Prevc claims historic Planica Ski Flying World Cup crown

Mar 28, 2026·Ski Jumping

Nika Prevc (SLO) finishes the 2025/26 campaign with a record number of wins and overall World Cup points - FIS/Action Press/Julia Piatkowska

Three-time Crystal Globe winner Nika Prevc (SLO) claimed the much-coveted first-ever women’s Ski Flying World Cup title in Planica, delighting the home fans in what was a historic event for women’s ski jumping.

The weather conditions were not quite as favourable as they had been 24 hours earlier, when the Slovenian set a new world record of 242.5m during training, but she was still by far the strongest athlete in the field.

With over 30,000 fans cheering her on, Prevc delivered jumps of 228.5m and 221m which secured her an overall points haul of 405.3 and a record-extending 18th victory of the season.

Despite her success, it was rival Eirin Maria Kvandal (NOR) who claimed the overall Ski Flying Crystal Globe, following her two victories in Vikersund (NOR) last weekend and a second-place finish in Planica, where she achieved a total of 388.1 points.

Nozomi Maruyama (JPN), who is arguably the breakthrough star of the season, entered the 2025/26 campaign having attained just two previous World Cup podium finishes, but ends the season with 19^th further top-three results.

The 27-year-old, who claimed two bronze medals at the Olympic Winter Games last month, finished third again, with an overall total of 361.7pts.

Prevc, who claimed gold, silver and bronze medals at Milano Cortina 2026, finishes the season with a record-breaking points haul of 2676pts, having surpassed the previous record holder, her brother Peter Prevc, who achieved 2,303pts back in 2015/16.

After appearing on the men’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup for the first time in the 1978-79 season, the Letalnica bratov Gorisek hill featured sporadically throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s.

However, it has become a regular fixture since, missing just two campaigns this century, 2013-14 and 2019-20, the latter of which due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For decades female athletes have campaigned for the opportunity to leap from the iconic ski flying hill and were finally granted that chance for the current campaign.

The top-15 ranked athletes from the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup qualified for the event, with 13 of those taking to the hill on Saturday afternoon in Planica (SLO).

Seven-time World champion and double Olympic silver medalist Katharina Schmid (GER), who announced earlier in the season that this would be her last on the circuit, performed the final two jumps of her career.

Planica is a special venue for the German, who is third in the women’s all-time World Cup rankings with 22 individual wins, with Schmid having claimed three gold medals at the venue at the 2023 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.

Moments after landing in the second round she was soon hoisted into the air by her team-mates and supporters, with the ski jumper just about able to say “danke” (thank you), while fighting back the tears.