Vreni Schneider remembers: The extraordinary career of Slovenian Mateja Svet

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

She is one of our greatest athletes in history: Vreni Schneider (59). Between 1984 and 1995 she achieved no fewer than 55 World Cup victories, won three Olympic gold medals, became world champion three times and won the overall World Cup three times.

An incredibly successful career. But without the sudden retirement of a promising talent 34 years ago, Schneider might have one or two fewer World Cup victories to her name. The Slovenian Mateja Svet, now 55 years old, had a flying start to her career.

Unusual career

At the age of 15, she made her World Cup debut in her hometown of Maribor. The first two appearances at the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo followed a month later.

The first podium finishes soon came (in 1985 at the age of 16) and the first World Cup victory at the age of 17. In total, Svet won seven races and stood on the podium 22 times – in just 64 World Cup starts. She also became world champion and won Olympic silver in Calgary 1988.

Then in March 1990 there was a big bang: after finishing third in the giant slalom in Sweden, Svet retired at the age of 21. The reasons for this are not really known to this day. Apparently she had problems with Tone Vogrinec (82). He was the strongman of the Yugoslav Ski Association; Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia until 1991. Vogrinec is considered the father of Slovenian skiing, but he was not the easiest to get along with. “He did a lot for the sport, but if things didn’t go his way, the athletes had no chance,” sports journalist Sinisa Urosevic of the Slovenian daily “Delo” told Blick. “Mateja never spoke about it publicly, but it was clear that it was about things like training methods or the choice of equipment.”

Vreni Schneider remembers Svet’s resignation. «They were very surprised, but accepted Mateja’s decision. I assumed that applied to her,” she says.

Schneider never saw her again

The Swiss did not notice the internal quarrels among the Slovenes. “That was none of my business,” says Schneider. She loved the Slovenian team. «I always looked forward to my favorite World Cup in Maribor. We got along very well with them and I liked the Slovenian trainer courses.”

Svet and Schneider stood on the podium together 15 times, mainly at the World Championships and the Olympic Games, the two finishing first and second three times together. “People followed the matches with great interest. Schneider also had a lot of sympathy from the public in Slovenia, especially in Maribor, because she always rode excellently there,” Urosevic recalls.

Despite the sporting competition, the two had a lot of respect for each other. “We admired each other and appreciated each other’s successes from the bottom of our hearts,” says Schneider. “I can still see Mateja today, how elegantly she rode in her yellow racing suit. I missed her, unfortunately I never saw her again after her career. I hope she is doing well today and wish her all the best.”

Withdrawal from the public

Even during his career, Svet did not like to talk to the media. After her retirement, she completely withdrew from sports and trained as a psychotherapist. Nowadays she works in a hospital in Ljubljana.

Only in recent years has she been seen in public sporadically again. Thus, she met Vogrinec again for the first time in 2022 and reconciled with him. At one event they sat together on stage. Svet said, “I’m glad you’re here today and I’m glad to be sitting next to you.”

Source : Blick