News14 Nov 2009


Kozmus and Roman named Slovenia's Athletes of the Year

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Reigning World and Olympic Hammer Throw champion Primoz Kozmus winning the 2009 Slovenian Athlete of the Year award in Ljubljana (© Bob Ramsak)

World and Olympic Hammer Throw champion Primož Kozmus and middle distance runner Sonja Roman were named Slovenia’s 2009 Athletes of the Year at a ceremony in Ljubljana on Friday (13).

Kozmus was one of only seven men this year to add a World title to an Olympic triumph from the year before. The 30-year-old won in Berlin with a throw of 80.84m to move up a notch from his silver medal finish in Osaka in 2007. Two weeks later Kozmus broke his own national record with an 82.58m throw at a national Grand Prix meet in Celje, the farthest throw in the world in 2009.

Kozmus, who won 12 of 19 competitions this season, including the season-capping World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki, announced last month that he’s considering retiring from the sport. He’s expected to make his final decision in the spring.

Roman, who ran to 1500m bronze at the European Indoor Championships in Turin in March, clocked a 4:02.13 national record at Rome’s Golden Gala in July, eclipsing the mark set by Jolanda Ceplak in 2003. Roman was a semi-finalist at the World championships in Berlin.

Triple jumper Marija Sestak, who took silver at the European indoor championships, and javelin thrower Martina Ratej, who finished 11th at the World championships, tied or second in the balloting. Miran Vodovnik, eighth in the Shot Put in Berlin, finished runner-up behind Kozmus in the men’s vote.

Kozmus’s trainer, Vladimir Kevo, was named Coach of the Year. Kevo also coaches Barbara Špiler, the national senior, junior and youth record holder in the Hammer Throw, who took the gold medal at this year’s World Youth Championships in Bressanone.

Special guests at this years awards presentation, hosted by former Olympic sprinter Alenka Bikar, included Slovenia's Minister for School and Sport, Igor Lukšic, and Katarina Kresal, the nation's Interior Minister.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

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