Nika Prevc targets third overall Two Nights Tour victory

Dec 29, 2025·Ski Jumping

Nika Prevc is looking to win the Two Nights Tour for the third time - FIS/ActionPress/Julia Piatkowskav

Defending champion Nika Prevc (SLO) will be chasing her third consecutive overall Two Nights Tour title when the event gets underway with qualifications on Tuesday. The 20-year-old faces stiff competition from Nozomi Maruyama (JPN), the current World Cup leader.

With the Two Nights Tournament returning to the women’s ski jumping World Cup schedule for a third successive season, Prevc - the winner of the previous two editions - will be looking to continue her winning ways. Last year, Prevc won both events on the Tour.

Her biggest challenger, Maruyama, is enjoying a breakthrough season, finishing on the podium in eight of the 10 World Cup events held so far, including five wins, two second places and one third place. Before this season, she only reached the podium just twice in her career (one second place, one third place). After finishing 16th overall in last year’s Two Nights Tour, the Japanese athlete is expected to be a serious contender for the podium this time around.

Other competitors in form include Anna Odine Ström (NOR), Abigail Strate (CAN), Lisa Eder (AUT), Eirin Maria Kvandal (NOR), Nika Vodan (SLO), and home-favorite Katharina Schmid (GER).

Emotional Two Nights Tour

For Schmid, the Two Nights Tour will be an emotional occasion. The two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018, 2022) has announced that she will retire after this season. The Oberstdorf native leads the German team in the Two Nights Tournament after securing her first podium finish of the winter with a third place in Engelberg on Sunday.

“I’m looking forward to my last Two Nights Tour”, Schmid said. “As for Garmisch-Partenkirchen: I like the hill—I enjoy going there. But of course I’m especially looking forward to the jump in Oberstdorf, to being able to enjoy the competition at home one more time. Family, friends—everyone will be there, cheering me on and sharing the excitement one last time. I’m really going to savor that.”

“I am incredibly, incredibly grateful that I had the privilege of growing up in this sport and growing with this sport,” Schmid added.

The 29-year-old German has won seven world championship titles and may still add to her two Olympic silver medals at the Winter Games in Italy next February. The highlight of her career came at the 2023 Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, where she won three titles and a bronze medal. “I was able to experience so, so much during my career", she said. "I was there for so many firsts. I have been part of the team ever since I was 15 and was able to take in everything that comes with it."

"I'm looking forward to all the events that are still to come this season, including the Two Nights Tour", she concluded.

How to win the Two Nights Tour

Following qualification (30 December) and competition (31 December) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER), the field will reconvene in Oberstdorf (GER) for the conclusion (1 Jan). The event, which was originally known as the ‘Silvester Tour’ and took place across Austria and Slovenia, was rebranded as the ‘Two Nights Tour’ for the 2023/24 campaign.

The event is now held entirely in Germany, matching the start of the men’s Four Hills Tournament, with each of the two legs taking place in the reverse order to the men’s competition.

The two competitions also share similar rules, with qualifiers also set to face-off in a series of duels to decide the placements and qualifiers for the final competition round. The ski jumper with the highest overall points total from the two World Cup events will be crowned the 2024/25 'Two Nights Tour' champion.