Hear that? It’s Slovenia’s ski-jumping team soaring to the top of the podium 

It starts with sound. First you hear the distinctive clack of skis, then a roar like a military jet in the distance as a suited, booted and helmeted figure hurtles towards the ground, accelerating all the way. Finally, the thud and swish of ski meeting snow as the jumper nails the landing. The sport of ski jumping shows that a human careening through the air is louder than one might expect.

“You get this feeling of flying, especially on the big hills”, says Nika Vodan. She is one of the Slovenian national ski-jumping squad members practising on the 100-metre high, deceptively designated normal hill at the Kranj Ski Jumping Centre, not far from the capital city, Ljubljana. Kranj has five hills of different sizes, starting at just 10 metres, allowing young hopefuls to make safe and steady progress in their training. A nearby high school specialises in the sport, offering dormitories for ski-jumping students hailing from other regions of the country. The infrastructure supporting Slovenian ski jumping has played a significant part in making the national team medal contenders in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

High flyers and world-record holders
Vodan, a 25-year-old police officer, positively vibrates with excitement while recounting how she started hurling herself off mountains at the age of eight. “I was the first in my family to take up ski jumping and I just went for it because I knew that I loved it. When you look down and see the people supporting you, it’s something special. All the stress goes down and you just enjoy it.”

Vodan is very good at what she does. She has already won a gold medal at the mixed team event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, plus an overall World Cup title. In many countries, that would make her the star of the team. But Vodan is not even the most decorated member of the outrageously successful Slovenian ski-jumping squad. Going into the 2025/2026 season, the Central European country could boast both the men’s and women’s world-record holders. Even more remarkably: they are siblings. 

Domen Prevc set a mark of more than 254 metres at Slovenia’s legendary ski-flying hill at Planica in March 2025, just a fortnight after his younger sister, Nika Prevc, jumped 236 metres at Vikersund in Norway to break the women’s record. That gives them bragging rights over their older brother, Peter, who is now retired but is himself a former record holder. “From the outside, it looks like destiny,” says Domen. “But from inside, we all know how much hard work went into this.” Aside from his world record, Domen is the reigning world champion in both the individual and team large-hill events. Today, at age 26, he has never competed in the Olympics and Milano Cortina 2026 is a chance to crown his career. “The one thing that we’re still missing in Slovenia is an individual Olympic gold medal in ski jumping,” he says. “In previous years, I wasn’t in shape. But I’m now looking forward to it; I have the focus.”

Just like her brother, Nika will be a strong contender. Her Olympic debut is one of her “biggest dreams” and she hopes to carry the successes of her consecutive World Cup titles, a double World Championship and the world record – all won before the age of 20 – to an Olympic gold medal.

‘It’s in the genes’
Back at Kranj, a team of coaches offer specialised training and instant feedback by iPad after every jump. Given the nature of the sport, the training is not only physical but mental. “This sport is more of a head game,” says Robert Hrgota, the head coach of the Slovenian men’s A team. “You have to have mental training and you need that something extra that nobody else has.”

But some things cannot be taught, he concedes. “It’s in the genes,” he says. That certainly seems to be the case for the record-breaking Prevc family. But one could say it applies to Slovenians in general when it comes to this spectacular sport – just hear them soar. 

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