Portrait of Špela Rogelj
(picture by Bärbel Schulze)
Špela Rogelj is a 20-year-old Slovenian ski jumper from Ljubljana. She represents the ski club Smučarski Skakalni Klub Ilirija Ljubljana, which is the second most popular ski club in Slovenia. She took part in the Olympic Games in Sochi.
The first steps in ski jumping
Špela Rogelj debuted in the Continental Cup in Dobiacco in January 2008. In the same year she found herself in the Slovenian national team and participated at the World Championships 2009 in Liberec, 2011 in Oslo and 2013 in Val di Fiemme. She also competed at the Junior World Championships and in 2011 in Otepaa she got the individual silver medal and in 2013 in Liberec together with her teammates she won the gold in the team competition. She also became the national vice-champion in 2009 in Slovenia.
The lucky Lillehammer
For Špela Rogelj Norway is really successful place. As she mentioned in many interviews Norway is her second favourite country in the world (the first one is Slovenia, of course). Despite the fact the hill in Oslo is her favourite, Lillehammer was the most successful place for her so far. She debuted here in the World Cup in December 2011 and exactly 3 years later she achieved there her first ever World Cup victory and became the Ladies' World Cup leader.
(picture by Bärbel Schulze)
The best season in career
The current season is the best in her career so far. Now she is ranked on the 4th position in the general classification of the Ladies' World Cup and jumps on the podium in the World Cup competitions. She definitely is the one of the best jumping ladies in her country. There is definitely a bright future in front of her and I'm sure that the best is yet to come. We are standing ahead of the World Championships in Falun - will she play the main role in it? She definitely has a chance!
By Anna Sobol
