Slovenian siblings Domen and Nika Prevc win Olympic gold in ski jumping team event

PREDAZZO, Italy (AP) - Domen Prevc knew he had done something special when he landed his final jump. He rolled his fists in the air, pointing his fingers skyward and took a bow as Slovenian flags waved and the crowd roared.

Prevc's jump not only helped Slovenia defend its gold medal in the mixed team event at the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday, but he and his sibling, Nika Prevc, became the first brother and sister to win a medal in ski jumping at the same Olympics.

"This medal is something I wanted since I started ski jumping," Nika Prevc said. "But today I share it with my team and with my brother and this is even better."

Norway took silver with a foursome that included a jumper who was suspended last year in a jumpsuit-tampering scandal that caused an uproar in the sport and brought shame to the country that invented it.

Japan captured its third bronze in the third ski jumping event of the Games.

The Prevc siblings arrived for their Olympic debuts as the top-ranked ski jumpers in the world. Both are defending world champions, each has a record for the longest jump and they both sit far ahead of their competition on the World Cup circuit.

But until Tuesday, the normal hill - the smaller of the two ski jumping hills - had not been the place for them to shine. Nika was teary-eyed Saturday after finishing second and Domen, who is not a standout on the normal hill, finished sixth on Monday.

Domen Prevc said he and his sister were inspired by teammate Nika Vodan, the only carryover from the gold medal squad from 2022, who had led off the contest with a 100-meter jump, putting Slovenia in the lead after the first 12 women jumped. Anze Lanisek followed in the next group with a 102-meter jump and the Prevc siblings came on strong each time Japan or Norway threatened.

Norway's team included Anna Odine Stroem, who won the gold medal in the women's event Saturday, and Marius Lindvik, the reigning world champion who won gold on the men's normal hill at the Beijing Olympics in 2022. Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal and Eirin Maria Kvandal were also part of the squad.

The Japanese team included Ren Nikaido and Nozomi Maruyama, who won bronze medals in the individual men's and women's competitions, and Ryoyu Kobayashi, who won gold in Beijing in 2022. The medal was redemption for Sara Takanashi, who had just missed a medal in the last Olympics, landing fourth in the women's event.

Lindvik said the silver brought redemption for him and took the tarnish off the team. He and teammate Johann André Forfang were suspended for three months last year after their coaches and a staff member were caught on camera tampering with their suits.

"It's been a very tough year and a lot of ups and downs," he said. "So it's nice to take the silver together with the team."

Stitching was added to the suits to stiffen the crotch area, allowing the athletes to fly farther. The manipulation happened before the large hill event but was only discovered later, after Lindvik had won the silver medal. He was subsequently stripped of the award.

Neither Lindvik nor Forfang was charged with knowing about the stitch wizardry, but the international ski federation, FIS, the governing body for ski jumping, said the jumpers "should have checked and asked questions about the nighttime adjustments."

The sibling record was a second of sorts for the Prevc family. Nika's silver medal in the individual event made her the first woman to join a brother - two in her case - to win Olympic medals in the sport.

The Prevc siblings' older brother, Peter, who has since retired from the sport, had led the Slovenian team to the gold in Beijing in the mixed event, taking advantage of jumpsuit violations by German Katharina Althaus and Takanashi.

Ski jumping has been part of the Olympics since the inaugural Winter Games in 1924, but women were only included for the first time in 2014. The mixed team event debuted in Beijing four years ago.

Peter Prevc paired with brother Cene, who is also now retired, and two others to win silver medals in the men's large hill team event in Beijing.

Four of the five Prevc siblings now have Olympic medals - and that's the way it will stay because the youngest wants nothing to do with ski jumping.

But more medals for the two still competing are possible. Domen and Nika Prevc still have the large hill event next weekend and the men's super team event is on Feb. 16.