Posted: November 22, 2004

Athletics: Ceplak Slovenian Athlete-Of-The-Year

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

(c) 2004 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

ZRECE, SLO -- Olympic bronze medallist Jolanda Ceplak was named Slovenia's female athlete-of-the-year for 2004 the AZS, the country's athletics federation, announced Saturday evening.

Ceplak, who ran to a bronze medal finish in the 800 meters in Athens and earned a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in March, took top honors for the third consecutive season. The 28-year-old World Indoor record holder and reigning European indoor and outdoor 800m champion won nine of 16 finals in her specialty in 2004 and was the only woman to capture medals at the distance at both of the year's major competitions. In Athens, she became only the second Olympic athletics medallist for Slovenia since the small alpine nation achieved its independence in 1992.

Hammer thrower Primož Kozmus, sixth in Athens and fourth at the World Athletics Final, was named the top male for 2004 at a highly entertaining ceremony co-hosted by Radio Slovenia's long-time athletics correspondent Boris Licof and former Slovenian double sprint national record holder Alenka Bikar.

Ceplak, whose 1:58.72 in Budapest and 1:56.43 in Athens made her the second and fourth fastest of the year indoors and outdoors, resumed training at home in Celje nearly a month ago after a month-long break in early fall. Ceplak said her 2005 plans include a defense of her European indoor title and plans to debut indoors at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on 29-January.

Sprint legend Merlene Ottey, who competed in an unprecedented seventh Olympic Games and the first for her adopted home, was runner-up, with distance runner Helena Javornik third. The 44-year-old Ottey reached the Athens semi-finals at both sprints, and set new national records in the 100 (11.09) and 200 (22.72). Javornik, who won last month's Amsterdam Marathon with a national record 2:27:33, the 48th NR of her career, was tenth in the 10,000 in Athens, clocking 31:06.62, also a national record.

Sprinter Matic Osovnikar and shot putter Miran Vodovnik, both Olympians, were second and third in the men's balloting. The 24-year-old Osovnikar, a finalist in the 60 metres at the World Indoor Championships this year, lowered the national records in both short sprints in Athens, clocking 10.15 and 20.47 in the rounds. The 27-year-old Vodovnik set national records indoors (20.21) and outdoors (20.56) before finishing 11th in the Olympic final at Olympia.