Slovenia honors ski jumping legend with unique art installation

Call it the art of flight - literally. A life-sized wooden sculpture now captures the moment Domen Prevc touched down at 254.5 metres in Planica, the ground zero of Slovenian ski jumping, for the longest ski jump in history.

The sculpture was unveiled by the 26-year-old athlete himself, accompanied by Minister of the Economy, Tourism and Sport, Matjaž Han. Together, they also revealed a commemorative plaque on Planica's prestigious leaderboard, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Returning to the scene of his iconic flight during a summer training camp, Prevc admitted the moment brought back a rush of emotions.

"It is truly unbelievable when you look back at how many things had to fall into place for me to achieve this," he said.

Carved by local artist and farmer Tadej Brgles using only a chainsaw, the sculpture captures the dramatic instant of Prevc's landing.

"I really like how they nailed the moment," said Prevc, adding that now every time he will be climbing up the ski flying hill, the sculpture will serve as additional motivation.

The idea came from Jelko Gros, former coach of the Slovenian ski jumping team, who hopes the sculpture will also boost tourism.

Ski legend Franci Petek added that the statue will stand on the landing slope from April to November but will be moved next to the hill in winter so it will not get in the way of training.