{{short description|Slovenian para table tennis player}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Mateja Pintar | image = Mateja Pintar 2008 Slovenia Open 3.jpeg | alt = | caption = Mateja Pintar in 2009 | headercolor = | textcolor = <!-- Personal information --> | birth_name = <!-- if different than name --> | full_name = <!-- if different than name/birth_name --> | nickname = | national_team = Slovenia | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|07|16|df=y}} | birth_place = | residence = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Translator | years_active = | employer = | agent = | height = <!-- X cm, X m, or X ft Y in (automatic conversion) plus optional year and reference --> | weight = <!-- X kg, X lb, or X st Y lb (automatic conversion) plus optional year and reference --> | spouse = | life_partner = | other_interests = | website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} --> | module = <!-- Sport --> | country = Slovenia | sport = Table tennis | disability = Lower body paralysis | disability_class = 3 | weight_class = | weight_class_type = | rank = | former_partner = Andreja Dolinar | coach = | retired = 2017 | coaching = | module2 = <!-- Achievements and titles --> | worlds = | regionals = | nationals = | olympics = | paralympics = | commonwealth = | highestranking = | pb = <!-- Medal record --> | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport|Women's para table tennis}} {{Medal|Country|{{SLO}}}} {{Medal|Competition|Paralympic Games}} {{Medal|Gold|2004 Athens|Individual class 3}} {{Medal|Bronze|2008 Beijing|Individual class 3}} {{Medal|Competition|World Para Table Tennis Championships}} {{Medal|Bronze|2006 Montreux|Individual class 3}} {{Medal|Bronze|2010 Gwangju|Doubles class 3}} | updated = 27 November 2017 }}
'''Mateja Pintar''' (born 16 July 1985)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://db.ipc-services.org/hira/results-books/open/book/41 |title=Athens 2004 Paralympic Games - Table Tennis - Official Results Book |website=ipc-services.org |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |date=19 September 2004}}</ref> is a Slovene para table tennis player, who won a gold medal in her class at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, and a bronze at the 2008 Games.
==Career== Pintar enjoyed sports as a child. A month prior to her 15th birthday, while hiking on a hill near Lubník, Slovenia, she slipped and fell. Pintar fell unconscious and was evacuated by helicopter. She had damaged several vertebrae and compressed her spine. Pintar lost the use of her legs, and required the use of a wheelchair. She spent five months rehabilitating, during which time she tried table tennis for the first time. She enjoyed it, and following fellow Slovenian Andreja Dolinar's fourth place at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, Pintar decided that she wanted to pursue the sport after she had completed education.<ref name="cosmo">{{cite news |title="Kdo pravi, da ničesar ne morem?" |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.si/samo-zate/kdo-pravi-da-nicesar-ne-morem/ |accessdate=27 November 2017 |work=Cosmopolitan |date=25 August 2005 |language=Slovenian}}</ref>
Her first tournament was in Bibione, Italy, in 2002, where she took a set off Olympic champion Alena Kanova of Slovakia.<ref>{{cite interview |last = Pinkar |first = Mateja |date = 10 June 2008 |title = Mateja Pinkar |url = https://www.ipttc.org/interviews/Mateja_Pintar_2008_06_10/index.htm |interviewer-last = Marziou |interviewer-first = Gaël |publisher = ITTF Para Table Tennis |access-date = 16 November 2025 }}</ref> After a point was challenged, she lost focus, which she later described as the lowest point of her career. She teamed up with Dolinar and won the doubles competition at the European Championship, qualifying for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece, at the same time. She attended her first Paralympics in Athens, later saying that the toughest match was the semi-final game. Pintar went on to win the individual gold medal, making her well known in her home country.<ref name="cosmo"/>
She went on to win a bronze medal at the 2004 World Para Table Tennis Championships in Montreux, Switzerland, and repeated that success at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mateja Pintar: 'Od nekdaj sem želela življenje športnice' |url=https://www.aktivni.si/ostali-sporti/mateja-pintar-od-nekdaj-sem-zelela-zivljenje-sportnice/ |publisher=Aktivni.si |accessdate=27 November 2017 |language=Slovenian |date=24 September 2009}}</ref> Pintar stopped competing in 2014, and announced her formal retirement from table tennis in 2017. In the meanwhile, she had taken up work as a translator.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mateja Pintar končala športno pot |date=20 November 2015 |url=http://www.zsis.si/2015/11/20/mateja-pintar-koncala-sportno-pot/ |publisher=Zsis.si |accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref>
In 2024, she served as an announcer for table tennis events at the Paris Olympics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Did My First Olympic Commentary |url= https://www.instagram.com/matejapp_ply/p/C-Cf6AbI8WL/ |publisher=instagram.com |accessdate=1 August 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pintar, Mateja}} Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:Slovenian translators Category:Slovenian female table tennis players Category:Paralympic table tennis players for Slovenia Category:Paralympic gold medalists for Slovenia Category:Paralympic bronze medalists for Slovenia Category:Paralympic medalists in table tennis Category:Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Category:Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Category:Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Category:Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Category:People with paraplegia