The Decorated Career of Alpine Skier Janica Kostelic

Since establishing the medical device company Pacific West Vascular Solutions in 2010, Jennifer Walling has increased sales numbers and achieved the company's quota every year. An outdoors enthusiast who enjoys a variety of athletic pursuits, Jennifer Walling regularly visits Aspen, Colorado, to ski.

Women's alpine skiing debuted at the Winter Olympics in 1936 and, since then, no woman has been more successful than Janica Kostelic of Croatia. Through three Olympic Games, Kostelic has won four gold and two silver medals, which puts her just ahead of Switzerland's Vreni Schneider, who has won five medals in two Olympic Games. Kostelic first competed in the 1998 Nagano Winter Games at just 16 years old, but was held off the podium. She won the World Cup overall title in 2001 with 1,256 points and soon after became the first athlete to be featured on a Croatian postage stamp. 

Her success from 2001 carried over to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, where she won gold in the combined event, slalom, and giant slalom. She also won a silver medal in the super-G. Kostelic defended her combined event crown at the 2006 Turin Winter Games and also won another silver medal in super-G. She could have added another medal to her collection at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, but was forced to retire following multiple knee and thyroid operations.