Former international judge Irena Rosa has been honoured with the prestigious Stanko Bloudek Award by the Slovenian government, recognising her outstanding contributions to sport, in a ceremony held at Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana on 3 February.
The distinction is Slovenia’s highest sporting honour named after Stanko Bloudek, a notable Slovenian aeronautical engineer and sportsman.
Nominated by her national archery federation, the 70-year-old was selected as one of three winners from 48 nominees for her lifelong dedication to archery.
“The moment I heard about this award, my heart started pounding like never before,” said Irena. “I thought I was going to die.”
“I am very proud of this award. But I am also very proud of all the people who supported me and who have worked with me at any time to create a successful history of archery together.”
Throughout her career, Rosa has significantly contributed to the development of archery in Slovenia and the motivation of its competitors. In 2023, she received the World Archery gender equity award for her role as an athlete, judge, official, and technical delegate over several decades.
Irena represented Slovenia internationally for 15 years as a member of the compound national team. From 2004 to 2011, she served as president of the archery association of Slovenia, has been an honorary member of the federation since December 2016 and still sits on its executive board.
She officiated as a World Archery international judge at continental and world events, including three Olympic Games, for 25 years – between 1994 and 2019. Additionally, she served as director of shooting at major international competitions, including the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, for 10 years.
Rosa translated World Archery’s rulebook and judge guidebook into Slovenian and has educated coaches and judges for over 30 years, playing a crucial role in developing para archery in the nation. This led to Slovenia’s first Paralympic medal in archery at Paris 2024 last summer.
Ziva Lavrinc and Dejan Fabcic were honoured by their National Paralympic Committee in December for their bronze medal in the recurve mixed team event at the Games, receiving the team of the year awardt together, while Lavrinc was named para athlete of the year.
Image courtesy of Archers Association of Slovenia.
