Prevc powers through the pressure to claim career-first individual World title

Nika Prevc (SLO) claimed her career-first individual world title as she topped the Normal Hill podium on the opening day of Ski Jumping competition at the 2025 FIS World Nordic Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway. World Cup leader Prevc powered through the pressure of being the top favorite to finish ahead of Selina Freitag (GER) and Anna Odine Stroem (NOR).

Prevc had already topped the qualifications on Thursday and lived up to the expectations a day later. The World title did not come easy, however.

The 19-year-old Slovenian had a nervy start in the first round and was slightly off balance in the air, resulting in 98.0 meters and 129.8 points to take a minor 0.4 point lead over Stroem.

Shaking off the nerves

“I think I was a little more nervous (than usual) before the competition”, Prevc said afterward. “I couldn’t relax in the first round but I somehow got my mind together for the second round. I managed to make a good jump in the final”, she added.

Going up as the very last athlete in the final round, Prevc held off a challenge from Germany’s Freitag, who had put the pressure on the Slovenian as a strong second jump put her into the lead with just Stroem and Prevc left to go.

Prevc shrugged off the nerves to soar to 100m and 129.8 points in the second round and a total of 259.2 points to claim the gold.

With that, Prevc solidified her current status as the strongest athlete in the field.

Prevc has dominated the World Cup season so far with 11 victories, including six back-to-back World Cup wins.

In Trondheim, the Slovenian athlete topped the standings in both the trial round and the qualification round, but her shaky start in the first round shaped up for a tight final round.

Only 3.6 points separated the top seven athletes going into the final round. With all eyes on her as the top favourite, Prevc did not falter.

She handled the pressure well to take Slovenia's second World Championships gold in the Normal Hill event after Ema Klinec's success in 2021.

First individual World medal for Freitag

Freitag earned silver with two strong jumps (99m and 103.5m) and a combined total of 250.8 points. For Freitag, it was her career-first individual World Championships medal.

"I'm just super happy that I was able to show such jumps in the competition", Freitag said afterward. "It's just incredible. It's just so much hard work paying off, I could just cry. It's just beautiful right now."

Just like two years ago, Norway's Anna Odine Stroem took the bronze. The Norwegian home favorite posted a combined total of 246.6 points to finish ahead of her teammate Eirin Maria Kvandal, who finished in fourth (242.9 points).

Abigail Srate (CAN), took fifth place, with Alexandria Loutitt (CAN) in sixth. Loutitt, who sat in third after the first round, fell behind after a disappointing second jump.

Eva Pinkelnig (AUT), Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (AUT) and Yuki Ito (JPN) rounded out the top ten.

Katharina Schmid (GER), who claimed the Normal Hill title at the previous World Championships two years ago, had to settle for 19th place.

Next up at Trondheim 2025 - FIS Nordic World Ski Championships (NOR)...

1 March
17.00 – Competition Start Women's Team NH
20.30 – Start Qualification Men’s NH
2 March
17.00 – Competition Start Men's NH

5 March
16.00 – Competition Start Mixed Team LH
6 March
16.20 – Competition Start Men's Team LH
20.30 – Start Qualification Women's LH
7 March
12.15 – Start Qualification Men's LH
16.15 – Competition Start Women's LH
8 March
15.45 – Competition Start Men's LH

*all times are displayed in Central European Time (CET) and are subject to change.