Winter Olympics history beckons for Women’s Large Hill contenders

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Ski Jumping competition has already served up a litany of memorable moments and first-time successes. But on Sunday 15 February these Games will also write themselves into the sport’s Olympic history. The debut of the Women’s Large Hill Individual race is not only a first for the Games, but also means more medal events for female ski jumpers than at any previous Winter Olympics. So which athletes are shaping up to be the frontrunners for this milestone podium?

Arguably the favorite heading into the event is World Cup leader and World Champion Nika Prevc (SLO). The Slovenian has already won two Olympic medals at Milano Cortina 2026, adding an emotional Mixed Team gold alongside brother Domen to her individual silver on the Normal Hill.

“There is nothing better than sharing with my brother the most famous medal in the world,” she said.

Prevc looked strong in both Official Training sessions in Predazzo, winning two of the six rounds with jumps of 134m and 130.5m. But the Slovenian faces tough competition from both Norway and Japan.

The woman who beat Prevc to Normal Hill gold - Anna Odine Stroem (NOR), jumped 136m on Thursday. Stroem’s teammate Eirin Maria Kvandal is also finding form on the Large Hill. Jumps of 130m, 130.5m and 132m saw her top the training standings three times. Kvandal came into the Games off a double World Cup victory in Willingen (GER).

“The World Cup in Willingen was really fun, and it was nice to show that my best jumps are at the level that I can fight with the top girls,” she said.

The longest training jump, though, came from Yuki Ito (JPN), who landed 138m to top the first round of training. The four-time Olympian has never won a medal at the Games and finished 17th in the Normal Hill race in Predazzo. But with further training jumps of 134.5m and 131m, the Japanese athlete could be ready to make her mark on the Large Hill podium.

Ito’s teammates Sara Takanashi and Nozomi Maruyama, who teamed up to help Japan win Mixed Team bronze on Tuesday, also ranked consistently in the top 10 jumpers across both Official Training days after jumps of 125m.

“Usually I’m not nervous, but this time I was nervous because there were so many people here from Japan. But somehow I could use that nervousness and took it as a strength.” Maruyama reflected.

Other names to watch out for include Frida Westman (SWE), who landed training jumps of 128m and 126m, Lisa Eder (AUT), who finished fourth on the Normal Hill and Abigail Strate (CAN), who recorded best jumps of 127m and 125.5m.

The Women’s Large Hill action begins with the trial round at 17:35 CET before the race gets underway at 18:45 CET.