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Prevc dominates, DSV team performs strongly
Domen Prevc dominated both individual events at the ski jumping weekend in Willingen. The German team put in a strong performance with several top ten finishes, while Slovenia narrowly won the mixed team event. The event was a promising test run ahead of the Winter Olympics.
A turbulent ski jumping weekend in Willingen, marked by thick fog, highly changeable wind conditions, and a spectacular DSV team in front of a home crowd, came to an end on Sunday evening. Domen Prevc, the high-flyer, dominated once again and won both individual competitions.
The mixed team competition kicked things off on Friday. Due to difficult conditions, the Slovenian quartet led by the Prevc siblings Nika and Domen narrowly beat the German team (294.8 points) with 295.4 points in just one scoring round. Philipp Raimund was particularly affected by the difficult conditions: he had to wait more than ten minutes for his jump on several occasions. Despite the challenges, the DSV Eagles finished strongly in second place in front of 22,000 spectators, while Japan took third place. Austria missed out on the podium in fourth place.
On Saturday, the men's individual competition began with Domen Prevc once again in a league of his own. With jumps of 146.5 and 155 meters, the newly crowned ski flying world champion secured his tenth victory of the season and 20th of his career. Surprised by the strong performance of the hosts, Karl Geiger took third place in front of his home crowd, followed by Felix Hoffmann (4th) and Andreas Wellinger (6th), who also jumped into the top ten. The best Austrian was Manuel Fettner, who achieved a respectable result in fifth place.
The grand finale was the second individual competition on Sunday. Domen Prevc once again proved his dominance: with jumps of 147 and 152 meters, he won convincingly ahead of Japan's Ren Nikaido. Philipp Raimund once again gave German fans something to cheer about with third place. Andreas Wellinger (8th) and Felix Hoffmann (10th) rounded off a strong team result for the DSV. There were also surprises from Finland: Niko Kytosaho achieved his best career result to date with fifth place.
The weekend in Willingen was thus a perfect test run ahead of the Winter Olympics in Italy. While Prevc remains the clear favorite, the DSV Eagles are in top form and proving that they are also medal contenders on the international stage. The individual competition will begin on February 9 in Milano-Cortina at the Predazzo ski jumping stadium.