Ema Klinec ends ski jumping career, Digi Mart USA News: Former world champion and record holder Ema Klinec has announced the end of her ski jumping career. The 28-year-old Slovenian, one of the country’s best female athletes to date, said the decision was recent and had been developing for some time.
Klinec said few people knew about the decision. She had been preparing for Lillehammer, the first World Cup event of the coming week, but several factors weighed in.
She had not returned to the jumping hill after the final competition of the summer Grand Prix in Klingenthal, choosing to let the decision mature.
Klinec said she had already come to terms with ending her jumping career two years earlier, after finishing third in Lahti. She described the 2026 summer as focused on physical preparation and consistency, and said the summer had been excellent in terms of jumping and fitness, with her winning the overall summer Grand Prix standings.
Her longtime coach, Zoran Zupančič, once said that at 15 she was clearly ahead of her male peers in both physical and technical preparation. Injuries and health problems later interrupted her development, which prevented her from fully realizing her talent.
Klinec finished on the World Cup podium 31 times, winning twice, in Nizhny Tagil and Oslo. Her best overall World Cup ranking came three years ago, when she placed third.
She also won a summer national title shortly before ending her career.
Her biggest highlight came at the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, where she won gold and gave Slovenian women’s ski jumping its first medal at a major championship. She later took part in silver and bronze team results at major events, including the mixed team competition in Planica and the Nordic championships in Trondheim last year.
In Norway in March 2023, she became the first woman to fly beyond 200 meters in an official competition while winning the Raw Air tour, and later extended the women’s world record to 226 meters at Vikersund. That record was subsequently surpassed by others, including Nika Prevc, who reached 242.5 meters in Planica this year.
Klinec said her first jump beyond 200 meters at Vikersund was the peak of her career, and her world title in Oberstdorf was also a highlight. She said she planned to start a new chapter, having already earned a psychology degree and started a master’s program, though she did not disclose her plans.
