STA, 22 February 2020 - The Slovenian team finished second in the Ski Jumping World Cup event for women in Ljubno ob Savinji, finishing only behind Austria, as the two-day meet at Savina Ski Jumping Centre started on Saturday with some 8,000 spectators in attendance.

Nika Križnar, Špela Rogelj, Katra Komar and Ema Klinec, who led the standings after the first round, combined for a total of 1,005.1 points, while the Austrians scored 1,008.7.

The second place for Slovenia repeats the success from last year, although this time the women's team was much closer to the first place, which they had to concede to the favoured Austrians.

Led by Chiara Hölzl, who currently leads the World Cup standings, Austria overtook Slovenia to claim the first place, while Norway, headed by the Olympic champion Maren Lundby, were third (960.2).

Križnar had the best performance in the Slovenian team, and the second-best individual result overall. "I had two really excellent jumps today. I tried to do my best ... and the final jump, which was more relaxed, was really good."

Klinec, currently the best Slovenian in the World Cup, said that the home venue had provided her with an additional momentum, "making everything much simpler" and adding that it was "really an excellent competition."

Head coach Zoran Zupančič is satisfied, too. "We had aimed at a podium finish, while being aware that the Austrians are absolute favourites. The girls worked exceptionally hard, they 'exploded', which is what must happen in team events."

The two-day meet in northern Slovenia will conclude on Sunday with an individual competition, which in addition to Klinec and Križnar, two of the top ten competitors this World Cup season, will see another seven Slovenians competing.

Ljubno ob Savinji is hosting the women's World Cup for ninth year in a row, with the organisers expecting that up to 15,000 spectators will show up in the two days.

* Results of the World Cup team event in Ljubno ob Savinji:
1 Austria      1,008.7 points
(Iraschko-Stolz 85.5/90, Kramer 85/90, Pinkelnig 93/92, Hölzl 80.5/88.5)
2 Slovenia     1,005.1
(Križnar 92/94, Rogelj 89/86, Komar 83.5/82, Klinec 88.5/89)
3 Norway         960,2
(Odine Ström 86.5/89, Björseth 82.5/75, Opseth 88.5/85, Lundby 84.5/91.5)
4 Germany        916.4
5 Russia         913.4

The Slovenian basketball star Luka Dončić recovered from his ankle injury and managed to debut at the All-Star weekend in Chicago, the second youngest player to appear in an such a game, after LeBron James’ debut in 2005

Dončić first appeared in the Friday Rising Star game as the captain of Team World against Team USA, led by Trae Young. The game ended with a score 151:131 for Team USA. Since Young and Dončić were traded between Atlanta and Dallas in the 2018 draft, the two have been a subject of constant comparisons assessing which team gained more from the swap.

This is perhaps why one of the most memorable and widely shared moments from the match on social media comes from the reaction the two had on Dončić’s successful throw from mid-field in the last seconds of the first half.

??? https://t.co/yyVWyrtBSC

— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) February 15, 2020

Despite the fact that in 2018 neither Dončić and Young were actually the first and second picks, but rather the third and fifth, they are both doing very well and played as All-Star starters in Sunday's final match between Team LeBron and Team Giannis.

The fourth quarter of the game was very intense but unfortunately Luka didn't play in it. This year's rules, in memory of a recently diseased Kobe Bryant, stipulated that the last quarter be played when either of the teams reached the sum of the leading team's score by the end of third quarter plus 24 points, with 24 being the number on Bryant's jersey. The final result was 157:155 for Team LeBron; of these Dončić scored 8 points and contributed four passes.

Over the weekend Dončić also met President Obama and Michael Jordan. Of the latter he said: "I was too nervous. I forgot to ask for a picture."

STA, 16 February 2020 - Slovak Alpine skier Petra Vlhova won Sunday's women's World Cup race in Slovenia's Kranjska gora, also bagging the overall Golden Fox trophy following a second place in Saturday's giant slalom. The best Slovenian skier was Meta Hrovat, who finished 11th after a third place in the giant slalom.

Vlhova secured her 14th career win with an aggressive second run, attacking from fourth after the first. Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson, who had the best first half of the race, was well on her way to beating Vlhova, but crashed just a few gates before the finish line.

Second place in Kranjska Gora, which stood in for Maribor as the traditional Golden Fox venue, went to Wendy Holdener of Swizerland (+0.24) and third to Katharina Truppe from Austria (+0.89).

Another Slovenian to finish in the points along with Hrovat (+2.67) was Ana Bucik in 22nd place (+3.54).

STA, 15 February 2020 - Slovenian skier Meta Hrovat was third at the Golden Fox FIS World Cup giant slalom event in Kranjska Gora on Saturday, sharing the result with Swiss Wendy Holdener. First place went to Alice Robinson of New Zealand, while Slovak Petra Vlhova was second.

Vlhova was 0.34 seconds slower that Robinson, whereas Hrovat's and Holdener's gap was 1.59 seconds. Federice Brignone, the overall giant slalom world cup leader, was eighth.

This was the second world cup podium for Hrovat, a Kranjska Gora native. She was third in the 2018 Lenzerheide giant slalom.

Slovenian Tina Robnik came in sixth, while Ana Bucik was 14th.

* Results:
 1 Alice Robinson (NZL)        1:54.32         57.70 56.62
 2 Petra Vlhova (SVK)          1:54.66 +00.34  57.46 57.20
 3 Meta Hrovat (SLO)           1:55.91 +01.59  58.23 57.68
 4 Wendy Holdener (SUI)        1:55.91 +01.59  58.32 57.59
 5 Marta Bassino (ITA)         1:55.92 +01.60  58.35 57.57
 6 Tina Robnik (SLO)           1:55.97 +01.65  58.41 57.56
 7 Michelle Gisin (SUI)        1:56.10 +01.78  58.42 57.68
 8 Federica Brignone (ITA)     1:56.36 +02.04  58.40 57.96
 9 Tessa Worley (FRA)          1:56.50 +02.18  58.94 57.56
10 Sara Hector (SWE)           1:56.51 +02.19  58.86 57.65


World Cup standings

-Overall			POINTS
  1 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)      1225
  2 Federica Brignone (ITA)     1112
  3 Petra Vlhova (SVK)           971
  4 Marta Bassino (ITA)          711
  5 Wendy Holdener (SUI)         623
  6 Corinne Suter (SUI)          617
  7 Viktoria Rebensburg (GER)    556
  8 Michelle Gisin (SUI)         489
  9 Sofia Goggia (ITA)           479
 10 Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI)       390

-Giant Slalom:			POINTS
  1 Federica Brignone (ITA)      407
  2 Petra Vlhova (SVK)           333
  3 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)       314
  4 Marta Bassino (ITA)          309
  5 Alice Robinson (NZL)         300

STA, 9 February 2020 - Slovenian Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has won this year's Tour of Valencia, having won stages two and four of the race earlier this week. This is another major success for the 21-year-old cyclist after he placed third at his first Grand Tour, La Vuelta last September, when he claimed the white jersey as the best young cyclist.

Today's 98-km stage from Paterna to Valencia was won by Dutch Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck - Quick Step), but Pogačar managed to keep the overall lead for his third one-week race victory of his career. A year ago he won the Tour of Algarve in Portugal and last May the Tour of California in the US.

Pogačar secured the overall victory by winning yesterday's queen stage with the finish on the mountainous Sierra de Bernia, after paving the way to the success with Thursday's win of stage two, when he defeated Spanish Alejandro Valverde, one of the most successful road racing cyclists at the moment.

"After all the effort put in during the winter to get ready for the new season, this victory means tremendously to me. This is really something exceptional." Pogačar believes to be well prepared, yet not as much as at La Vuelta last year, when he placed behind fellow Slovenian winner Primož Roglič and second-placed Valverde.

* Overall standings
 1. Tadej Pogačar (SLO/UAE Team Emirates)   18:43:00
 2. Jack Haig (AUS/Mitchelton-Scott)      +    0:06
 3. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB/Ineos)           the same time
 4. Dan Martin (IRL/Israel Start-up)            0:13
 5. Dylan Teuns (BEL/Bahrain - McLaren)         0:23
 6. Wout Poels (NED/Bahrain - McLaren)         0:25
 7. Ion Izagirre (ESP/Astana)                   0:32
 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESPFundacion - Orbea)      0:49
 9. Oscar Rodriguez (ESP/Astana)                1:11
10. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/Movistar)           1:14
...
14. Jan Polanc (SLO/UAE Team Emirates)          1:36
24. Matej Mohorič (SLO/Bahrain - McLaren)       3:23
77. Luka Mezgec (SLO/Mitchelton-Scott)         17:42

Luka Dončić has been chosen as James LeBron's third pick to play alongside his childhood idol in the 2020 All-Star game on Sunday, February 16 in Chicago.

