Aleš Valenta (born February 6, 1973 in Šumperk ) is a former Czech freestyle skier . He specialized in the aerials (jumping) discipline. His greatest success was the Olympic victory in 2002.
Valenta made his debut in the Freestyle World Cup on February 26, 1993 in La Plagne , where he finished 26th and won his first World Cup points. At the beginning he found it difficult to catch up with the world's best; the first top 10 placement took him two years. In 1997 he was fourth twice in the World Cup. He also took fourth place at the 1998 Winter Olympics . With 5th place at the 1999 World Cup , Valenta achieved the best World Cup result of his career. On September 12, 1999, he stood on the podium for the first time as the runner-up in the World Cup competition in Mount Buller , Australia . He also came second a year later in the same place.
During the 2001/02 World Cup season, Valenta jumped twice to second and once to third place. This made him one of the medal favorites in the run-up to the 2002 Winter Olympics . At the Olympic competition in Deer Valley , he was the first athlete in the world to manage a triple backflip with five screws, which won him the gold medal. Valenta confirmed this success on January 26th, 2003 in Fernie with his first World Cup victory . The second World Cup victory followed a year later, also in Fernie. Valenta celebrated his third and final World Cup victory on September 5, 2004 in Mount Buller. The 2006 Winter Olympics were disappointing with 21st place.
Valenta ended his sports career in March 2007. He is married and has two children. He runs a sports center in Šumperk and regularly hosts sports programs on the radio station Frekvence 1 .
Czech Republic
