The Slovenian holiday is approaching, the weekend of ski flights in Planica, which will undoubtedly be an unprecedented spectacle. If you are not going to be in a hurry in the valley below Poncami between March 21 and 24, at least you can hope to keep your fingers crossed for the Slovenian eagles. And what do you still not know about this historic competition?
Below we present you some interesting facts about Planica, which you may not yet be familiar with.
1. Joso Gorec, the long-time general secretary of the Yugoslav Winter Sports Association and a diligent ski organizer, recognized the potential of Planica, and so in 1931, ideas arose about a larger ski jump where international competitions, including the world championship, could be organized. Stanko Bloudek started building the 70-meter ski jump in 1932. It was increased to 80 meters by Ivan Rožman, who also corrected some of its faults
2. Planica was first placed on the world sports map in 1934. On February 4, it hosted the national championship, where Franc Palme set a new national record - 60 meters. On March 25, world aces performed on the ski jump. The Norwegian Birger Ruud set a new world record - 92 meters.
3. With another increase, Planica became the largest ski jump in the world, and the Norwegian Ski Federation wanted to limit the development of jumps in every way. Thus, in 1935, she forbade her competitors to participate in the official match, which was then won by the Polish Stanislav Marusarz.
4. On March 15, 1936, 18-year-old Austrian Sepp Bradl-Buw became the first man to fly 100 meters and made history with a distance of 101.5 meters. Two years later, he pushed the record to 107 meters.
5. Among the heroes were Rudi Finžgar (101 meters) and Albin Novšak (103), who were the first Yugoslavs to fly 100 meters.
6. In 1953, Cockta was also presented to the public for the first time in Planica.
7. In 1969, the Gorišek brothers realized their plan about the giantess. Between March 21 and 23 of the same year, the most world records were achieved in the history of ski jumping. Norwegian Bjoern Wirkola (156 and 160 meters), Czech Jiri Raska (156 and 164 meters) and German Manfred Wolf (165 meters) celebrated in the competition.
8. In 1971, ski summers became their own discipline, and Planica got the first organization of the world championship.
9. In 1979, the Avsenik Brothers Ensemble wrote the song Planica, Planica especially for the World Championships in Flying, the chorus of which is played today at every jump above 215 meters.
10. In 1988, Primož Ulaga entered the history of Planica, as he was the first Slovenian to win in Planica, even twice.
11. In 1994, the Finnish boy prodigy Toni Nieminen was the first to fly over 200 meters.
12. In 1997, Primož Peterka won the first overall victory in the World Cup and the first crystal globe for Slovenia..
13. Since 2000, Planica has recorded flights over 220 meters. Andreas Goldberger, Thomas Hörl and Ville Kantee were the first to exceed this limit.
14. The current record of Letalnica Bratov Gorišek is held by Pole Kamil Stoch, who flew 251.5 meters on March 25, 2017.
