Media Professional Nina Jelenc has been around paddling since she was born
Photo Credit: World Paddle Awards | Jens Thybo | Silkeborg
NINA JELENC (Slovenia) – Winner of the 2017 Media Professional of the Year Award
Born: 1986 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Disciplines: All canoeing disciplines, with an emphasis on canoe slalom and wildwater canoeing, canoe sprint, paracanoeing, canoe marathon and recently other canoeing disciplines
Freelance journalist and photographer, working for European Canoe Association and Canoe Federation of Slovenia as media manager (journalist, photographer, social media manager, website administrator), Editor of Slovenian Kayak&Canoe Magazine (Kajak&kanu)
With so many people helping raise the profile of paddlesports worldwide, the Media Professional award is always hotly contested. As a professional of both the pen and lens, Nina Jelenc is one of paddlesports’ greatest assets when it comes to media and promotion, which is why she is a deserving winner of the 2017 WPA Media Professional Award.
In front of a packed crowed, Nina graciously accepted her award admitting that she is more comfortable being behind the camera rather than in front.
“I should definitely thank my parents and late grandmother for always supporting my dreams, wishes, ideas … without them I could not achieve everything I have so far. I would also like to thank my friends for understanding that I do not exist between March and October because of the canoeing season and my crazy schedule. And of course to responsible ones at Canoe Federation of Slovenia and European Canoe Association who recognised my knowledge and passion for work and gave me the opportunity to cooperate with them. I hope the support will continue and that I or we will be able to do more for the promotion of canoeing in the future and that we will be able to introduce more activities. There are also media officers from national federations, I need to thank for their cooperation, and Spanish colleague Enrique Prendes, who gave me a push and encouraged me to start working with videos as well. And, last but not least, I need to thank to all who voted for me in public voting and members of the Academy. Thank you from my heart!”
Nina has been around paddling since she was born, with her Dad being an athlete, coach and team manager. With paddling in her blood and journalism being her passion, her knowledge and love for the sport make her news articles and productions so informative and personal.
“I actually wrote my first article when I was 14 years old for one Slovenian daily newspaper from the Junior Canoe Slalom World Championships in Bratislava. This is how it began - going to races just for fun during my summer school break, getting to know people. I knew the sport and athletes, I loved the people and atmosphere, competitions… and at the end I just connected something I loved with my skills I obtained during my studies and work as a sports journalist. Actually I do not think about my work as work, but more as a lifestyle. What we do and how we live, sometimes working even 19-hours a day, from Monday till Sunday, being on the road almost half a year, cannot be compared with regular work, but you really need to live this and be really passionate about.”
When asked about what her favorite memories as a canoeing journalist have been so far, the audience was given an insight into Nina’s passion for the sport and how excited different moments in time have made her.
“I could not point out only one moment as a sports journalist. In canoe slalom I always enjoyed competitions with big rivalries between Tony Estanguet and Michal Martikan for example and in canoe sprint one cannot but be amazed with achievements of Sebastian Brendel or Nataša Janić for example, but there are so many moments and athletes that keep to amaze me with their achievements it would not be fair to point out only a few.”
“When Slovenian athletes are winning medals at European or World Championships is always something to remember. Of course I always maintain professional stance when working, but these are the things you cannot really prevent and I am always very happy for them.”
“One the best experiences I had were Rio Olympics, even though I was not there in capacity of a journalist, but seeing fellow Slovenian Peter Kauzer win an Olympic medal was amazing and brought tears to my eyes.”
As a freelance journalist and photographer, media manager for the European Canoe Federation and Canoe Federation of Slovenia and Editor of the Slovenian Kayak&Canoe Magazine, Nina’s contribution to the profile of paddlesports is unprecedented. Within all of these platforms, Nina is constantly pushing the boundaries and looking for new ways to improve.
“My biggest wish at the moment is to strengthen the cooperation between ECA and European National Federations to gather more news from different European countries at one place. We have a great sport, great athletes and achievements, but unfortunately we have language barriers as well. So I would like to involve national federations or better say responsible persons such as media managers to share the most important news accompanied with a few English sentences so the most important national canoeing news could also reach wider audience across Europe and other continents, not just people in the respective countries.”
With Nina’s passion and expertise, the profile of paddlesports in Europe is in safe hands.