Croatian star skier denies sympathies for Nazism

The Croatian ski star Ivica Kostelic strongly denied allegations that he sympathizes with Nazism and accused the media of twisting his words in an attempt to harm him and his family.

"I personally, and my family, deeply despise Nazism and we consider it one of the biggest evils in human history," Kostelic said today.

The remarks came in reaction to a report published earlier this week by the Croatian weekly National which alleged he had exhibited pro–Nazi sentiment in comments made recently and last year.

The magazine cited comments made Sunday in which Kostelic compared his pre–race attitude to that of a World War II German soldier preparing for attack.

After winning his third consecutive World Cup slalom race on Sunday in Bormio, Italy, Kostelic was asked how he felt at the top of the starting hut before he lunged at the slope toward victory.

He reportedly replied: "You have to be aggressive and attack in such a situation. I felt like a German soldier ready for battle in 1941."

In Thursday's statement, Kostelic apologized for having made that comparison.

"Wanting to emphasize my devotion to skiing, and probably under the influence of a movie that I watched at the time, I made a clumsy and unfortunate metaphor," he said. "If I hurt anybody with that sentence, I sincerely apologize."

However, he lashed out at the weekly for publishing an excerpt from an interview more than a year old in which Kostelic reportedly compared Adolf Hitler's Nazism to Josef Stalin's Communism, saying that "Nazism was a healthier system."

Kostelic said the magazine took words he made in an informal chat with a reporter out of context.

"I am deeply hurt and shocked" by the report, Kostelic said. The words were "twisted ... in a malicious and cruel attack on me and my family."

"It appears to be an inexplicable attempt to discredit me morally and as a human being at the time of my biggest successes," he added.

The report in Nacional – which plastered Kostelic on the front cover with bold letters accusing him of pro–Nazi sentiments – caused a storm abroad and in Croatia, where he and his younger sister Janica, an Olympic gold medalist, are revered for their victories on the ski slopes.

"I was raised to respect each man regardless of nation, race or religion. I was raised to condemn every form of extremism, violence and intolerance," Kostelic said. "Because these values formed me as a human being, I condemn Nazism beyond anything else, in idea and in its deeds."

Two weeks ago in Kranjska Gora, Kostelic and his sister, Janica, each won a slalom, becoming the first siblings in the history of the World Cup to win on the same day.

Kostelic's spokesman, Ozren Mueller, said the affair is "so painful to him."

"He feels awful," Mueller said. "I only hope on Sunday we can celebrate. We want Ivica to climb the podium and maybe even win. He's looking forward to just skiing. He's mad about skiing."

Ivica is to compete in the slalom in Wengen, Switzerland, on Sunday.