Nika Prevc has taken the overall lead in the women's Ski Jumping World Cup standings after winning three events in less than three weeks, upholding her family's status as a ski jumping powerhouse.

The 18-year-old won the event on the normal hill in Villach, Austria, on 3 January, two days after winning the Two Nights Tour, a new series that saw women jumpers compete on the same hills as their male counterparts on the much older Four Hills Tournament.

Prevc clinched victory at the first ever women's World Cup competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on New Year's Eve with 133 and 130 metres and then placed fifth in Oberstdorf, which was enough for the overall win. She also won the World Cup event on the large hill in Engelberg, Switzerland, in mid-December.

Scoring 262.7 points for the win in Villach, Prevc took the yellow bib of the overall World Cup leader away from Josephine Pagnier of France. With a total of 421 points, she now commands a 15-point lead.

"I felt very good and was very relaxed today. Even though we don't train very often on this hill, the last time we were here was in the summer, all Slovenian jumpers liked it," Prevc said of the venue, located not far from Planica, the main venue of the Slovenian ski jumping teams.

"I'm very happy with my performance and above all that I have a new bib," Prevc added after beating the 2023 world champion Eva Pinkelnig of Austria by 26 points and Abigail Strate of Canada by 29.1 points at Villach.

Hers is the 15th win for the Slovenian women's ski jumping team since FIS launched women's competitions in the 2011/12 season. Slovenia is currently also in the lead in the women's Nations Cup.

Ski jumping dynasty

Prevc comes from a well-known family of ski jumpers. Three of her elder brothers, Peter, Cene and Domen, have all made a mark in the men's World Cup, although Cene has since retired from the sport.

The most successful of them yet, Peter Prevc won the overall World Cup victory and dominated the overall ski flying standings as well as swept the Four Hills Tournament in the 2015/16 season.

He also has four Olympic medals, including gold in the mixed team event and silver in the team event on the large hill at the Beijing Games, and silver and bronze in individual events in Sochi 2014, on the individual and large hills, respectfully.

He has also won a total of seven medals at world Championships, including an individual and team golds in ski flying. In all, he has 23 individual World Cup wins and 57 individual World Cup podiums under his belt.

In December 2015, he and his brother Domen became the first siblings to come in first and second at the same event, in Engelberg, Switzerland, a feat that they repeated in Sapporo, Japan in January 2016. Peter won both times.

Domen has chalked up a total of five World Cup wins this far, including two in team events, while Cene has one individual World Cup podium, plus one win and another five podiums in team events. Along with his brother Prevc, Cene was part of the team that won Slovenia the team silver at the Beijing Games.

Nika won her first World Cup podium in Austria's Hinzenbach in February 2023 when she placed third behind compatriot Ema Klinec.