Andreja Koblar (née ''Grašič'', born September 2, 1971 in

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

) is a former Slovenian

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and shooting sports, rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into sh ...

Career

Andreja Koblar, who now resides in Križe began her career in biathlon in 1993 and was part of the national team since that season. She made her debut in the

Biathlon World Cup The Biathlon World Cup is a top-level biathlon season-long competition series. It has been held since the winter seasons of 1977–78 Biathlon World Cup, 1977–78 for men and 1982–83 Biathlon World Cup, 1982–83 for women. The women's seasons ...

in the season opener in

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein (; formerly ''Badgastein''; Southern Bavarian: ''Bod Goschdei'') is a spa town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Picturesquely situated in a hig ...

, where she finished 24th at the 20 km individual. A year later, again in Bad Gastein for the first time in her career she came home in the top ten finishing #7 at the sprint. She was most notably consistent in the individual event ever since where she claimed three World Cup victories (1995-96 in

Osrblie Osrblie ( hu, Cserpatak) is a village and municipality in Brezno District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. The village is best known for biathlon races, with Biathlon World Cup events taking place since the mid-1990s and with on ...

, 1996/97 in Nozawa Onsen and 1997/98 in

Östersund Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-largest lake, Storsjön, ...

). Overall, she managed a total of nine podiums - seven individual and two sprint ones. In 1996 Koblar was 4th in the World Cup total and placed 6th in 1997-1998 season. Between 1995 and 2005 Koblar continuously competed on the

World Cups 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 ...

level. Her best results were a sixth place at the Sprint

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

in Antholz, a fourth place at

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Holmenkollen Holmenkollen () is a mountain and a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It goes up to above sea level and is well-known for its international skiing competitions. Overview In addition to being a residential area, the are ...

at the mass start and a seventh place at the home World Cup 2001 individual race in

Pokljuka The Pokljuka Plateau () is a forested karst plateau at an elevation of around , located in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia. The plateau is known for its forests, mountain pastures (Javornik, Lipanca, Uskovnica, Zajamniki, etc.), and w ...

. As to Olympics, she was seen in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, as well as in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

, and in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In Lillehammer 1994 she finished (44th) at the Individual and was (18)th at the Sprint whilst 1998 Olympics were far more successful for her as she placed (9) at the Individual and (5) at the Sprint and stood at number (6) in the World Cup Total that season. Since the 35-year-old failed to impress the coaches at the national competition to qualify for the 2006-07 World Cup season, she decided to retire from the sport. On 17 January 2007, at the World Cup in Slovenia she was allowed to start in her farewell race and her fans cheered and welcomed her at the finish line to honor all the great service she had done for her country. She began the race holding Slovenian flag in her hand, which she kept waving as the race progressed but she went off the track right after the first shooting.

Personal life

Koblar is married to alpine skier

Jernej Koblar Jernej Koblar (born 30 September 1971) is a Slovenian former alpine skier. He competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics, 1998 Winter Olympics, and 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and common ...

and works as an instructor in the

Slovenian Army The Slovenian Ground Force is the primary component of Slovenian Armed Forces. History The current Slovenian Armed Forces are descended from the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Slovenia (''Teritorialna Obramba Republike Slovenije''; ''TO ...

. Before the beginning of her biathlon career, she was skiing as a cross-country skier. Her career start was quite difficult since she was the only woman in the national team. # short story

External links

IBU statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koblar, Andreja 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Kranj Slovenian female biathletes Olympic biathletes of Slovenia Biathletes at the 1994 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 1998 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2002 Winter Olympics