Prevc celebrates victory over “very strong” rival Maruyama
Dec 13, 2025·Ski Jumping)
World champion Nika Prevc (SLO) produced another outstanding performance to reduce Japanese rival Nozomi Maruyama’s lead at the top of World Cup standings with victory on the second day of competition in Klingenthal (GER).
Maruyama had edged victory over Prevc, by just one point, in their first showdown on Friday, a success which marked her fourth win from seven events during the 2025/26 campaign.
She again topped the standings during the morning qualification round, but Prevc produced the perfect response with commanding jumps of 135m and 138m.
That saw her attain an overall score of 294.1pts, with Maruyama (290.1pts) second and Anna Stroem (NOR) completing the podium places (272.4) in third.
“Klingenthal, it’s not a hill I feel strong and confident, so I need a lot of time to figure it out, but I’m happy with the result,” Prevc told FIS after her latest success.
“This weekend hasn’t made a difference (to the overall World Cup standings) as there’s still a big difference (to Maruyama), but Nozomi is very strong, so I congratulate her.”
Fog surrounded the German venue in the early hours of the day, but conditions were otherwise considered good for ski jumping, with low winds and an entertaining qualification round suggested fans in the Vogtland Arena would witness strong showings in the main rounds.
And so, it would transpire.
Ahead of the contest Germany’s women’s head coach Heinz Kuttin had spoken about the improved confidence felt within the team after recent training performances, combined with the opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd.
That optimism seemed well-placed after the opening round with Agnes Reisch and Selina Freitag ranked fourth and fifth respectively, while seven-time World champion Katharina Schmid was in seventh.
Eirin Maria Kvandal (NOR) was among a group of athletes looking to make significant progress this season after an impressive 2024/25 campaign, which included two Team gold medals and an individual World Championships bronze at Trondeim 2025.
However, aside from two wider podium places, she has struggled to find consistency and followed up a 17th place finish in Friday’s World Cup, with 29th on Saturday.
Austria’s leading female athlete, Lisa Eder, had been sixth at the halfway stage during the opening World Cup before climbing to third, but faced a much more challenging second event after ranking 11th following the completion of round one.
The other podium finishers from Friday, winner Maruyama and runner-up Prevc, were again demonstrating outstanding consistency though and the Slovenian narrowly led, by 1.3pts, after one jump each.
Anna Stroem (NOR), winner of the first Wisla World Cup earlier in December, was third, marginally ahead of Reisch and Freitag.
Ringo Miyajima (JPN) and Nika Vodan (SLO) made the largest improvements in terms of placements from round one, climbing four places each, to rank 13th and eighth respectively.
However, home fans were left disappointed as Schmid dropped five spots, leaving Reisch and Freitag best-placed to challenge the top-three.
Freitag’s effort of 131m helped her overhaul her team-mate, but Stroem soon responded, with 141.1 points, for a jump of 131.5m seeing her go top, with two athletes to go.
As expected, the top-two athletes were class apart, as they have been for the majority of the season so far, but the result was far from clear after Maruyama’s outstanding 135m / 146.2pts jump.
Prevc may only be 20-years-old, but she is a seasoned performer with two Crystal Globe crowns, Two Nights Tour titles and World Championship honours to her name. The longest and highest-scoring jump of the contest secured her the victory.
FIS SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP – KLINGENTHAL (GER) SCHEDULE
13.12.2025
14:45 – Start Trial Round (Men)
15:45 - Competition Start – Men’s LH
14.12.2025
14:30 – Start Qualification - QUA Men’s LH
16:00 – Competition Start – WC Men’s LH
All times listed in CET and are subject to change.
