Ski jumper Nika Križnar Joins the Crystal Club

Ski jumper Nika Križnar Joins the Crystal Club

On 28 March 2021 Nika Križnar joined an elite club which only four Slovene athletes (three men and one woman) have succeeded in joining to date. The 21-year-old ski jumper won the Crystal Globe trophy, which is awarded to the competitor who scores most points at FIS World Cup competitions.

Nika began the 2020/21 season with a podium, scoring a second place in December. She followed this with three top-ten finishes. Her first World Cup victory came at the beginning of February in Hinzenbach and was followed by one success after another.

At the height of the season, at the FSI Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, she and her teammates took the women’s team silver medal. A few days later, she jumped her way to the bronze medal in the individual competition on the large hill. This was followed by a remarkable battle to retain the yellow bib, which Slovenia’s star jumper brought with her to Russia.

Going into the final competition, Japan’s Sara Takanashi, a four-time World Cup overall winner, had a 15-point advantage over her Slovene rival, but the season finale ended with a dramatic upset. After a single series of jumps in Chaikovsky, Nika Križnar’s third place, combined with ten podiums over the course of the season, was enough for her to regain the lead.

• Issue Date:24.09.2021
• Designer:Borut Bončina
• Illustrator:Tullis Russell Chancellor
• Printer:Agencija za komercijalnu djelatnost d.o.o., Zagreb, Croatia
• Process:Offset
• Colours:4-colour
• Size:29.82 x 42.60