Defending Two Nights champion Prevc dominates in Garmisch

Dec 31, 2025·Ski Jumping

Nika Prevc celebrates after winning in Garmisch - FIS/ActionPress/Julia Piatkowskav

Defending champion Nika Prevc (SLO) started the 2024/25 Two Nights Tournament in Germany in dominant fashion, securing a commanding victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Wednesday.

Chasing her third consecutive overall Two Nights title, Prevc finished 23.1 points clear of runner-up Selina Freitag (GER). Top-qualifier and World Cup leader Nozomi Maruyama (JPN) rounded out the podium.

It’s the third consecutive time Prevc has landed on top of the podium in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The 20-year-old led from start to finish, opening with a strong first jump of 136.5m that earned 133.0 points, putting her ahead of Freitag, who scored a total of 118.2 points in the first round.

Prevc extended her lead in the second round with a 134.5m jump for 138.1 points.

“I felt better than yesterday in the qualifications”, Prevc, who qualified in second, said. “This time I managed to do two good jumps. There wasn’t as much nervousness today. I am very relaxed at the moment and I will head to Oberstdorf like that, too.”

Prevc achieved her fifth victory of the season and the 27th of her career. She now trails Maruyama by just 54 points in the overall World Cup standings.

Freitag claims home-snow podium

Freitag, meanwhile, celebrated her 15th career World Cup podium and her first-ever top-three finish on German snow. It also marked the first-ever German podium finish in a Two Nights Tour competition.

“I’m really enjoying it right now”, Freitag said afterward. “I was a bit nervous, but then I thought: I’m looking forward to it. With this weather, it’s really cool.”

Maruyama, who sat in fourth after the first round (116.9), improved her showing in the second round when she landed at 133.5m and earned 127.2 points. Only Prevc and Freitag managed to beat that score in the second round.

Lisa Eder (AUT) and Sara Takanashi (JPN) rounded out the top-five in Garmisch, while China's 20-year-old Ping Zeng impressed with a sixth-place finish ahead of Abigail Strate (CAN), Agnes Reisch, Katharina Schmid (both GER), and Eirin Maria Kvandal (NOR).

The women’s field will now make the 90-minute journey to Oberstdorf (GER), ahead of the second and final stage of the ‘2024/25 Two Nights Tour’, with qualifying and the main event both taking place on Thursday, 1 January 2026.

How to win the Two Nights Tour

A 64-strong field had taken to the hill on Tuesday for qualification, with the top 30 athletes qualifying for the first round.

Unlike other World Cup events, those progressing were then placed into 15 duels, with the top ranked athlete, facing the lowest ranked qualifier, and so on throughout the field. The 15 winners would progress, together with five ‘lucky losers’ who recorded the highest points score, despite defeat to their respective opponents.

Totals achieved in the first round would then be added to a more traditional second round to determine the podium places. The points achieved in the first leg of the ‘Two Nights Tour’ would then be added to those achieved in Oberstdorf, to declare an overall winner.