Carlo Janka (born 15 October 1986) is a Swiss former alpine ski racer. Born in Obersaxen, in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of Graubünden, he had the winter sports facilities right in front of his home. Janka has won gold medals at both the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

and the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, as well as one

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

overall title, one discipline title and also, one unofficial

alpine combined Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. A traditional combined competition consists of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom, each discipline runs on separate days. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time. (Until the 1990s, ...

title. In

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, Janka set a World Cup speed record in the downhill part of the

super combined Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. A traditional combined competition consists of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom, each discipline runs on separate days. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time. (Until the 1990 ...

event in

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells ...

, Switzerland. He reached a maximum speed of on the ''Haneggschuss'', the fastest section of the classic

Lauberhorn The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald, north of the Kleine Scheidegg. Its summit is at an elevation of above sea level. Lauberhorn ski races The mountain is best known for ...

slope, on 18 January.

Ski racing career

Janka competed in his first international

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race in December 2001 at age 15. Not until four years later did he reach the podium, but success came in all four disciplines. Janka began racing on the Europa Cup circuit in January 2004. He earned his first two

starts in December 2005 but did not finish either race. At the Junior World Championships in 2006 at Mt. Ste. Anne, Quebec, Canada, he won the bronze medal in giant slalom, and he finished the 2007 season in fourth place in the overall Europa Cup standings. Janka scored his first World Cup points in the giant slalom at Alta Badia, Italy, on 17 December 2006, finishing in 20th place. But his World Cup breakthrough began two years later, on 29 November 2008, when he came out of the 65th starting position to finish a surprising second place in the downhill at Lake Louise. Two weeks later, he gained his first World Cup victory in a giant slalom race at Val d'Isère, France, followed the next month by a victory in the

super-combined in

. A month later, he won the gold medal in giant slalom and the bronze in downhill at the 2009 World Championships in Val d'Isère. On the weekend of 4–6 December,

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, Janka achieved a remarkable feat by winning the super-combined, downhill, and giant slalom on the challenging ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predato ...

'' course at Beaver Creek,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. Janka was the first to win three World Cup races in a single weekend since Hermann Maier at the same location ten years earlier. On the same weekend as Janka triumphed in Beaver Creek, Lindsey Vonn almost duplicated the feat on the women's tour at Lake Louise, winning two races and narrowly missing a third win. On 16 January 2010, Janka won the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, the longest and fastest race on the World Cup tour, a day after nearly repeating his 2009 win in the super-combined by narrowly placing second behind Bode Miller. On 23 February 2010, Janka won the gold medal in the giant slalom at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics at

Whistler Creekside Whistler Blackcomb is a ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. By many measures it is the largest ski resort in North America and has the greatest uphill lift capacity. It features the Peak 2 Peak Gondola for moving betwee ...

in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. At the World Cup finals in Garmisch, Germany, in March 2010, he became the fourth Swiss racer to win the World Cup overall title. He clinched the title by winning the downhill and giant slalom, which left his nearest opponent, Benjamin Raich, 106 points back with one race remaining, an insurmountable margin. In October 2010, Janka was awarded the Skieur d'Or Award by members of the International Association of Ski Journalists for his performances during the previous season, thereby becoming the first Swiss male skier to receive the honor since Pirmin Zurbriggen won it back in 1990. Following the 2011 World Championships, Janka had some health problems but recovered well and resumed training five days later, winning the giant slalom at

Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; german: Kronau) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. Name Kranjska Gora was ...

, Slovenia, on 5 March for his sole victory of the 2011 season. Janka switched equipment following the 2013–14 season, from Atomic to

Rossignol ''Rossignol'' is a French word meaning nightingale, and may refer to: People * Rossignols, a family of French cryptographers * André Rossignol (fl. 1923–1928), French racing driver * Bruno Rossignol (born 1958), French choral conductor and c ...

World Cup results

Season titles

Unofficial, a crystal globe for AC was not awarded between

and

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Season standings

Race podiums

*11 wins – (3 DH, 1 SG, 4 GS, 3 AC) *28 podiums – (11 DH, 3 SG, 6 GS, 1 PG, 7 AC)

World Championships results

Olympic results

References

External links

* *

– Carlo Janka

– official site – ' * – {{DEFAULTSORT:Janka, Carlo 1986 births Living people People from Surselva District Swiss male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of Switzerland Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in alpine skiing FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Graubünden