The career of mountain jumper star Peter Prevc, 31, ends today in front of his home crowd. The Slovenian has found top form like Janne Ahonen.
The Slovenian hill jumping superstar Peter Prevc31, said in February that he would end his career this season.
Eight years ago, Prevc, who reached no less than 15 World Cup competitions, had been a shadow of his best days for a long time. However, after the decision to stop, something interesting happened.
The experienced multiple medalist has been in a wild mood in the last days of his career. First, at the end of February, at the Oberstdorf hill race in Germany, Prevc achieved his first individual podium position in almost two years. He reached the podium again the very next day.
During the spring, Prevc has reached the top two no less than five times. For his part, on Friday he celebrated his first victory in four years.
Finnish ski jumping legend Janne Ahonen was in a similar situation 16 years ago. He had decided in the Central European Hill Week, which ended with his fifth victory celebration, that his career would end in that season.
For both of them, making the decision to quit made jumping strangely relaxing for the rest of the season.
– In the background comes the thought that it will end here. At the same time, stress levels decrease and jumping may become easier. You can also enjoy the rest of the season in a different way, Urheilu’s expert says.
Just one year after his first decision to quit, Ahonen decided to return to the World Cup. Since then, Ahonen has returned to the jumping tower several times.
Will Prevc, who is only 31 years old, do his best and return to the ski jumping competitions as an athlete?
– Hard to say. After all, we have seen a few of those comebacks. I can’t get inside Peter’s head, but for me that first stop was a rash decision. The passion for competition and jumping never went away, and probably still doesn’t, Ahonen says.
A wild mountain family
Hill jumping is a big deal in Slovenia. Maa has become strong jumpers before, but Peter has become a superstar of a completely different class. He has won 12 competition medals.
The year 2016 was a real hit, when he conquered the overall World Cup race and 15 races, won the Central European hill week and crowned his season with the World Cup gold on the fly hill.
The Prevc hill family is very famous. A younger brother who has already finished his career Cene Prevc is an Olympic medalist and seven years younger than Peter Dome multiple World Cup competition winner.
However, the biggest star of the Prevc family at the moment is 19 years old Nika Prevcwho won the overall race of the just ended women’s world cup season.
Overall, the situation of Slovenian ski jumping is better than it was when Peter Prevc started his World Cup career.
Young people Timi Zajc, Lovro Kos and Domen Prevc will ensure that Slovenia also has successful years ahead of them on the men’s side.
– There are very few successful successors. In that sense, the notch left by Peter does not materialize that much, says Ahonen.