Brigita Bukovec (born 21 May 1970) is a retired Slovenian

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

who won an Olympic silver medal in 1996. During the Olympics she set a personal best time with 12.59 seconds. She stopped competing on top level after the 1999 season.

Biography

Bukovec was born in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

on 21 May 1970. Bukovec started her career as an athlete in her home country, specializing in hurdles. She ran the 100 metre below 13 for the first time in 1993. That year, she was also chosen as Slovenian Sportswoman of the Year; an award that she was to win a total of five times (the other years being 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998). Bukovec won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

1993 Mediterranean Games The XII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1993 Mediterranean Games, were the 12th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, from 16 June to 27 June 1993, where 2,598 athletes (1,994 men and 604 women) fr ...

, and another gold medal at the 1994 Goodwill Games. She achieved fourth place in 60m hurdles at the

1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in Paris, the capital city of France in between 11 and 13 March 1994. This was the last edition to feature race walking. Medal summary Men Women Medal table * Athletes of the Federal ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and fourth place in 100m hurdles at the

1994 European Athletics Championships The 16th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 August to 14 August 1994 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, Finland. Men's results Complete results were published. Track 1986 , 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , Field 1986 , 1990 , 199 ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. Trained by the late Jure Kastelic, she also won the bronze at the 1995 World Indoor Championships in Barcelona in the

60 m hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds (Susanna Ka ...

and a silver medal in 100 m at the 1998 European Championships. Bukovec

At the 1996 Olympic games she went very close to winning the gold in

100 m hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

, just a hundredth of a second away from conquering the Olympic gold. She won the silver medal in Atlanta with 12.59 seconds. After her Olympic achievement, she continued to compete at a high level, but her career was interrupted before the next Summer Olympic Games. Bukovec won a silver medal in 100m hurdles at the

1997 Mediterranean Games The XIII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1997 Mediterranean Games, were the 13th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Bari, Italy, from 13 to 25 June 1997, where 2,956 athletes (2,166 men and 790 women) from 21 countries partici ...

, and in 1998 she won the silver at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

, where she ran the 100m in 12.65, just shy of her Olympic record. She had to give up her athletic career in 1999 due to health issues. Bukovec was named Slovenian Sportswoman of the Year for five times. At the time of her retirement she was the only Slovenian athlete to win this award for five times (she won it consecutively from 1995 to 1998). She was also named Slovenian Woman of the Year.

Personal life

After her retirement she gave birth to two children and devoted herself to her new job as a mother. Bukovec and her family later resettled in Switzerland.

Competition record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bukovec, Brigita 1970 births Living people Yugoslav female hurdlers Slovenian female hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Slovenia Olympic silver medalists for Slovenia Sportspeople from Ljubljana World Athletics Championships athletes for Yugoslavia World Athletics Championships athletes for Slovenia European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Slovenia Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Slovenia Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games