Domen's double delight: Prevc wins second Olympic gold

Another day, another Ski Jumping thriller at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, as Domen Prevc (SLO) came from behind to snatch gold on the Men’s Large Hill in Predazzo. The Slovenian was trailing Ren Nikaido (JPN) by seven points heading into the final round, but responded to the pressure in the finest possible style - a Hill record jump of 141.5m to secure his second Olympic title of these Games.

Nikaido claimed his third medal of Milano Cortina 2026 with the silver, while Kacper Tomasiak’s (POL) dream debut season continued with bronze - his second medal of the Games. Prevc now holds the Olympic, World, Four Hills and Ski Flying titles, with a likely World Cup Crystal Globe still to come. He’s the first Slovenian to win a men’s individual title at the Olympics.

Prevc admitted it felt surreal to win his second gold.

“I feel like I’m at the cinema watching the guy doing his thing! But now all of these feelings are coming together, its amazing. Before the last jump I just wanted to enjoy it. I think it’s one of the most memorable jumps of my career.

The Slovenian is an 11-time World Cup winner on the Large Hill this season and was the standout favorite heading into the Individual competition, but it was Nikaido who set the standard in the opening round. As rain and snow fell in Predazzo, the Japanese topped the opening round with a jump of 140m for 154pts. Prevc landed 138.5m in response for second place, just two points ahead of Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal (NOR) in third. Tomasiak at this stage lay fourth after a jump of 133m.

The young Polish jumper improved in the final round with a second effort of 138.5m to overtake Sundal and guarantee himself a second podium of these Games after his Normal Hill silver. After Prevc’s record jump, Nikaido needed to surpass 140m to take the gold, but ended with a jump of 136.5m to finish 6.8pts behind the Slovenian.

"The fact that I already had medals before today means that there is greater expectation from people around me and a greater pressure on my shoulders," said Nikaido, who adds silver to his bronze medals from the Normal Hill Individual and Mixed Team events.

"The jumps in training were much worse than on the Normal Hill, so I just had to find the same feeling, like in the Normal Hill. It’s good that I found it, and it’s something I’m very proud of, this medal," said Tomasiak.

Away from the medals, the performance of the day belonged to Kazakhstan’s Ilya Mizernykh. The 19-year-old finished eighth after landing the biggest jump of the first round with 140.5m. He followed that up with a final effort of 136m to finish on 281.6pts. It’s Kazakstan’s best finish at an Olympic Games.

Another impressive showing came from Estonia’s Artti Aigro, who made the final round of the Large Hill despite six weeks out with a broken foot sustained at the Four Hills Tournament in January. Aigro had already withdrawn from the Normal Hill race in Predazzo to give himself a chance of competing, before jumping 124.5m and 125.5m to finish 26th.

“It’s been a couple of weeks on my sofa recovering so I was really hoping to be here. I skipped Normal Hill because the injury wasn’t quite ready,” said Aigro.

Meanwhile Kamil Stoch (POL) landed 131.5m in the final individual jump of his career. The six-time Olympian finished 21st in the Large Hill final.

“It’s quite difficult to describe what is going on in my mind,” admitted the three-time Olympic Champion.

“I think there is still some time to sit and think what all theses experiences were and this journey and what kind of memories will stay with me. For sure there will be truly good lessons for my upcoming journey as a retired sportsman.”

The men's competition at Milano Cortina 2026 will wrap up on Monday 16 February with the first Olympic Super Team event.