Roland CLARA

START OF THE SPORTING CAREER

• Roland Clara started Cross-Country skiing in 1994 at the age of 13. I

CAREER

• In 2002 he made his first international appearance in Schonach at the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships where he finished 18th in 30 km Mass Start Classic
• In 2004 Clara finished for the first time on the podium at the U23 World Championships, he took the second place in sprint and finished third in 30 km free and skiathlon.
• In 2005 he took the runner up spot at the U23 World Championships in Oberstdorf twice – once in skiathlon and once in 15 km. In that year, the guy from South Tirol won the overall OPA Continental Cup series as well. He captured a top ten spot in a World Cup competition for the first time as he powered to the 10th place in the traditional 50 km in Holmenkollen.
• In 2007 Roland Clara qualified for the first FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. He participated in skiathlon in Sapporo and finished 21st, while in the relay, and took 9th place with the Italian relay.
• In 2008 he showed his strength in the World Cup Final and cracked the top 10 as finished 8th.
• In 2009, he narrowly missed the podium twice at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec (5th place in skiathlon and 4th place in relay)
• At the 2010 Olympics he competed in the 50 km where he finished 36th after having dealt with the swine flu in the season preparation.
• At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo in 2011he showed his good shape with 7th place in skiathlon and 5th in relay. At the end he finished among the top 15 in the overall World Cup ranking for the first time.
• In the last season Clara finished five times in the top 10 and ended the season in 17th place (2nd best overall result since the 2010/11 season when he finished 15th)
• Performance at the FIS World Ski Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme did not go as expected for Clara as he claimed 20th place in 30 km SKiathlon and 21st position in 15 km Free.
• The best achievement at the World Championships 2013 was 4th place in the 4x10 km Men’s Relay

PERSONAL

• Roland Clara got married in spring 2011 with his long time girlfriend Melanie. The son David was born in February 2010
• He likes youtube.com
• He enjoys sprints, Alpine Skiing at Kronplatz but as well climbing, swimming, and mountain biking belong to his hobbies.
• Clara admits he can’t remember names well and is a little bit untidy.
• Has good sense of humor, enjoys smiling and is in general a positive thinking guy

QUICK LINKS

Website: www.rolandclara.com