OLYMPICS: First Slovenian Olympic Medal Dates Back to 1912
Ljubljana, 30 January - Rudolf Cvetko (1880-1977) became the first Slovenian with an Olympic medal after winning team silver in fencing as he competed for the Austro-Hungarian empire in Stockholm in 1912.
Rudolf Cvetko, the first Slovenian Olympic medallist, photographed around 1912.
Photo: Courtesy of the Velenje Rudolf Cvetko Fencing Club
The first medal at Winter Olympics was however not secured until the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, when Slovenian Jure Franko saved the honour of the Yugoslav organisers with giant slalom silver.
Since 1912, a total of 51 Slovenian athletes have won 69 medals competing for Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the former Yugoslavia and independent Slovenia.