The 22-year-old has become the first Slovene ever, to have finished among the top three jumpers in all of the biggest ski jumping events. Yesterday he finished third at the New Year ski jumping tour. His previous achievements include finishing second overall in the ski jumping World Cup standings, winning the small crystal globe in the ski flying special standings, winning two Olympic medals, two medals from the ski jumping World Championships, as well as medals from the ski flying World Championships: "This was my last missing trophy from the big competitions. I now have it. My 'initial package' is now complete."

Barely missed the podium spot at the last hill
At the Four Hills Tournament Prevc had to concede defeat to the super Stefan Kraft, who was victorious in the end, and to Michael Hayböck, who won at the hill in Bischofshofen and thus increased his lead in the overall World Cup standings. With the result Austria recorded its seventh consecutive win at the Four Hills Tournament: "A day before the event I was already sure that Hayböck would win. His jumps were so light and uncompromising. I can only congratulate them for their well deserved victories. They were both very confident and you can tell from the way they jumped, that the Austrians have been at the top of the New Year tournament for a long time now."

At the last event of the tournament, at the Paul Ausserleitner ski jumping hill, the young Slovenian from Dolenja Vas finished fourth. He missed out on a podium spot for just 0.1 points. He was beaten to the podium by Kraft. "That's what the computers calculated. I'm still happy that I managed to come back from 12th or 13th in the qualification jumps to almost the very top. There was only one jump between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the first series in Bischofshofen that was to be decisive for the top spots. It was difficult to make all the other jumps."

Prevc joins Peterka and Žonta
"All I can say is that we've had a nice day. I wasn't happy after the qualification jumps. I was again overly focused on how I would bend down and carry out the whole jump. When that didn't work, I said to myself that I would stop thinking too much and just put more force into it. Luckily it turned out fine," added Prevc. At the hill above the ski stadium which carries the name of Sepp Bradl, the first jumper to jump over 100 meters at the Planica ski jumping hill, Prevc managed to defend the attack from Noriaki Kasai, who ended up two points behind Slovenia's best jumper in the final standings of the tournament.

Prevc is now the third Slovenian to have finished among the top three at the Four Hills Tournament. Primož Peterka won the tournament in 1997, while 11 years ago Peter Žonta was also third. Last year Peter Prevc finished fourth, so this year's result is a step forward. After the first two hills in Germany, Prevc was still in contention to win the tournament. However his poor jump in the first series at Bergisel in Innsbruck cost him dearly. He quickly improved in Bischofshofen and despite having an unsuccessful qualification series, his overall performance was at the highest possible level.

We will have to create new memories at Kulm
Prevc says the tournament was psychologically very demanding. That's why he's happy it's over. However there is no time for rest. The Ski Jumping World Cup continues with a busy schedule. Slovenia's jumpers will have physical fitness training on Wednesday, and on Thursday they will be jumping at the Planica hill. According to Prevc, Planica is a suitable training ground as it offers jumpers longer periods in air, which is good for preparing for the flying competitions in Austria.

At the end of the week the biggest masters in ski flying will gather at the renovated Kulm hill. The hill offers jumpers the possibility to attack the world record. Prevc has nice memories from Kulm. That's where he won his first World Cup event last season and also won the ski flying small crystal globe: "The hill is now even bigger. It's new and no one has tested it yet. So there will be some excitement before the ski flying event at Kulm. The memories I have from Kulm are nice. However the hill is completely new now, so we'll have to create new memories."