At Ljubljana City Museum, Deputy Mayor Aleš Čerin gave out the 2011 Marjan Rožanc Awards for the field of sport in the City of Ljubljana.

On this occasion Slovene designer Oskar Kogoj donated specially designed prototypes of skis and the original Bloke plateau skis to the City of Ljubljana.

For outstanding sporting achievement

Eva Terčelj took up kayaking at the age of seven at Ljubljana Kayak Canoe Club. She first appeared in the national youth team in 2006 and the very first time she took part in the European Junior Championships she won a medal in the K-1 team slalom event. A year later she was Junior World Champion in the slalom and the following year repeated her success and became Junior World Champion in the downhill. In her last year of competing as a junior she took bronze in the Junior World Championships. She made a fantastic transition to the seniors’ competition, where in her first year she became European champion among the younger competitors and in World Cup events and at the World Championships in open competition was ranked in the top ten. She was a member of the team that took bronze medal at the SLOKA 2011 World Team Championships at Tacen and has sailed through the points quota to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Despite her youth, in her career Eva has put together a range of top sporting results, which highlights her remarkable talent and passionate work in the sporting field.

For long-term work in the professional and organisational field

Gabrijel Ambrožič has been demonstrating his versatility in athletics for over four decades. He began as a middle-distance runner, subsequently focusing on work as a judge and organiser. From 1985 to 1998 he was a member of the committee for the Walk around the Wire; he was Competition Director for the 1986 Balkan Games, and successfully managed the 1994 European Athletics Cup. He did outstanding work as Competition Director of the 1997 European Junior Championships, for which the Athletic Federation of Slovenia received the highest accolades and praise; in recent years he has actively taken part in the organisation of the Ljubljana marathon, being responsible for the selection and accompaniment of top foreign athletes. He passed the exam to become an athletics judge in 1983 and since then has judged over 800 events. He also works on the training of new judges, is a member of the examination commission, devotes considerable effort to translation in the publication of the Rules for Athletic Competitions and as a member of the Athletic Federation of Slovenia Competition Commission inspects athletic stadiums in Slovenia and simultaneously helps to remedy defects and improve athletics facilities. In Moscow in 1999 he was the first Slovene athletics judge to pass the demanding exam to be a technical observer and member of the EAA appeal board and was selected for the shortlist of delegates for the biggest international competitions. His versatile professional work has won him a number of awards: the International Olympic Committee diploma for 25 years of voluntary work in sport, the Bloudek Plaque for his important contribution to the development of Slovenian athletics, the title of honorary member of the Athletics Judges’ Association of Slovenia (2005) and Athletics Judges’ Association of Ljubljana (2007) and at the 2011 EAA congress in London received the EAA golden pin for successful professional work, the third Slovene thus far.

For long-term achievements in professional and expert sporting work

Bojan Rak has been involved in table tennis for 47 years. He began his career as a player at Olimpija Table Tennis Club and with teammates Vecko and Korpa took a series of national titles in the former Yugoslavia. In 1983 he moved into training and in his 27-year career as a coach his special type of commitment has produced a range of competitors that have taken medals at European and World Championships: Robert Smrekar (World Championship medal, several-time national champion), Luka Reflak (European Youth Championship bronze medal), Saša Ignjatovič (member of the Slovenian team), Gregor Škafar (member of the Slovenian team), Bojan Tokič (bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, two bronze medals at the 2011 European Championships, selected for the London 2012 Olympic team). Since Slovenia became independent his men’s team have been national champions seven times and three times been ranked among the best 16 teams in the then-European Cup, called the European Club Cup of Champions. He also worked with the Yugoslav National Youth team that won eight medals at the 1986 European Championships in Luxembourg. In recent times he has been manager and coach of the national team which has kept its place among the European and world elite. In parallel with his coaching work, he is actively involved in staff training and has for many years been the President of the Slovenian Table Tennis Association professional council. His professional work has added quality to Slovenian table tennis, which despite ever greater global competition has been kept at an enviable level.

For long-term achievements in professional and voluntary sporting work

Andrej Jeras has been working for bodies of Slovan Tennis Society since its foundation in 1974. As a permanent member of management boards he has been responsible for the organisation of tennis events and for the development of competitive tennis. In 1986 he became society secretary and three years later he and his colleagues organised the OPEL-CUP tournament featuring six European national teams. In the period up to 1990 he worked on the construction of a tennis hall at the Faculty of Sport and in the building of new club premises. Between 1994-2000 he was captain of the men’s senior team with whom he won four national men’s team champion titles, were ranked among the eight best in Europe and organised the ATP Slovenia Satellite tournament series at Kodeljevo. In all of these years he played an active role in the setting up of the Slovenian Tennis Association and in 2001 became its first professional director. Under his leadership the STA has achieved its greatest successes in competitions and in an organisational sense. He was appointed director of an ATP tournament at Tivoli and led the Fed Cup project at Portorož, where the Slovenian women’s team played Russia and the USA. While working at the STA he never forgot Slovan and throughout helped to manage the society’s main activities. In 2005 he returned as secretary of the Slovan Society and later was employed as secretary of the Slovan Association of Sports Societies. In 2010 he was elected President of Slovan Tennis Society, was a member of the STA professional council and is currently the assistant manager of the Slovenian women’s tennis team. In his work at Slovan Tennis Society, Andrej Jeras has contributed to the establishment of the society and to the development of tennis at Kodeljevo and in Ljubljana.

For long-term work in the professional and organisational field

Bojan Žmavc set out on the kayaking road at Ljubljana Kayak Canoe Club in 1974. His competitive career ended due to injury, but he remained loyal to the club and was actively involved in its organisational and professional work. As manager or assistant between 1986 and 1993 he took part in the World Slalom and Downhill Championships and at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In addition to his club work, throughout he has also worked at the Slovenian Kayak Association where he is currently its Vice President. As President of the organising committee of the SLOKA 2010 Whitewater Kayak and Canoe Slalom World Championships at Tacen he played a key role in the remarkably successful organisation of the championships, where new benchmarks in the organisation of kayaking competitions were established, above all in work to promote the sport and the competitive spirit, for which the International Canoe Federation expressed particular gratitude to the organisers. Furthermore, after the World Championships he remained head of the organising committee at Tacen, where under his leadership the outstanding organisation continued at the World Cup competition. Beside this, in his work as Ljubljana Kayak Canoe Club President he ensures that competitors at the club enjoy proper conditions for achieving top results in the highest kayaking competitions.