Nika Prevc hails home support after Ljubno World Cup double

Reigning Crystal Globe champion Nika Prevc (SLO) further extended her advantage at the top of this season’s standings by claiming her ninth World Cup win of the season - and second in 24 hours - on her home hill in Ljubno (SLO).

The 19-year-old Slovenian, who took the victory after rival Thea Minyan Bjoerseth suffered a crash on Saturday, was simply peerless in Sunday’s finale. 

Prevc led by 2.4 points from Selina Freitag (GER) after the opening round and would extender her advantage to 10.2pts, with an overall total of 266.4 by the conclusion of the contest.

The German ski jumper ultimately took her second-successive runner-up position after the deciding round with a score of 256.2, while Lisa Eder (AUT) edged her Austrian team-mate Jacqueline Seifriedsberger for the final place on the podium, by just 0.2pts.

A ninth win and 13th podium finish during the current campaign marks the 2024/25 season as Prevc's best-ever and she has now increased her advantage over second-placed Katharina Schmid (GER) in the overall rankings from 265 to a near-unassailable 320 points.

“Firstly, I say thank you for all the support today and I mean this from all the girls who competed today,” Prevc told FIS after her latest victory.

“I was more (happy) with the second jump, but also the first one was okay.”

The Savina Ski Jumping Center in Ljubno (SLO) was one of the pioneering venues for women’s ski jumping with it part of the eight-strong line-up utilised during the circuit’s debut in 2011/12 season, ahead of the female ski jumpers making their Olympic Games debuts at Sochi 2014.

13 years on, it is renowned for frequently delivering large crowds and that was again the case on the second day of competition with over 5,500 cheering on from the bottom of the HS94 Hill.

They were able to support six Slovenian athletes who had made it through qualification earlier in the morning, but not present were the Norwegian team.

Ahead of the day’s action it had been confirmed by the sport’s federation that Bjoerseth had suffered “long-term” injuries, following her crash on Saturday, which would end her season.

Head coach Christian Meyer also revealed that her team-mates Anna Odine Stroem and Heidi Dyhew Traaserud had also withdrawn from the second World Cup.

“We’re not taking any chances ahead of the World Championships at home,” he said.

“Thea’s fall yesterday has left a mark on her teammates and all of us around the team. Now we have to take care of each other.”

The absence of athletes from one of the strongest ski jumping nations would in theory present opportunities to others and season overall World Cup leader Katharina Schmid (GER) was among those aiming to claim a morale-boosting result, having gone over a month without a top-three finish.

She would rank seventh after the opening round, but still in contention, as were six-time Ljubno World Cup winner Sara Takanashi (JPN) and Lara Malsiner (ITA), who were sixth and fifth respectively. 

Prevc’s first jump looked a little unsteady, but she was the only athlete to clear 90m in the opening round and her effort of 90.5m scored 125 points, which put her 2.4 ahead of Freitag, who is enjoying an impressive return to form. 

Austrian team-mates Eder and Seifriedsberger were close in third and fourth, with the crowds expecting an exciting finale to the World Cup weekend.

The biggest movers would come from further down the field, with Juliane Seyfarth (GER) and Nozomi Maruyama (JPN) both climbing nine places in the second round.

They would still be some way off the podium, but Seyfarth’s team-mate Schmid would come within touching distance, improving two places and ranking fifth after impressively clearing 93m in round two.

The top-four would remain unchanged despite a host of coach requests to revise the starting gate positions. 

The Austrian team were the first to move from gate 12 to 11, which enabled them to improve their scores, but retain the positions held in round one.

Freitag delivered the furthest jump of the day, with 95.5m, before Prevc’s team decided she should move to gate 10 and she was rewarded with the highest scoring jump of the contest, with 141.4, for her 92.5m confirming another victory for the teenager.

The field will next head to Hinxenbach (AUT) for the final World Cup contests before the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Trondheim 2025, which takes place between 26 February and 9 March in Norway.