Ski jumping team fail to meet expectations, long time coach Janus replaced
Ljubljana, 17 December - Slovenian ski jumpers have not had a very good year. One rare exception was silver in the team event at the Ski Flying World Championships at the end of January, but they missed on a medal in the team event at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea in February.
Planica
Ski Jumping World Cup meet at Slovenia's Planica
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
Things were not much better in the World Cup either, with Peter Prevc being the best Slovenian overall, finishing 15th with 416 points compared to the 1,443 points won by the overall winner Kamil Stoch of Poland.
The lack of individual and team success was what led in March to Goran Janus being replaced after an eight-year spell as the head coach of Slovenia's ski jumping team by Gorazd Bertoncelj, who was the coach of up-and-coming jumpers up to that point.
Janus led the team through its most successful period ever, winning more than half of all World Cup victories for Slovenia. It was under his guide when Prevc won silver and bronze medals at the Sochi Olympic Games in 2014 before his record breaking season in 2015/2016.
The new World Cup season started recently for Slovenians but without Prevc, who needed additional training following his recovery from two ankle surgeries. The former champion, who dominated the 2016 World Cup like no other before him, went through a slump in the last two seasons, but is hoping to make a full comeback soon.
Meanwhile, Slovenia's women's ski jumping team finished second at the World Cup event in Japan's Zau in January for the first ever podium result for the women's team. Women's team ski jumping events are a novelty in the World Cup, so this was only the second time that women jumpers competed in a team event.