Prevc wins on home hill after Bjoerseth suffers ‘nasty crash’

World Cup leader Nika Prevc (SLO) delivered the victory her supporters were desperate to see in her homeland, but the event in Ljubno (SLO) ended in a somewhat subdued manner after Thea Minyan Bjoerseth (NOR) suffered a dramatic crash while chasing victory.

The Norwegian led by 2.5 points from Prevc after an entertaining opening round, which saw Bjoerseth set a new hill record of 97m and score 129.7pts.

Prevc delivered an improved second round jump, adding a 95m effort to her earlier distance of 90.5 and was assured a place on the podium.

Bjoerseth, a former World junior champion, was the last to take to the hill and achieved 94.5m which would likely have been enough for victory, were it not for the incident which followed.

It was described as a “nasty crash” by four-time World medallist turned commentator Jernej Damjan and she received treatment on the course, before being taken to hospital.

Prevc took her eighth win of the season with an overall total of 258pts with Selina Freitag of Germany (240.6) second and Bjoerseth (233) still scoring enough to record a top-three finish.

“I’m happy that I managed to do a strong jump after a little mistake in the first round,” said Prevc, who was keen to pay tribute to her injured ski jumping rival.

“Her performance was really strong today even from the first jump it was nice to watch her, but yes that (crash was) part of today’s condition competition and she deserves all the best.” 

Prevc, who claimed victory on the hill last season, becomes the first Slovenian woman to win two individual Ljubno World Cup titles, with Maja Vtič and Nika Kriznar having previously claimed one each.

Clear skies, fresh snow and an excitable crowd made for the perfect conditions as the 39-strong field took to the HS94 hill in what is the women’s penultimate World Cup weekend before the World Championships in Trondheim (NOR) next month.

While World Cup leader Prevc was the main draw, four other Slovenian ski jumpers – Ema Klinec, Taja Sitar and Jerica Jesenko and Mia Ingolic had progressed through qualifying.

Each of them impressively attained top-30 positions after the opening jumps, to ensure they would score World Cup points by reaching the second round.

Progressing, but not quite delivering their usual prowess were Anna Odine Stroem (NOR) and Katharina Schmid (GER), who ranked 11^th and ninth respectively at the halfway stage.

Stroem has placed second on the podium twice during the current World Cup season, while Schmid led during the early stages of the 2024/25 campaign before a slump in form.

Stroem’s challenging day did not improve in the second round, with the six-time World Championship medalist disqualified after her effort from the hill.

Schmid, who was third in qualifying ahead of the event would move up to seventh in the overall standings after a jump of 93m, a significant improvement on the 81.5m in round one.

Sara Takanashi (JPN), who holds the record for the most FIS Ski Jumping World Cup victories achieved in Ljubno – with six, looked well-placed for a moral-boosting return to the podium.

She was joint third with Lisa Eder (AUT) after the opening round, but was ultimately unable to maintain that form and placed sixth, although Takanashi will take some encouragement from her form given the Japanese is still seeking her first top-three finish of the season.

Freitag made a strong start to the season, with second and third place finishes on the opening weekend in Lillehammer (NOR), before a two-month spell without a top-three result.

In the last four weeks however the German has rediscovered her rhythm and after a score of 120.6 put her joint third, with Takanashi, ahead of the final round, she matched her best position of the season with second following a jump of 94.5m.

Prevc, who won the 2023/24 Crystal Globe, has become used to performing under pressure and was able to further extender her advantage in the hunt for this season’s overall title, to 265 points, with jumps of 90.5m and 95m, scoring 127.2 and 130.8 respectively.

Bjoerseth has been enjoying something of a breakthrough season on the World Cup circuit, which has seen her achieve the first top-three results of her career at this level.

Her efforts to push for the summit unfortunately led to her crash, but she will take some consolation from still placing third, despite the challenging conclusion to her competition.

Ljubno World Cup – Program:

16 February
08.30 – Start Qualification Womne’s NH
10.00 - Competition Start Women’s NH
* All listings are in Central European Time (CET) and are subject to change.

Ljubno World Cup Facts & Figures

·      The first ski jumping competition was held in Ljubno in 1931, but the Savina Ski Jumping Centre officially opened as a venue for elite competition in 1952, following the construction of the HS60 Hill.

·      It was expanded to become a HS80 hill in the late 1990’s and has undergone two significant redevelopments since, in 2005 and 2015.

·      Flood damage in late 2023 saw the venue undergo restoration and renovation.

·      It was a HS95 hill when it first hosted a women’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup contest in 2012, before it was reclassified as a HS94 hill from 2018 onwards.

·      In 2016 Maja Vtič became the first Slovenian women to win an individual FIS World Cup event in Ljubno, with Nika Kriznar (2021) and Nika Prevc (2024) the only other female ski jumpers from the host nation to repeat that success.

·      Sara Takanashi (JPN) holds the women’s records for the most individual wins, with six during her career to date (2013 twice, 2015 twice, 2019 and 2022).