‘Fighting’ Nika Prevc lands comeback crown in Ljubno

Nika Prevc (SLO) continued her astounding run of form ahead of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games with a fourth successive World Cup win of the season and fifth consecutive victory on her home hill in Ljubno (SLO).

The 20-year-old, who also won Saturday’s contest, has now surpassed Norwegian legend Maren Lundby and become the second most successful athlete in the history of Women’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, with 31 wins.

Many are backing her to one day emulate Sara Takanashi (JPN), who leads with 63, but Prevc had to produce one of her best jumps of the season in the second round on Sunday to ensure she topped the podium once more.

Prevc trailed World silver medallist Lisa Eder (AUT) by 3.1 points after an opening round which was heavily impacted by changeable wind conditions.

However, with over 8,000 fans passionately cheering her on at the Savina Ski Jumping Center, the double World champion did what she so often does, landing the longest jump of the day, measured at 92m.

Prevc would finish with overall score of 271.1 pts, with Eder, 270.1pts, narrowly denied the first World Cup win of her career. Katharina Schmid (GER) rounded off the top-three with 252.9pts.

“Yes, conditions were tough and I was also fighting with my jumps,” Prevc admitted after the contest. “I was trying to do my best, I didn’t, but I’m still very satisfied as these jumps are very strong.”

“I’m very thankful for everyone who came here to Ljubno and made this beautiful atmosphere.” 

Prevc now holds a 300-point lead over nearest rival Nozomi Maruyama (JPN) in the overall World Cup standings, the equivalent of three race victories.

12 Slovenian ski jumpers took to the hill for the morning qualifying session, with six progressing to the main contest in Ljubno, which is the ninth location athletes have competed at during the 2025/26 Women’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season.

Prevc, as she so often does, led the standings, with a slender advantage, 5.5pts, over Lisa Eder (AUT), with Nika Vodan (SLO) third and offering Slovenian fans hope of two host nation podium finishers later in the day.

Clear skiers and cool conditions greeted the 40 athletes who lined up for the main round, but changeable wind speeds were anticipated after they had picked up in strength towards the end of the early morning qualification round. 

And so, it would transpire, with the breaks in the competition frequent as officials battled to ensure the fairest possible contest.

The majority of the field left from gate 21, but those coming later in the field, the athletes ranked highest in the overall World Cup standings, were moved around a little.

2024/25 Selina Freitag (GER), who claimed two individual silver medals at the World Championships last year, went from gate 18 and would find herself down in seventh at the halfway stage.

Two-time Olympic silver medallist Katharina Schmid (GER), Saturday’s World Cup runner-up Lisa Eder (AUT) and reigning double World champion Prevc (SLO) all left from gate 19.

Schmid, who after nearly a year without a podium finish, has showed much improved form over the last month, ranked fourth after the first round, but there was a shock at the top, with Prevc unable to better Eder’s effort of 87.5m.

Her distance of 85m, put her 3.1pts behind her Austrian rival heading into the final round. Hopes of a double Slovenian podium were realistically over though, with Vodan’s score of 117.1pts ranking her in 14^th. 

Ping Zeng, who claimed China’s first-ever FIS Ski Jumping World Cup podium finish in Oberstdoft (GER) on 1 January, was though well-placed for a further landmark honor, in third.

Freitag (GER) was unable to find her best form in the second round and slipped from seventh to 19^th in the overall standings.

There were much improved performances from Annika Sieff (ITA) and Dong Bing (CHN) who rose 10 places each, while Liu Qi (CHN) rose 12.

Schmid (GER), who has announced she will retire at the end of the season, placed fifth in the first Ljubno World Cup on Saturday, but a massive 89.5m jump put her in contention for just her second top-three finish of the season.

That was soon confirmed after Ping Zeng slipped in behind her in the rankings.

“I’m really happy to be back on the podium,” Schmid told FIS.

"The last few weeks were not that easy, but my competition was good and of course the atmosphere is always really good here. I am a little sad that I won’t be able to jump in front of these fans again.”

Nika Prevc needed a significant effort herself after a rare underwhelming, but wind-impacted, first round jump and as so often when the Slovenian needed it most, she delivered.

92m ensured another World Cup medal and left Eder needing around 90.5m to secure victory.

She celebrated after landing the required distance, but it was soon confirmed that despite achieving that distance, the Austrian would receive a score which was one point less than that required to have landed the first World Cup win of her career.

“My jumps were better today and I’m improving in steps,” Eder told FIS.

“It was cool to jump at the front with her (Nika) today and I’m happy with the performance.”

The field will now reconvene in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games venue, Zhangjiakou (CHN) where they will contest two World Cup events across 16-17 January.