The most sensational jumping champion. Years later, we learned about the drama

This championship was supposed to belong to Jakub Janda, who was jumping very well. Another big favorite was Janne Ahonen, and somewhere behind them, from the second row, we were hoping for an attack from Adam Maysz. It turned out that for the Pole it was a completely unsuccessful championship, during which he did not defend two titles from Predazzo. Much more confused was Janda, who after the competition on the normal hill could not believe what happened there for a long time.

Sensational world championship, but is it really?

Probably the most important thing in the 21st century should be considered a Slovenian It was exactly on February 19, 2005 in Oberstdorf. The 18-year-old Slovene was going to Oberstdorf as a competitor who had passed a very good competition a week earlier, because he was eighth at the pre-Olympic trial in Italian Pragelato. Interestingly, he separated two Poles then, and these professions are also important from our perspective. His personal result was then achieved by the junior – who took seventh place after two very good jumps. he was ninth. It was then that Malysz, after 1531 days, lost again to another Polish representative. The previous such event took place on December 2, 2000 in Kuopio, when Wojciech Skupień turned out to be better than Małysz.

Benković has already shown during training that his form is going up. He was placed in the 6th, 10th, 5th, 2nd and 9th places, respectively. He was fourth in qualifying. It was obvious that the normal facility in Oberstdorf suited him very well, and with every attempt he built his confidence. The unstable weather conditions were also an ally. After a lottery competition with a sensational champion, the organizers got a lot, among others in the hour of the start of the competition. The competition was scheduled for 4pm, although it has been known for a long time that on the Schattenberg hill the wind calms down only from 5pm. Unfortunately, the FIS had to comply with the requirements of television and sponsors, which simply insisted on holding the competition earlier.

Jakub Janda was standing still. Benkovic snatched the gold

However, no one could have thought that the young Slovene would be able to repeat such good jumps in a very important competition. And he did it! In fact, in the first competition series he showed a phenomenal jump to 101 meters. Thus, he set a new facility record, although it should be noted that he was greatly helped by the strong wind against the skis, which even held him in the air. However, the result from the first series had to be defended, but the advantage was considerable. 5 points over the second, 10 over the seventh. According to forecasts, the second series was much fairer. Adam Małysz advanced by as many as 10 places, who after bad luck in the first round jumped to the sixth position. – I am very disappointed. I was doing better in training. It was confirmed what I said after training yesterday and the day before yesterday that this hill is ruled by winds. Let’s be honest, at least in the first round it was the Slovenian World Championship. I hope that it will be much better on the large hill, that we will be lucky – he said irritably in an interview with TVP.

Jakub Janda also attacked with a flight of 91.5 meters. After each jump of the rival, he was getting closer to the coveted gold of the championship. Only Benkovic remained at the top. Alone, with great expectations and even more pressure. But he did it. He flew 91 meters, and after a while he was drowned in the arms of his friends. Janda just stood there engraved and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The “young eagle”, as Benkovic was called in Slovenia, confirmed the outbreak of his form in subsequent competitions of the championship. First, he and his friends won the bronze medal in the team competition, and Benković also flew far over the large stadium. Back then, however, it was only enough for a fifth place. He left the Championship with two rings that he could hang around his neck. Just like before, he hung his over two-meter-long boa, which he got from friends for his 18th birthday.

Until the end of the season, Benković was jumping very well. In the last five competitions, he never dropped out of the top ten. However, there were no more victories. It was similar in the next season, because although its first part looked decent (Benković scored points and was often in the second ten), later something broke in it. There was more and more talk about problems with depression. The jumper himself also admitted that jumping ceased to bring him joy. And he talked more and more about the fact that he wanted to pass his high school diploma and continue to develop.

End of career screeching

In 2007 he made a sensational decision to end his career as a ski jumper. He was only 21 at the time. Initially, it was not without a scandal, because Benković only informed his parents and the then coach of Ari Pekka-Nikkola about his decision. The information quickly made its way to the media, which the player did not like. – I’m not going to comment on this for the time being. I can only add that this decision matured in me throughout the past season. Now I’m focusing on science – said Benković, surprised. Later, voices began appearing in the Slovenian media that Benkovic no longer wanted to expose his mother to the stress of his starts. Jumping, however, is a very extreme discipline, and in the Benkovic family there had already been a dramatic accident, when the jumper’s father had an accident on a paraglider and was paralyzed.

Benković gave up ski jumping. Information began to appear in the media that the former world champion in jumping completely changed his life. He found adrenaline, which he lacked after descending the hill, in mountain climbing. He earned his living by playing poker professionally. – I already knew how to control emotions on the hill. I somehow improved it in poker and then transferred the experience to the business world, says Rok Benković in an interview with delo.si.

Cryptocurrency expert

The Slovene also started trading on the stock exchange and trading in securities. After a few years, he also became very interested in the cryptocurrency market. He even started training on this subject as he became part of the Crypto Trade Academy team. However, he remained in the media, because after the rise of bitcoin popularity, he was an expert often quoted by the Slovenian media. – Cryptocurrencies should be taken seriously as they have great potential. They succeeded in something that almost no one expected. They managed to become an alternative to a better financial system in just a few years. Moreover, cryptocurrencies gain the trust of a wider circle of people. I also believe that the time of banknotes is numbered and that electronic money has the future. However, I think it will be some time before most of the payments are made this way – explained Benković in an interview with RTV SLO.

He could have done so much more

If we look today at Benkovic’s results in the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons, it is easy to see that he was a jumper with great potential that could be released in the following years. After all, the Slovene was born in March 1986 and is only a year older than Kamil Stoch, who is still in great shape. Benkovic climbed to the top of skijumping just eight years after making his first jump. He joined the club at the age of 11, which in the case of ski jumpers is already a very advanced age for beginners. As if that was not enough, there was no longer a ski jumping hill in his town, so his mother had to take him to trainings (several kilometers). It was to her that he dedicated his gold medal of the world championship.

Today one can get the impression that the Slovene is one of the few examples that the quick success in ski jumping does not herald anything good for a further sports career. It is much better to reach it with hard work, sacrifice and sacrifice, and then it is easier to manage.