Slovenian ski jumping star claims double victory at Ljubno World Cup

Slovenia's Nika Prevc has swept the women's Ski Jumping World Cup meet on home soil, winning her second straight double in Ljubno ob Savinji to the delight of a record 17,000 spectators who gathered at the venue at the weekend.

With Japanese ski jumpers skipping the event, the line-up on the podium on both days was the same. Prevc took the top platform ahead of Lisa Eder of Austria in second and Katharina Schmid of Germany in third, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The only difference was that the Slovenian delivered a much more convincing win on Saturday, when she beat Eder by 24.2 points, mustering by far the day's longest mark of 96 metres in the first series.

Prevc trailed Eder after the first series but then soared to the longest mark at 92 metres to pip Eder to the win by just one point.

"I liked the first win on Saturday better because I jumped better than on Sunday. But the overall tally is really perfect," the 20-year-old world record holder and two-time world champion said.

"I wasn't in the lead after the first series, but I went into the final with confidence, focused on what I had to do. I knew I would have to perform well to make up the difference, and I succeeded," Prevc added.

Both series on Sunday were disrupted by wind, which caused many delays.

"The hardest part was that it was very cold, and you are waiting to jump and you spend more energy warming up. Maybe that's why I was a little impatient," the winner said.

Prevc extending lead ahead of Olympics

By notching up her 31st World Cup victory, the female member of the Prevc ski jumping dynasty climbed to second spot on the all-time list. She now trails only Japan's Sara Takanashi, who remains well ahead with as many as 63 wins.

Having already won two consecutive Crystal Globes in the past seasons, Prevc has increased her lead in the overall World Cup rankings to 1,266 points, 300 points ahead of runner-up Nozomi Maruyama of Japan. Eder climbed to third in Ljubno and now has 819 points.

The second-best Slovenian, Nika Vodan finished sixth on both days and is now 8th overall, two spots ahead of Takanashi.

The women's Ski Jumping World Cup caravan now moves to Asia, with two events scheduled in China's Zhangjiakou on 16 and 17 January, and four events in Japan's Zao and Sapporo between 20 and 25 January.

Prevc said she never felt good in Asia.

"I never got used to it. But I will try to perform well and relax as much as possible," she added.

The last two events before the Winter Olympic Games in Italy will be held in Germany's Willingen on 31 January and 1 February, with Prevc having already tested the Olympic gear, saying that it has "turned up to be exceptional".

Big crowd puller, large gender pay gap

Ljubno hosted the women's Ski Jumping World Cup meet for the 15th year, having made a name for itself as the venue that attracts by far the most spectators in the women's ski jumping sport.

The event prompted the 8 March Institute, a prominent NGO, to raise the issue of the gender pay gap in sports, pointing to "shocking differences" between rewards for male and female athletes.

According to the rules of the International Ski Federation, victory in the men's individual competition this season is valued at €15,000, and that in the women's €5,000. The total prize fund for men exceeds €100,000, while for women it is approximately one-third of that amount.

The NGO quoted a newspaper photo caption saying that Nika "will have to really win a lot if she wants to catch up with her brother Domen in terms of prize money". Not because she is a worse athlete, but because women's achievements are still systematically undervalued.

Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA