Athlete profile: Spela Pretnar

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

Pretnar lives in a town called Bled, but her career has been marked by broken bones...in 1995, Pretnar won a giant slalom in Bormio, Italy and enjoyed four podiums...but two weeks after that triumph, she broke her leg..."Over my career, I've broken my left leg four times, my right hand twice, my fingers, my collarbone, my ribs and I've twisted my ankle three times," she said. "I've spent more time in the hospital than on the mountain"...Pretnar spent the 1996 season touring the World Cup as a television commentator as her body healed..."It was important for me to stay near the sport," she says. "I got to train with the team's physical therapist. But I also like television. I'm pretty outgoing. Still, I wanted to get back to the slopes"...she returned last season and placed 11th in the giant slalom and 12th in the slalom at the World Championships in Sestriere, Italy...but her return to the podium came this season on January 5, 1998, when she placed third in a slalom at the site of her lone World Cup victory -- Bormio..."After all that's happened to me, it's wonderful to be back," Pretnar says. "Bormio's a very happy town for me and I love skiing here"...Pretnar has enjoyed skiing in Japan as well -- her breakthrough came at the 1993 Worlds in Morioka, Japan with a sixth in the giant slalom and sEventsh in the Super G...Pretnar seemed pre-destined for skiing -- her parents met while skiing at the Slovenian resort of Kranjska Gora...the first of her broken legs occurred at age 11, and then the same injury followed when she was 15 and when she was 17...Pretnar has taken inspiration from her uncle, Janez Brodnik, an Olympic gymnast...early in his career, Brodnik tore ligaments in his knees while dismounting from the rings...after being told by doctors to change careers, Janez returned to compete for Yugoslavia in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and the 1972 Munich Olympics...Spela also rehabilitated by swimming -- which has long been her summer sport of choice...Spela's mother is a chemist and her father is a hotel director...Spela speaks English...