After almost 15 years in the World Cup and numerous titles and milestones, Katharina Schmid ended her great ski jumping career while ski flying in Planica. Local hero Nika Prevc celebrated the premiere victory in the “Valley of the Ski Jumps”.
Katharina Schmid smiled, took another deep breath and pushed herself off the beam after her brother gave the start signal. Then she sailed from the mighty ski jumping hill in Planica over the valley lined with numerous Slovenian flags. A few seconds later she was greeted euphorically by teammates, friends and family in the run-out of the jump and given a champagne shower. Thousands of spectators cheered her enthusiastically.
For Schmid it was the last flight of her career. The long-time figurehead of German women’s ski jumping had already announced during the season that she would end her active career after the winter. Finally, in Planica, she took home a first: for the first time ever, women were allowed to start from the Letalnica ski jump in the World Cup.
Schmid “can just enjoy it”
As expected, Schmid was unable to intervene in the fight for the winner’s podium. With flights of 166 and 176 meters she finished the competition in 13th and last place. But that was just a minor matter, the pressure was already gone anyway – especially after the 29-year-old from Oberstdorf had already fulfilled her longed-for dream of crossing the 200-meter mark while ski flying in Vikersund last weekend.
In Planica, Schmid had already enjoyed the last jumps of her career to the fullest at halftime of the competition with a glitter look on her cheeks and tears in her eyes. “I’m just happy to be here. My family is there, the scenery is amazing. It just feels awesome and I can just enjoy it” said Schmid in the ZDF interview. “You couldn’t have wished for it to be more beautiful.“
Prevc also wins End of season
Aside from the celebration of Schmid’s last performance, the Slovenian Nika Prevc underlined why she is the measure of all things this season. The world champion and confident overall World Cup winner secured her 18th World Cup victory of the season in her home country with flights of 228.5 and 221 meters (405.3 points) ahead of Norway’s Eirin Maria Kvandal (388.1) and Nozomi Maruyama (361.7) from Japan. Prevc had already improved her ski flying world record to 242.5 meters during training the day before.
In addition to Schmid, the two other German athletes also clearly missed out on the podium places. Agnes Reisch (186 and 189 meters) came eighth. The German ski flying record holder Selina Freitag came in tenth with 181 and 193 meters. In total, only 13 of the 15 admitted jumpers competed.
For Schmid, things come full circle in Planica
Of course, Schmid was also there and clearly enjoyed the special atmosphere with teammates, friends and family. The fact that she would make the final leaps of her career in Planica of all places could hardly have been staged more harmoniously in a script. “It always feels a little like coming home“, Schmid had already said in advance. Because this was where she celebrated her greatest successes.
At the 2023 World Championships in Planica, Schmid – then still under her maiden name Althaus – won three golds and was crowned record world champion. She won silver at the 2018 and 2022 Olympic Games. In addition, there are 19 individual World Cup victories and more than 60 podium places. Now it’s over. After almost 15 years and 286 World Cup starts. However, Schmid will remain involved in ski jumping – as a young coach in her hometown of Oberstdorf.
