The Tepes Family: Like father, like son, like daughter

The name Tepes has been present in Ski Jumping for a long time now. Since the beginning of the FIS World Cup in the 1979/80 winter season, members of this Slovenian Ski Jumping dynasty have almost always been part of the circuit, one way or the other.

Father Miran was competing in the World Cup from 1979 to 1992 and won the Silver medal with the Yugoslavian team at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (CAN). After he ended his career as an athlete, Miran Tepes was the assistant of FIS Race Director Walter Hofer in the men's World Cup for many years, currently he is in the same job alongside Chika Yoshida in the women's World Cup.

His eldest son, Jurij, is competing on the highest international level since 2006. So far, he took two wins in the World Cup and claimed the bronze medal in the team competition at the Nordic World Championships 2011 in Oslo (NOR). Jurij's sister Anja was also jumping in the World Cup, but she had to retire four years ago due to a serious knee injury. The youngest member of the Tepes family, Jon, is, of course, also a ski jumper.

And also the mother caught the Ski Jumping fever: She makes jumping suits.

For the Olympic Channel, the online TV channel of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the story of this Ski Jumping crazy family was reason enough to produce a video portrait about them.

Miran Tepes, who passed the winter sports genes on his kids, remembers how it all started: "In Slovenia, kids usually learn to ski before they start walking. We put them on skis when they were only one year old."

In this video, 30-year-old Jurij, who has been jumping off the hills almost his entire life ("I've been Ski Jumping since I was six years old. I've grown up with it"), also describes the highlight of his already pretty long career: A jump of 244 m with the highest-possible judges' marks, and all that in front of his home crowd in Planica. "When I saw those five 20s, that was one of the greatest moments of my life. I was assured that the jump wasn't just good, but that it looked perfect as well."

"Even if Jurij likes to brag about his long jumps, winning an Olympic medal is still the highest achievement in any sport", his father counters. For Jurij, who was participating in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, such a medal remains a big goal.

The duel between Miran and Jurij started many years ago, back then the son ended his father's career. "I promised my wife I would continue Ski Jumping until one of our kids beats me at national championships. I think I was 41, when Jurij, who was then 12 or 13, defeated me. Ever since then, I have only been watching Ski Jumping", tells Miran Tepes.

For more about this likable family watch the video:
Video: Meet Slovenia’s first family of ski jumping (Slovene with subtitles)