It almost didn’t happen. A few days before the 1961 ski flying competition in Oberstdorf, Germany, Jože Šlibar fell after a jump in Slovenia and injured his ankle after a particularly long jump. His painful and swollen ankle almost sent him to the hospital. With the use of an elastic bandage, however, he managed to persevere, and a few days later, still feeling some pain, he competed in Oberstdorf.

As he made his second jump at the first day’s training competition, he felt the air lift his skis. He had timed everything just right: The profile of the jump was just right and the wind – an updraft -- was blowing from the ideal direction. Šlibar noticed that he was approaching the 140-meter line. He knew that the extreme distance put him in at the risk on crashing at impact, yet he was determined to extend his jump. He crossed the 140-meter line, safely touching down at 141 meters and setting a new world record for the first time in ten years.

At first, the audience was eerily quiet. The official announcer, Bruno Moravetz, first announced the record in Slovenian. (Thinking that Šlibar could make a record-setting jump, he had asked members of the Yugoslav team how to pronounce various numbers in the Slovenian language.) Then he repeated the announcement in German, and the crowd went wild.

Huge crowds awaited Šlibar upon his triumphal return to Slovenia; some 5000 supporters turned out in Ljubljana alone. A few weeks later, was officially presented with a Citroen 2CV car for his achievement. Šlibar’s record held until 1964. In 2012, he was inducted into the Slovenian Athletes Hall of Fame.

Despite the many triumphs of Slovenian ski jumpers in the coming decades, no other Slovenian has ever set a world record in that sport again.ž