It was an unenviable burden to have placed upon one's shoulders. However, the rewards could potentially be life changing for the 25-year-old local favorite, Bojan Križaj who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. The hopes of Yugoslavia rested with the talented young ski racer from Tržič.

Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark was king, to this day the most successful ski racer of all-time. The Swede had narrowly defeated Križaj for gold at the 1982 World Championships in Schladming, Austria just a month prior and now the Yugoslavian skier had a chance for redemption against his friendly rival in Kranjska Gora.

Adding to the pressure and excitement, were the 32,000 Yugoslavian fans packing the slope which was situated just above the local petrol station.

Stenmark, 26 at the time, had already earned two Olympic gold medals, three World Championship golds, and three overall World Cup titles including more than 60 tour wins. Križaj had won a FIS race in Kranjska Gora two years prior in addition to just two World Cup wins, both of them in Wengen, Switzerland.

Križaj would enter the second run of that World Cup slalom on March 20th, 1982 trailing the legendary Swede by the narrowest of margins, one-hundredth of a second. Stemark's first run time was 46.93 to Križaj's 46.94.

In the second run, Križaj would ski the run of his life making it down the piste in 51.95 for a combined time of 1:38.89. The tension mounted as the steady Stenmark took to the course. The Swede would cross the finish line in 52 seconds even. His total time of 1:38.93 was not fast enough.

Križaj won by four-hundredths achieving the greatest victory in Yugoslavia's skiing history. Faced with economic hardships and political uncertainty, the nation had a sports icon to identify with.

"It was right after the 1982 World Championships in Schladming and there was a huge amount of people there for the victory," said Križaj reminiscing about the race. "Of course it was a very, very difficult one - it was a tough race."

After the race 28-years-ago, Stenmark said, "I don't like being defeated by anyone, however, if it had to happen, then I appreciate it if that person is Bojan Križaj."

Upon being reminded of the comment, Križaj said, "Ingemar was a very polite guy. We both were skiing on the same manufacturer of skis and we quite often skied and practiced together. We were close friends not only during that racing period of time, but we still see and talk to each other quite often and still work for Elan sometimes."

"Bojan Križaj made great things for Slovenian skiing," said Simon Oblak, Executive Vice President of the 2010 Kranjska Gora Organizing Committee. "Not only for skiing, but also for ski production. For many years he worked on the trademark of Elan skis and they became popular all over the world."

Križaj and Stenmark would remain close friends and have more duals on the slopes in years to come, but none as significant as the slalom race in March of '82.

The Swede would proceed to win 86 career World Cup races, to this day the most by any racer of all-time, while the 170-centimeter tall Križaj would achieve eight, still the greatest number by any Yugoslavian or Slovenian skier to date.

"All the people always said that it was unfortunate for you skiing against Ingemar," said Križaj. "I'm very proud to be part of Ingemar's era and to beat him a couple of times. It was a great success for me."

"His best friend was Stenmark, but Križaj was not the same character as him," said Oblak. "Križaj was Slavic, skiing with a big heart. Stenmark was always so quiet."

Križaj would win once more in Kranjska Gora, five years later in 1987. This time he shared the podium with his Yugoslavian teammate, Rok Petrovic, who finished second.

"The crowd was so happy and of course we were too," recalls Križaj. "It was really amazing."

Throughout his career, Križaj competed in three Olympics; 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria, 1980 in Lake Placid, New York and in 1984 at home in Sarajevo.

At the Lake Placid Olympics, just a few weeks after Križaj's first career World Cup win in Wengen, he finished fourth in giant slalom, just .02 seconds shy of attaining a bronze medal. He was disqualified in his best event, the slalom.

Four years later in Sarajevo, expectations were extremely high for the Yugoslavian racer, competing in his home country. Križaj would finish seventh in slalom and ninth in giant slalom.

"Everybody expected a medal from me and it was big pressure from the media and on myself," he said. "I knew it would be tough and I didn't feel in good shape prior to the races. I wanted to quit afterwards, but I decided to try again."

The Olympic Games of Calgary in 1988, would be the last hope for Križaj.

"I put all my cards on the table to get a medal there, but I injured myself a few days before the Games and that was the end of my career," said Križaj.

Looking back at a successful ski racing career, the 53-year-old Slovenian will forever embrace the day he took down Stenmark. However, Križaj is just as proud of his season accomplishments in 1986-'87.

"In that year, I won the slalom overall title beating Ingemar and the rest of the field," he says. "I think this is my greatest success."

Križaj will return to Kranjska Gora once again this weekend to enjoy the races.

"Ski sport is still sport number one for me," he says. "I like to ski myself very much and following the World Cup is very exciting. It's very special for me to visit Kranjska Gora and come for the races. I don't miss any opportunities to ski there as well."

Kranjska Gora wouldn't have it any other way.

By Brian Pinelli
FISalpine.com
Friday 29 January 2010
Kranjska Gora, Slovenia