Prevc finishes sensational Ski Flying weekend for Slovenia with win in Oberstdorf

Domen Prevc (SLO) rounded off a sensational Ski Flying weekend for Slovenia as he claimed victory in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Sunday. It was the second win for Slovenia this weekend after Timi Zajc (SLO) topped the podium on Saturday.

Prevc, who finished third on Saturday, performed two strong jumps for a combined total of 436.8 points to beat Johann Andre Forfang by 3.6 points. Michael Hayboeck (AUT) completed the podium with 429.1 points.

By claiming top spot in Oberstdorf, Prevc secured the seventh World Cup win of his career. The 25-year-old ended a five-year Ski Flying wait as he last topped the podium in the discipline in March 2019.

Prevc did not expect the win

“Actually, I didn’t imagine this after yesterday”, Prevc said afterward. “I didn’t think I could achieve this. I’m really happy that I made two really good jumps. Especially when the conditions were challenging.”

Competition in Oberstdorf was influenced by changing wind conditions, which brought an extra challenge. “I was watching the other guys jumping, and I was like: you need to have a bit of luck here and also really good jumps. I’m really happy I got both and managed to score a win today”, Prevc said.

Prevc was not the only ski jumper in Oberstdorf to land on the podium twice this weekend. The Slovenian was joined by Johann Andre Forfang (NOR), who moved up from fourth after round one to another second place this weekend.

With 160 points, Prevc and Forfang lead the way in the current Ski Flying World Cup ranking, while Daniel Tschofenig (AUT) is the overall leader.

Hayboeck jumps to third

On Sunday, Austria's Michael Hayboeck joined Ski Flying World Cup leaders Prevc and Forfang on the podium with third place and a total of 429.1 points.

“It’s a cool podium today”, Hayboeck smiled. “It’s only the second World Cup podium of my career in Ski Flying. I was close to it a lot of times and have some fourth places, so I’m really happy I could (finally) reach the podium today.”

“It wasn’t easy”, he added, referring to the weather circumstances. “My first round was a pretty good one. It was the basis (foundation) for this podium."

|All in all, you shouldn’t think about the conditions (too much). You just have to perform good jumps. My jumps were good and solid", he added.

Wasek records career-best

Polish national champion Pawel Wasek put Saturday’s disappointing jumps behind and stepped up to land in fourth for a career-best result (426.0).

With a distance of 233.0m, Wasek also recorded the furthest-ever jump of his career.

Jan Hoerl (AUT) was the best Austrian of the day in fifth (424.6), followed by World Cup leader Daniel Tschofenig (AUT) in sixth.

Gregor Deschwanden (SUI), who sat in third after the first round thanks to a strong jump (234.5m and 216.5 points), fell behind after the final round and landed in ninth.

Saturday’s winner Timi Zajc (SLO), who topped the qualification round earlier in the day, ended in 12th place after two disappointing jumps (412.2).

A Prevc-perfect weekend

All in all, it was a perfect ski jumping weekend for Slovenia and the Prevc family in particular: while Domen Prevc jumped to two podium finishes in Oberstdorf (a first place on Sunday and a third place on Saturday), his sister did the same in Zao, Japan.

Nika Prevc (SLO) claimed victory on Friday and added a third place on Sunday. The 19-year-old leaves Japan as the new World Cup leader.

It was the first time ever that brother and sister Prevc landed on top of the podium in the same weekend.

Next up…

While the men competed in Oberstdorf over the weekend, the women completed a busy period in Zao, Japan.

Three competitions took place over four days. Nika Prevc (SLO) won the individual event on Friday, while Selina Freitag and Agnes Reisch (GER) claimed victory in the Super Team event a day later. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (AUT) claimed victory in the individual event on Sunday.

The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup for both men and women will continue in Willingen, Germany, next week.

A Mixed Team event is scheduled for Friday 31 January, with individual events during the weekend.