Peter Prevc

Prevc made his World Cup debut in the 2009/10 season, finishing 22nd in Lillehammer, Norway, on 5 December 2009. In January 2010, at the Junior World Championships, Prevc finished won silver at the individual and bronze at the team event.[13] In the following month, he was a member of Slovenian team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he finished 7th in the individual normal hill and 16th in the individual large hill. Together with Robert Kranjec, Primož Pikl, and Mitja Mežnar, he finished 8th in the team large hill event.[14] He finished the World Cup season at the 35th place in the overall standings.[13]

In the 2010/11 season, Prevc first participated at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo. Together with Kranjec, Jernej Damjan, and Jurij Tepeš, he won a bronze medal at the team large hill. At the end of the year, the ski jumping team was voted the Slovenian Sports Team of the Year by the Association of Slovene sports journalists.[15] In March 2011, Prevc made his ski flying debut in Planica. In the sky flying team event, Prevc won his first World Cup podium, a third place. In the overall standings, he finished the season in 24th place.[13]

In the 2011/12 season, Prevc recorded four top 10 finishes. In February, Prevc was a member of the team that won the first ever World Cup team victory for Slovenia at the ski flying team event in Oberstdorf, together with Kranjec, Tepeš, and Jure Šinkovec. Prevc jumped 225.5 meters (which would equal the hill record) in the one-series event but fell hard after the landing and injured his shoulder.[16] He required an operation which meant that he had to finish the season early and also missed out the Ski Flying World Championships in Vikersund. Although he missed the last five events of the season, Prevc finished 15th in the overall standings.[13]

In the 2012/13 season, Prevc won three World Cup team events in Zakopane, Willingen, and Planica. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme, Prevc won a silver medal at the individual large hill event[17] and a bronze medal at the individual normal hill event.[18] At the last two events of the season in Planica, Prevc reached his first two individual World Cup podiums, a second and a third place. He finished the season 7th in the overall standings.[13] At the end of the year, Prevc was voted the Slovenian Sportman of the Year for the first time.[15]

In the 2013/14 season, Prevc recorded his first individual World Cup win in Kulm. With a second place at the same venue, Prevc won the season's ski flying title since there were only two scheduled ski flying events in the season. He went on to win in Sapporo which brought him to the top of the World Cup overall standings for the first time in his career,[19] where he remained for the next couple of events. At the end of the season, he finished second in the overall rankings, after Kamil Stoch of Poland. Prevc also won the last world cup event of the season in Planica, accumulating three wins and eleven podiums in total which was his most successful season until then.[13]

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Prevc won a silver medal at the normal hill event and a bronze medal at the large hill event.[14] At the FIS Ski Flying World Championships 2014, he took bronze after the last two out of four jumps were cancelled.[13]

The 2014/15 season was very successful for Prevc, with 3 wins and 11 more podiums in the World Cup. In addition, he won two team events and one third place with the Slovenian team. On 14 February 2015, Prevc set a new ski flying world record in Vikersund with a 250 m (820 ft) jump; this record was beaten the following day with a 251.5 metres (825 ft) jump by Anders Fannemel.[4] On 20 March in Planica, Prevc achieved a "perfect jump" with all style referees awarding him maximum 20 points. At the same event, he also set a new hill record with 248.5 m.[20] Prevc spent a couple of weeks at the top of the standings during the season. At the end, he had the same number of points as Severin Freund of Germany, but the overall title went to Freund because of the higher number of victories during the season (9 for Freund and 3 for Prevc).[21] Prevc defended the ski flying title.[13]

At the 2015 World Championships, Prevc finished 4th on the large hill, 13th on the normal hill, and 6th with the Slovenian team at the team event. Prevc took two 3rd places at the 2014–15 Four Hills Tournament which secured him a 3rd place in the overall tournament standing.[13]

Prevc taking flight in Titisee-Neustadt, 2016

In the 2015/16 season, Prevc won 15 out of 29 World Cup events, the Four Hills Tournament, and the overall and ski flying titles.[13]

On 19 December in Engelberg, Peter and his younger brother Domen Prevc both finished on the podium as the first pair of brothers in World Cup history.[22] With three wins and one third place, Prevc won the 2016 Four Hills Tournament, thus becoming the second Slovenian ski jumper to win the Tournament after Primož Peterka in the 1996/97 season.[23]

On 16 January at the Ski Flying World Championships in Kulm, Prevc became the ski flying world champion. The event consisted of three rounds as the fourth round was cancelled because of strong wind. He set two hill records during the competition.[24]

On 14 February in Vikersund, Prevc won the event despite sliding upon landing (he remained on his feet nevertheless), which rarely happens in ski jumping.[25] By winning the second event in Almaty on 28 February, Prevc secured his first World Cup title, six events before the end of the season. At the end of the season, Prevc broke several statistical records. He won the highest number of points, victories, and podium finishes in a single season (2303 points, 15 victories and 22 podiums in total, the previous records being 2083 points, 13 victories, and 20 podiums by Gregor Schlierenzauer from the 2008/09 season). Other records include the point difference between the first and the second in the overall standings (813), the best average of points per event (79.4), and the highest number of points in the Four Hills Tournament (1139.4).[26][27] By winning the ski flying title, Prevc became the first ski jumper to win the title for three years in a row.[28][29]

At the first event of the 2016/17 season in Ruka, Finland, Prevc, who was leading after the first series, fell upon landing in the second series and finished third. His brother Domen scored his first World Cup victory at that occasion.[30] Throughout December, Prevc was struggling with his jumps,[31] fell again upon landing at the first event in Engelberg[32] and did not reach the final round at the second event.[32] After the Four Hill Tournament, where he finished 14th, Prevc skipped the events in Wisla.[33] Following the break, his results started to improve again. Prevc was the best individual of the team event in Zakopane, where Slovenian team finished third.[34] The team event in Willingen saw, for the first time, all three Prevc brothers representing Slovenia; together with Tepeš, they finished fourth.[35] On 11 February, he won his only event of the season in Sapporo; it was a double win with Maciej Kot.[36] Prevc's best result at the World Championships was a 4th place in mixed event and he collected five more top 10 World Cup finishes by the end of the season. He finished 9th in the overall and 5th both in the sky flying and in the inaugural Raw Air standings.[13]