Bojan Križaj
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Bojan Križaj (born January 3, 1957) is a Slovenian alpine skier.
Bojan, born in Kranj, was a member of a well known Tržič ski family so he started skiing at the age of 3. In the season 1976/77 he received the first World Cup point, qualified among the 15 best slalom runners and later during that season in Madonna di Campiglio he hit his first top 3 podium. On January 20, 1980 he achieved the first Slovenian and Yugoslav World Cup victory in Wengen, Switzerland and later he won seven more times, thus still being Slovenia's most successful alpine skier ever. This was in the times when slalom and giant-slalom skiing was largely dominated by the skiing super-champion Ingemar Stenmark, which makes Bojan's successes even more admirable.
At 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, USA, he reached the fourth place in giant slalom, missing the bronze medal by only two hundreths of second. Four years later he took the athlete's oath at the opening ceremony for Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympics. Despite great expactations of the whole Yugoslav audience he was "only" 9th in giant slalom, much less than expected, but he was forgiven the result as Jure Franko managed to win the silver, the first Slovenian and Yugoslav winter Olympic medal. Bojan should also have competed at 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, but he got injured a few days before the event.
His most successful World Championship was in 1982 in Schladming, Austria where he received the silver medal in slalom.
His most successful World Cup season was 1986/87 when he received the small crystal globe for the season's best slalom runner (that was the only men's crystal globe of that season not won by Pirmin Zurbriggen). Beside that he was the second in World Cup slalom standings in the 1979/80 and 1985/86 seasons and third in the 1980/81 season. His best position in overall World Cup standings was the 4th place in 1979/80.
He concluded his rich career in 1988 at the race in Saalbach, Austria where he stepped off the skis right at the end of the track and walked into the finish area.
Altogether he won 8 World Cup victories during his career, all of them in slaloms. This is the list of his victories:
| Season | Date | Ski resort | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979/80 | January 20, 1980 | Wengen |  Switzerland |
| 1980/81 | January 25, 1981 | Wengen | Switzerland |
| 1981/82 | March 20, 1982 | Kranjska Gora |  Slovenia |
| 1982/83 | February 12, 1983 | Markstein |  France |
| 1984/85 | December 16, 1984 | Madonna di Campiglio |  Italy |
| 1985/86 | March 21, 1986 | Bromont |  Canada |
| 1986/87 | December 20, 1986 | Kranjska Gora | Slovenia |
| 1986/87 | January 25, 1987 | Kitzbühel |  Austria |
Since his skiing retirement he worked in many fields. He was Austrian brand beer importer, adviser for ski products in Elan company, etc.
In March 2006 he became Head of Slovenian Ski Pool.
