page_title: Slovenia
section_title: Sports
hierarchical_section_title: Slovenia / Culture / Sports
caption_attribution_description: English: Tina Maze with olympic silver at 2010 Winter Olympics. Čeština: Slovinská alpská lyžařka Tina Mazeová se stříbrnou medailí při ceremoniálu předávání medailí na ZOH ve Vancouveru 2010.
context_page_description: Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country located in Europe at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes.
  It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and the Adriatic Sea to the southwest. Slovenia covers 20,271 square kilometers and has a population of 2.095 million. One of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia is now a parliamentary republic and member nation of the European Union, United Nations, and NATO. The capital and largest city is Ljubljana.
  Slovenia has a mostly mountainous terrain with a mainly continental climate, with the exception of the Slovene Littoral, which has a sub-Mediterranean climate, and of the Julian Alps in the northwest, which have an Alpine climate. Additionally, the Dinaric Alps and the Pannonian Plain meet on the territory of Slovenia. The country, marked by significant biological diversity, is one of the most water-rich in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karst underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest. The human settlement of Slovenia is dispersed and uneven.
context_section_description: Slovenia is a natural sports venue, with many Slovenians actively practicing sports. A variety of sports are played in Slovenia on a professional level, with top international successes in handball, basketball, volleyball, association football, ice hockey, rowing, swimming, tennis, boxing, climbing, road cycling and athletics. Prior to World War II, gymnastics and fencing used to be the most popular sports in Slovenia, with champions like Leon Štukelj and Miroslav Cerar gaining Olympic medals for Slovenia. Association football gained popularity in the interwar period. After 1945, basketball, handball and volleyball have become popular among Slovenians, and from the mid-1970s onward, winter sports have, as well. Since 1992, Slovenian sportspeople have won 40 Olympic medals, including seven gold medals, and 22 Paralympic medals with four golds.
  Individual sports are also very popular in Slovenia, including tennis and mountaineering, which are two of the most widespread sporting activities in Slovenia. Several Slovenian extreme and endurance sportsmen have gained an international reputation, including the mountaineer Tomaž Humar, the mountain skier Davo Karničar, the ultramarathon swimmer Martin Strel and the ultracyclist Jure Robič. Past and current winter sports Slovenian champions include Alpine skiers, such as Mateja Svet, Bojan Križaj, Ilka Štuhec and double olympic gold medalist Tina Maze, the cross-country skier Petra Majdič, and ski jumpers, such as Primož Peterka and Peter Prevc. Boxing has gained popularity since Dejan Zavec won the IBF Welterweight World Champion title in 2009. In cycling, Primož Roglič became the first Slovenian to win a Grand Tour when he won the 2019 Vuelta a Espana.
  Prominent team sports in Slovenia include football, basketball, handball, volleyball, and ice hockey. The men's national football team has qualified for one European Championship (2000) and two World Cups (2002 and 2010). Of Slovenian clubs, NK Maribor played three times in the UEFA Champions League, and also three times in the UEFA Europa League. The men's national basketball team has participated at 13 EuroBaskets, winning the gold medal in the 2017 edition, and at three FIBA World Championships. Slovenia also hosted the EuroBasket 2013. The men's national handball team has qualified for three Olympics, eight IHF World Championships, including their third-place finish in the 2017 edition, and twelve European Championships. Slovenia was the hosts of the 2004 European Championship, where the national team won the silver medal. Slovenia's most prominent handball team, RK Celje, won the EHF Champions League in the 2003–04 season. In women's handball, RK Krim won the Champions League in 2001 and 2003. The national volleyball team has won the silver medal in the 2015 and 2019 editions of the European Volleyball Championship. The national ice hockey team has played at 27 Ice Hockey World Championships (with 9 appearances in top division), and has participated in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
caption: Alpine skier Tina Maze, a double Olympic gold medalist and the overall winner of the 2012–13 World Cup season
exif: {"Image PhotometricInterpretation": "32803", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D300", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Aperture", "Image DateTime": "2010:02:20 19:20:48", "Image ExifOffset": "208", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1250", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:02:20 19:20:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:02:20 19:20:48", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "24/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "230", "EXIF SubSecTime": "77", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "77", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "77", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2848", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4288", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "345", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}