Carlo Janka is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in alpine skiing for Switzerland.
Carlo Janka started skiing at age 2 in the small Alpine village of Obersaxen. He chose the sport over soccer during his high school years, inspired by the feats of Austrian star Hermann Maier at the 1998 Nagano Games. His younger sister Fabienne is a budding skier currently racing her way onto the World Cup circuit. He still lives near his family home in Obersaxen.
In December 2009, Janka matched his skiing idol by winning three Alpine events at Beaver Creek. Ten years after Maier won the giant slalom, downhill and super-G, the Swiss skier grabbed victories in the super-combined (one run of downhill and slalom), downhill and giant slalom. Unlike Maier, Janka swept the events and did it in consecutive days. (Maier did not win the slalom event held first that year, and his victories were spread over five days.) Past great Bernhard Russi commented on Janka's all-around proficiency by saying, "He has a natural way of skiing, natural position. He's not doing fancy stuff. He's very mature already."
Janka is one of the closest friends of Daniel Albrecht, the 2007 world super-combined champion who was put in an induced coma after a horrific training crash at Kitzbuehel in January 2009. Janka visited his recovering teammate in the hospital in late-March and told Swiss daily Blick, "Besides the human aspect, [meeting Albrecht] is very important for us as a team. Dani was always like the leader of our training group, and I owe very much to him."
Janka began the 2008-09 season without much fanfare but finished it with a world championship title and a crystal globe in hand. His first World Cup victory, on Dec. 13 in the giant slalom at Val d'Isere, came at the site of the Alpine events at the 1992 Olympics. Two months later, on Feb. 13, he returned to Val d'Isere for the World Championships and won the giant slalom event again for his first gold medal. The victory was especially emotional for Janka, as his friend and teammate, Albrecht, woke up from the induced coma that day.
Janka's prize for winning his first World Cup event was a trip to see his favorite soccer club, Manchester United, play at Old Trafford. He became a "Man. U." fan during their treble season in 1998-99, when the club captured the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the same year. Wearing a #2 United jersey personalized with one of his nicknames, "Jänks," he watched his favorites clinch the Premier League title with a scoreless draw against Arsenal. Also present at that match was the fastest man in the world, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, in town for the 150-meter street race the following day.
Like his boyhood idol Maier, Janka has another cool nickname. He has been dubbed the "Iceman" from his Swiss teammates for his laid-back and soft-spoken personality. He has been characterized as a skier who rarely gets nervous and maintains a poker face through success or setbacks.
Carlo Janka started skiing at age 2 in the small Alpine village of Obersaxen. He chose the sport over soccer during his high school years, inspired by the feats of Austrian star Hermann Maier at the 1998 Nagano Games. His younger sister Fabienne is a budding skier currently racing her way onto the World Cup circuit. He still lives near his family home in Obersaxen.
In December 2009, Janka matched his skiing idol by winning three Alpine events at Beaver Creek. Ten years after Maier won the giant slalom, downhill and super-G, the Swiss skier grabbed victories in the super-combined (one run of downhill and slalom), downhill and giant slalom. Unlike Maier, Janka swept the events and did it in consecutive days. (Maier did not win the slalom event held first that year, and his victories were spread over five days.) Past great Bernhard Russi commented on Janka's all-around proficiency by saying, "He has a natural way of skiing, natural position. He's not doing fancy stuff. He's very mature already."
Janka is one of the closest friends of Daniel Albrecht, the 2007 world super-combined champion who was put in an induced coma after a horrific training crash at Kitzbuehel in January 2009. Janka visited his recovering teammate in the hospital in late-March and told Swiss daily Blick, "Besides the human aspect, [meeting Albrecht] is very important for us as a team. Dani was always like the leader of our training group, and I owe very much to him."
Janka began the 2008-09 season without much fanfare but finished it with a world championship title and a crystal globe in hand. His first World Cup victory, on Dec. 13 in the giant slalom at Val d'Isere, came at the site of the Alpine events at the 1992 Olympics. Two months later, on Feb. 13, he returned to Val d'Isere for the World Championships and won the giant slalom event again for his first gold medal. The victory was especially emotional for Janka, as his friend and teammate, Albrecht, woke up from the induced coma that day.
Janka's prize for winning his first World Cup event was a trip to see his favorite soccer club, Manchester United, play at Old Trafford. He became a "Man. U." fan during their treble season in 1998-99, when the club captured the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the same year. Wearing a #2 United jersey personalized with one of his nicknames, "Jänks," he watched his favorites clinch the Premier League title with a scoreless draw against Arsenal. Also present at that match was the fastest man in the world, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, in town for the 150-meter street race the following day.
Like his boyhood idol Maier, Janka has another cool nickname. He has been dubbed the "Iceman" from his Swiss teammates for his laid-back and soft-spoken personality. He has been characterized as a skier who rarely gets nervous and maintains a poker face through success or setbacks.
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