At the three-day Ski Jumping Continental Cup in Vikersund the 20-year-old Cene Prevc one twice and once even finished second. The Slovenian team has now decided to allow Cene Prevc to test himself with the elite again. Assistant coach Jani Grilc explained what we can expect: "It's difficult to make comparisons between the World Cup and Continental Cup, as there is a difference in quality. Apart from that in World Cup events jumpers take off from lower down. However winning in the Continental Cup, where there is strong competition, still means something. That's why we think Cene could also start winning points in World Cup competition. Especially important is that he continues jumping well. He has made great progress this year and that's why we included him in the A team this summer, in order for him to have the best training conditions."
A good student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Cene Prevc made his first World Cup jump on the 21st of March 2014 at the World Cup Final in Planica, when he finished 16th. In the 2014/15 season he went on a Scandinavian tour and finished 17th in Lahti. Last season, when Peter Prevc was in the limelight, and Domen Prevc also started grabbing attention, Cene Prevc got the opportunity to jump with the elite only in Planica, when he was 46th. "Ups and downs are normal for such a young athlete. He also had some health problems, which dragged on for a year. It's important that he has now discovered himself and feels good during practice. His motivation is high. At the same time he's also a good student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering," explains Grilc, who as a coach of the Triglav club in Kranj knows the Prevc brothers very well.
"We didn't count on him being so successful"
The fact that Domen Prevc started off this year's season with excellent results (three World Cup wins) surprised also Grilc: "He's jumping at a top level. You can see the ease with which he flies up in the air. But in difficult conditions, like we had on Sunday, you can see faults being made when flying as he doesn't feel any support in air. Of course, we never counted on him being that successful, but we did expect him to win an event or two." The ski jumping competition will now also have to prepare itself for the arrival of Cene. "When he (Cene) won twice in the Continental Cup, the other coaches congratulated me. They smiled and said that another Prevc is coming."
Fall in Ruka takes its toll
What about Peter Prevc? After an incredible season last year, when everything seemed so simple, Peter is running into difficulties this year. However, coach Grilc is convinced that Peter will start winning again: "Taking into account that he worked well during the summer and started the season well prepared, sooner or later he will start showing his jumps again. However, what happened at the first event this season in Ruka does represent a problem. Peter was in the lead after the first series but fell in the final. His fall was not that innocent and did leave some pain in the knee and torso. At the next event he jumped with pain, he was a bit weaker, and in such situations it's easy to become nervous. All your good feelings start to crumble, and now Peter has to find them again."