Prevc wins historic Lake Placid World Cup after weather delays

Feb 08, 2025·Ski Jumping

Nika Prevc has won six World Cup events in 2024/25 ©Authamayou/NordicFocus

World Cup leader Nika Prevc (SLO) extended her advantage in the race for the 2024/25 Crystal Globe with a dominant victory in the first-ever FIS Ski Jumping World Cup to be held in the USA.

The Slovenian triumphed in Lake Placid in what was the second attempt to host the competition on Friday, with action heavily impacted by challenging weather conditions.

High-speed gusts resulted in the initial morning contest being postponed, with results annulled, before the field returned some nine hours later to restart and complete their scheduled two rounds.

Prevc led by 12.1 points, from Alexandria Loutitt (CAN) after a commanding first jump of 130m. A further effort of 124.5m helped the three-time World junior champion to an overall points total of 295.7.

Eirin Maria Kvandal (NOR) was second with 283.6pts, continuing her recent impressive form with a fifth podium finish in six events, while World champion Alexandria Loutitt (CAN) took third, on 273.2 points.

It was Prevc’s sixth victory of the season and that result, combined with an 11^th place finish for nearest rival Katharina Schmid (GER) saw the Slovenia extend her advantage to 137 points at the top of the overall World Cup standings.

“I didn’t expect (the result), I was just really excited about today’s competition as this hill is really interesting,” Prevc told FIS after her latest success.

“I’ve been waiting for this competition since 6am this morning, so I’m really glad I waited so long for the tables to turn.”

Prevc's latest success sees her become the first female athlete in history to win FIS Ski Jumping World Cup events in three continents, with her North American victory following earlier titles in Europe and Asia.

The women’s field had been due to complete their landmark event in the morning, but after 13 of the 40 qualifiers made it down the race jury made the call to postpone the action due to high-speed gusts which at one stage were in excess of 13m/s.

After a lengthy delay, officials ultimately decided it was in the best interests of the athletes to reschedule and restart the competition later in the day, once conditions had calmed.

The cancelation of the results recorded earlier in the day was particularly disappointing for 18-year-old Pola Beltowska (POL) who had made the most of her opportunity with a high gate and favourable conditions, to achieve a stunning jump of 131m.

That was temporarily a hill record, before the cancellation of the round, however, the Polish athlete was still able to record 116m after the restart, which secured her a place in the second and her first-ever World Cup points.

Beltowska (POL) scored the first World Cup points of her career in Lake Placid ©Authamayou/NordicFocus

Two athletes with little to celebrate though were Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (AUT) and Katharina Schmid (GER), who endured a tough day on the hill.

Seifriedsberger, who won had claimed a victory as well as two third-place finishes in her last three World Cup outings, found herself in 29^th after the opening round and ultimately placed 22^nd.

Schmid, who led the World Cup standings earlier in the season and has four race wins from the 2024/25 campaign, is now without a podium finish in her last six events; finishing in 11^th in the USA.

Countrywoman Agnes Reisch (GER) celebrated a new hill record 130.5m, which surpassed earlier landmarks of 128m by Kvandal in qualifying and Prevc’s 130m in round one.

Her aggressive jump led to an unstable landing, but the 2016 Youth Olympic silver medalist still climbed three places from the opening round to place fifth.

Ahead of her was another German, Selina Freitag, who finished just 3.8 points short of a top-three finish, in fourth.

Loutitt has endured a challenging season and only recorded her first top-three, with victory in Sapporo (JPN) last month.

Loutitt will attempt a World championship title defence next month ©Authamayou/NordicFocus

The history-making Canadian appears to be finding her form though in the crucial final stages before next month’s World championships and although she was unable to repeat the first-round heroics which had put her second, Loutitt was still pleased with third.

Kvandal has been arguably the most consistent athlete in the women’s field since the turn of the year and moved up from third to second after achieving the highest-scoring jump of the final round, with 136.5 points.

Prevc though, as she has demonstrated on numerous occasions this season, was a class apart and scores of 159.4 and 136.3 saw her ease to a comfortable victory by 12.1 points.