Matjaž Zupan (born 27 September 1968 in

Kranj Kranj (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fourth-largest city in Slovenia and the largest urban center of the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia) and the Slovene Alps. It is located approximately northwest o ...

) is a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

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 fin ...

who competed for the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

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 () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. 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 eve ...

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 24 May it was announced that he had become the new head coach of the 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 (; abbreviated as БОК, BOC) is a non-profit organization serving as the National Olympic Committee of Bulgaria and a part of the International Olympic Committee. History The Bulgarian Olympic committee was forme ...

as coach of Ski jumping team of Bulgaria for

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

games.

Family

He currently resides with his wife, Birgette in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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