The rosters of both teams as drafted by their captains, James LeBron and Giannis Antetokounmpo, are as follows:

Team LeBron

Starters: (in order drafted): Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Luka Dončić, James Harden

Reserves: Damian Lillard, Ben Simmons, Nikola Jokić, Jayson Tatum, Chris Paul, Russel Westbrookm, Domantas Sabonis

Team Giannis

Starters: Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, Kemba Walker, Trae Young

Reserves:Khris Middleton, Bam Adebayo, Rudy Gobert, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Brandon Ingram, Donovan Mitchell

Before this draft Luka expressed a wish to play as a teammate of his childhood hero LeBron, and now that wish seems to be coming true. It is not yet entirely clear whether Dončić will also actually be able to play due to his injured ankle, which he sprained about a week ago.  According to some estimates, however, Dončić will be ready to play for the All-Star game a week from now and LeBron seems to be counting on Luka's recovery.

The game starts on Sunday, February 16, at 8:20 PM UTC+5. That is Monday morning at 2:20am in Slovenia.

STA, 7 February 2020 - The 56th Golden Fox competition as part of the Alpine Ski World Cup, which was supposed to take place on 15-16 February in Maribor, has been moved to the Kranjska Gora resort due to the unfavourable weather forecast.

The World Cup slalom and giant slalom events for women is moving to the north-western resort, which traditionally hosts World Cup technical events for men, nicknamed the Vitranc Cup. It will be held on the same dates.

The decision was made on Friday as a delegation of the International Ski Federation (FIS) is visiting Slovenia's second largest city to check on the snow and weather conditions on the slopes of the Pohorje hills.

Markus Mayr, the race director for women technical World Cup events, who inspected the venue one more time today, said in a press statement that the conditions did not allow the event to be organised successfully in Maribor.

The decision, made together by the FIS and the organisers, was regretted by Srečko Vilar, the secretary general of the event. He said they would do everything in their power to organise a successful event at the alternative location.

"All persons responsible were united in the opinion that we should not take risks by organising the event in Maribor, because a competition weekend for the women's World Cup cold be lost," said Mayr.

He added that "thanks to such a decision, it will be possible to organise the competition in Slovenia."

Despite great efforts by the organisers, who have been struggling to keep the piste running, the unseasonably high temperatures and strong wind made this impossible. Not even cutting-edge snow cannons were up to the task.

Mayr also said in the press release that the FIS had full confidence in the organising committee and that the federation counted on Maribor to organise women World Cup events in the future.

This will be the eight time that the Golden Fox moves to Kranjska Gora in the 56 years of the competition. It was moved there for the first time in 1976, and before today, most recently two years ago.

The NBA All-Star weekend of February 14-16 is approaching, and it is clear now that while the Slovenian player Luka Dončić will play in the February 14 Rising Star game and the All-Star game on February 16, he will not be entering the Three-Point scoring contest on February 15.

Whether Dončić was not invited or perhaps turned down the invitation is not clear as of yet. Trae Young is listed among the eight players in Saturday’s contest, and comparisons between him and Doncić will perhaps follow the two throughout their careers, due to the rookies’ having been traded between Atlanta and Dallas in 2018.

Both young players will also appear at the Rising Star game, in which Trae Young will play for the USA and Luka Dončić for the World team. Whether the two will play with or against each other in the final All-Star game on Sunday will be clear by Friday morning, after both squads are picked in the classic playground manner by James LeBron (Los Angeles Lakers) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee). 

STA, 4 February 2020 - Cyclist Primož Roglič, the winner of the Tour of Spain, and world champion kayaker Eva Terčelj are the winners of the Bloudek Prizes for sporting achievements, the highest national awards for current and lifetime success in sports.

 Having already been named Athlete of the Year by Slovenian sports journalists, Roglič, 30, was honoured by the state for the first ever victory by a Slovenian in one of the top cycling races in the world, the Vuelta, last year.

The same year he also finished third in the Giro d'Italia, another Grand Tour race, and three more major races. "Roglič proves again and again that he is a cycling champion," the jury said.

Terčelj, 28, secured the accolade among women for winning the K1 event at the Whitewater World Championship in September 2019, a career high that the jury pointed out also earned her a slot at the Tokyo Olympics this year.

Three lifetime achievement awards were also conferred as long-time Faculty of Sport professor Milan Žvan, swimming coach Vladimir Čermak and chess official Boris Kutin were honoured for decades-long careers in sports.