Why Slovenia, a nation of 2 million, is one of sport’s biggest overperformers

PREDAZZO, Italy — It is Saturday evening in the Dolomites — most importantly, a still Saturday evening — and Slovenian fans are flooding the base of the ski jumping hill like meltwater.

Milan Cortina is the closest to a home Olympics they may ever get, the border just a three-hour drive east. Here, they outnumber the Italian support, if not in number then definitely in blunt noise. High above them, teetering on the starting bench, is the woman who brought them here.

Nika Prevc, at 20 years old, is already regarded as the most talented jumper of her generation. She won the world championships on both the normal and large hill last year, and is the two-time defending champion of the World Cup series. On winning the huge crystal dome, she struggled to lift it above her head.

She is the second-youngest of five siblings, all ski jumpers. Her father, Dare, is an international-level referee in the sport, along with running his own furniture business. Her older brother Domen, meanwhile, will make his own leap for gold Monday evening. He was also a double world champion last year.

But the Prevc family is not alone in their success. Slovenia’s population tips past two million by only a hair — containing 500,000 fewer inhabitants than Brooklyn alone — and yet many of their athletes sit atop global sport.

Four-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar is the greatest cyclist of the 21st century, and quite perhaps ever. Compatriot Primož Roglič has five Grand Tour wins of his own.

Luka Dončić, hailing from the country’s capital, Ljubljana, is one of the best players in the NBA. The Los Angeles Laker boasts five All-NBA First Team selections since 2020.

Benjamin Šeško is Manchester United’s starting striker. Jan Oblak is one of the world’s best goalkeepers. Janja Garnbret, a 10-time world champion at 26, is the top competition climber in the sport’s history.

Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia only in 1991, and for this young nation, sport imbues it with a sense of pride.

“We can’t beat them with our economy, we can’t beat them with our army, but we can beat them at sport,” one red-cheeked supporter exclaimed at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium.

And for all the cross-sport success, it is this pursuit, ski jumping, that has a special place in the country’s mentality. In the immediate years following independence, gold medals here were their first international success.

A chant echoes down the valley’s gullies: “Whoever is not jumping is not Slovenian.” At the top, Prevc adjusts her goggles, clears her head with a small shake and pushes off.

Slovenia is the only European country with mountains on its flag, which perhaps provides some glimpse inside its sporting culture. Less noticeable are the two wavy lines that lie beneath, representing its rivers and Adriatic coast.

Radoje Milić is head of exercise physiology at the University of Ljubljana, responsible for testing the majority of Slovenia’s top athletes. For him, this regional specialisation is key to their success.

“We have 12 regions in Slovenia, and each of them has their own affinity,” he explains. “In the north, for example, there is one for ski jumping, one for Alpine skiing. Further south, there is martial arts, rowing, really good swimming facilities. Then, in Ljubljana, it’s all about volleyball, basketball, handball and track and field.”

It is rare that such a small country has the geography to support so much. “We can practice any sport we want,” says one Slovenia supporter. “Except maybe surfing.”

Possibly as a corollary, Slovenia is also a remarkably active country. According to Milić, some 60 percent of the population play sport each week, a way of life he attributes to the legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, over 150 years ago, which launched widespread public health programmes.

“When it’s the weekend, it’s just a national thing that we go outside,” says Peter Prevc, Nika’s oldest brother, a former World Cup winner himself. “It can even just be a walk. But it’s in our blood to move.”

It means Slovenian children typically grow up in a multisport culture. The prevailing scientific wisdom argues this boosts athletic performance after specialisation. Before ski jumping, for example, the Prevc children were encouraged to take part in football, handball, tennis and athletics.

“We encourage people to try,” says Peter. “It could be sport, it could even be music school. It doesn’t matter.”

Ultimately, it comes down to a simple equation. Small nations need to maximise their talent. Milić estimates that, each year, some 1 percent of the population are born with the raw ability to compete at a world-class level in some form of sport. For the United States, for example, that creates a yearly cohort of 36,000. Slovenia has 180.

Each of those needs to find their sport. Post-independence, a major government policy initiative was to provide every school with a good gymnasium. Following that, in elementary, every child is asked to perform simple exercises — a 100m sprint, long jump, the hanging bars — with their results recorded and centralised. It allows the country’s sporting bodies to rapidly identify the children with the most talent.

“But after identification comes the challenge,” begins Milić. “You have to know what to do with them — how to support this talent, how to develop their skills. If they have problems with running, what mechanical analysis can you do? What training is appropriate?”

All events have concluded. See full medal count.

On receiving the raw talent, each sporting body has their own national plan. Dončić, for example, his talent identified as a 12-year-old, was rapidly advanced through the club system before being encouraged to move abroad, aged 16, once his talent outstripped the system.

Gorazd Pogorelčnik, head of jumping at the Slovenian Ski Association, is particularly proud of his programme.

“We have around 25 ski jumping clubs in Slovenia,” he explains. “All the most promising athletes, when they finish their basic schooling, they come to Kranj. There, we have the national centre for ski jumping and Nordic combined. We have around 60 athletes in the system between 16 and 19 years old, and they all live together, all year round.”

“We started in 2005, and really had no results in the beginning,” Pogorelčnik adds. “Now, we’ve had real progress.”

This is an understatement. Slovenia were the most successful ski jumping nation at the 2022 Beijing Olympics; the only country to win multiple gold medals — through Urša Bogataj, in the women’s normal hill, and in the mixed team competition.

The Prevc family are a major part of their hopes in repeating this success in 2026. They live near another famous slope, Planica. “It is the most modern centre in the world,” Peter Prevc explains. “For most of the winter, it’s the only facility in central Europe where you can jump off the big hill, which is really cool for us athletes.”

But both Peter Prevc and Milić, as well as celebrating the infrastructure, want to point to another part of the country’s culture.

“The main secret to sporting development in Slovenia is the volunteers,” says Milić. “They might be family, they might be friendly, they might just like sports. But the rates of participation are so high — they spend so much time trying to develop these kids.”

“They’re doing their hobby, they’re helping the kids, and they’re being social themselves,” agrees Peter. “That’s what’s important in life. And they’re so important.”

Now, in Predazzo, those volunteers and their clubs fill the base of the slope. One busload, from Bohinj in Slovenia’s far northwest, arrives to support Katra Komar and Nika Vodan, who both hail from the town. One supporter is dressed as a cow, Bohinj’s mascot. Vodan finishes an impressive eighth amidst the 50-woman field.

But this evening was meant to be the coronation of their compatriot, the crown princess of ski jumping, Nika Prevc. Before she pushed off for her final jump, Prevc sat second in the standings, just a point off the lead.

She lands. The distance flashes up — 99.5m, one of the best of the competition so far. But her jump will not be enough for gold. Prevc looks distraught as she embraces the winner, Norway’s Anna Odine Stroem.

It is still a silver medal, but for both Prevc and Slovenia, tonight is a rare blow for a country built on overperforming. Yet, there are chances remaining. Domen will fly Monday night. Nika will compete on the large hill next Sunday. Both have a strong chance of team gold.

“We will fight,” one fan exclaimed earlier in the day. “It is part of our culture. We just want to prove ourselves.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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