Filip Gartner was an extremely important part of the Slovenian skiing fairy tale in the 80s. Under his leadership at first Boris Strel, and then Bojan Križaj won medals at the World Championshipm, while Jure Franko won the Olympic medal. In 1986 he left the Yugoslav national team and became an extremely successful trainer abroad, in Austria and in Norway, where he worked between in the period 1987-1988 and 1994-2002. Foto: MMC RTV SLO/T.O.
Filip Gartner was an extremely important part of the Slovenian skiing fairy tale in the 80s. Under his leadership at first Boris Strel, and then Bojan Križaj won medals at the World Championshipm, while Jure Franko won the Olympic medal. In 1986 he left the Yugoslav national team and became an extremely successful trainer abroad, in Austria and in Norway, where he worked between in the period 1987-1988 and 1994-2002. Foto: MMC RTV SLO/T.O.
Tina Maze simply lacked freshness which would enable her to win medals in both technical disciplines as well; quite understandable considering the high altitude and dry air. Foto: Reuters
Lasse Kjus was an expert for big competitions, just as his fellow countryman Kjetil Andre Aamodt. In Vail in 1999 he won medals in all five disciplines, something no other skier managed to do, before or after. Foto: EPA

You were a part of the white caravan for years; now you are watching the races on TV. What is your comment of Tina Maze's exceptional results in Beaver Creek?
It was phenomenal. My congratulations to her, and to her team, and also to her hometown Črna for raising such a champion. Because everything starts in childhood.
After finishing fifth in giant slalom Tina was a bit angry with journalists dwelling too much on the story of five medals in five disciplines.
I would be angry too. It becomes tiresome and disturbing, being asked the same question again and again. She is entitled to have that dream, but it is disturbing when the others keep forcing it on her. Alberto Tomba, on the other hand, would have carried such a burden without any problem whatsoever.
How was it in 1999? Was Lasse Kjus, who in the end won five medals, exposed to any pressure of that kind?
Not a word had been said about five medals. At that time Kjus had already stopped training for slalom, he skied slalom only for combined. After he had won the four medals, I told him: you are doing fine, just go to the start line. It happened so that the surface was extremely icy, and the competitors with the first numbers kept dropping out, including Jagge and Furuseth. Kjus entered the race almost for fun, free of any burden, and won the silver medal.
Would Marcel Hirscher win the gold medal in slalom, had he managed to cross the finish line in the second run?
No. His skiing was too rigid, too aggressive.
You were happy for Alexander Horoshilov ...
I cheered him on enthusiastically. It is a phenomenal story. A skier from Kamchatka… He was even a bit isolated due to the Russian politics. Such a competitor should be supported, as none of that is his fault.
Now the struggle for the big Crystal Globe continues. Do you agree with the opinion that Tina Maze should win it without many problems?
Well, it would be normal – but only if she approaches the coming races relaxed, and willingly.
Next are the Golden Fox races. You have already done your job as the snow supervisor, but this week rather high temperatures are expected. Are you optimistic?
The snow check was made on February 12; at that time there was enough of snow. For now everything looks very promising.