Matjaž Zupan (born 27 September 1968 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 ...

) is a

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...

who competed for the former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and afterwards for independent Slovenia from 1987 to 1994. He won a silver medal in the team large hill competition at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. His best finish at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

was 4th in the individual large hill event in 1987. After his jumping days were over he a started successful coaching career. He was the coach of the Slovenian national ski jumping team from 1999 to 2006. His biggest successes were when Rok Benkovič won normal hill in World Championship in Oberstdorf and also bronze medal in same competition with Slovenian team. In 2002 he launched Slovenian eagles to the team bronze in Olympic games in Salt Lake City. After 2006 he quit his post as a coach and was replaced with Vasja Bajc. He took over Czech national team and stay there for three successful seasons. After that he quit so he could once again became head coach for his beloved Slovenia. His tenure was between 2009 and 2011. The second time the results were not so good and he was replaced with the most successful coach in Slovenian ski jumping history - Goran Janus who was his former jumper. In 2011 he became coach for the French ski jumping national team. With moderate success he coached them for two years, to the end of the 2014 Olympic cycle. On May,24th was announcement that he became new head coach of Russian national ski jumping team and their new ambitious program to launch Russia among best ski jumping nations. He was also able to choose his own assistant. He chose his countryman Matjaž Triplat. Matjaž Triplat was former head coach of Slovenian women ski jumping team. He is engaged from

Bulgarian Olympic Committee The Bulgarian Olympic Committee ( bg, Български олимпийски комитет, ''Balgarski olimpiyski komitet''; abbreviated as БОК, BOC) is a non-profit organization serving as the National Olympic Committee of Bulgaria and a pa ...

as coach of Ski jumping team of Bulgaria for

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

games.

Family

He currently resides with his wife, Birgette in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He also has 2 children.

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people Yugoslav male ski jumpers Slovenian male ski jumpers Ski jumpers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic ski jumpers for Yugoslavia Olympic ski jumpers for Slovenia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Slovenian ski jumping coaches Olympic medalists in ski jumping Skiers from Kranj Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics {{Slovenia-skijumping-bio-stub