, “The latest results are admirable but let’s not forget that the North American part of the World Cup was a disaster and that the season is still long.”
Hard work pays off
Until recently, Šporn had never been seen as a serious contender, even in Slovenia, and few people recognised him. For most, he was just a skiing hopeful, similar to dozens of others.
However, now it has all changed and previously unknown facts have begun to surface. Janez Šmitek, his former coach, was full of praise for his former protégé, saying, “It makes me happy that his incredible determination and hard work has finally paid off. There are very few people as hardworking as him. I still remember him making up to 27 runs in one training session, which was unthinkable for others.
“In one season, he won four national junior titles and one second place. He probably lost count himself, how many national titles he won.”
Šporn began his career as a slalom racer but his dream was always downhill. With his father, a former downhill racer and member of the national team, skiing and speed are in Andrej’s blood. However, it took him longer than expected to put the pieces together.
“Longing for success, he was often making unnecessary mistakes. He had a few excellent intermediate times but they were always followed by a slip,” Šmitek recalls.
Despite being 28 years old, time is still on his side. Cuche, for example is seven years older and it is a known fact that downhill racers are at their best between the ages of 30 and 35, when they can use all the experience they have gained over the years.
Times change
In the pioneering times of the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was unthinkable for Slovenia to have a successful downhill team. With the legendary Bojan Križaj scoring his best results in slalom, young kids were dreaming about poles, not speed. Even officials put it down to natural conditions and the lack of long slopes in Slovenia. There were some isolated attempts in the mid-‘80s and ‘90s, but until the arrival of Andrej Jerman, there was no significant success. Things couldn’t be more different now, with the technical team struggling and the downhill team enjoying great successes.
Šporn’s second place was also a milestone for the Elan team, Šporn’s ski supplier. To date, the company has only one downhill world cup victory (Bruno Kernen, 1983). When Šporn joined the Elan family, he was given a pair of ten-year-old skis and they spent the following eight years to reach today’s level.
“The equipment is definitely competitive and I would never change my ski supplier,” says Šporn. The fact that he was the fastest on the finish straight in Kitzbühel with a top speed of 140.6 kph speaks for itself.