The valley below the Ponca peaks is already gearing up to receive the world’s best ski jumpers, who will once again fly from the famous Gorišek brothers’ hill at the end of March. For the second year in a row, the youngest fans will have a chance to fly with them on the wings of imagination by entering the competition to design the cup that will be awarded to the winner of the Planica 7 competition. Entrants have until 25 February to upload their designs, with the help of their teach-er, to planica.triglav.si. The competition winner will also have the opportunity to award the cup in person to the winner of the Planica 7, which goes to the ski flyer with the most points across seven jumps. Prizes will also be awarded to the authors of the ten drawings that receive the most public votes.
The winning entry will be selected by a committee of experts who, in addition to assessing the crea-tivity of the design and its connection to Planica, will also examine whether it is possible to turn it from a drawing into a real trophy using 3D printing technology. The author of the winning entry will award the trophy to the winner of the Planica 7 competition. They will also receive tickets to watch the finale of the FIS World Cup for themselves and up to four family members, to hang out with the Slovenian jumpers and watch the competition from the top of the hill in the company of Cene Prevc.
The public will be able to see all drawings on the competition website, and have until 10 March to vote for their favourite. The authors of the entries that receive the most votes will win tickets to Thursday’s qualifying competition for their whole class, as well as free coach travel to and from the event.
Young creatives supported by the world’s best ski jumpers
Just as the children will be loudly cheering on their heroes of the winter, the athletes themselves will be rooting for the young artists and looking forward to seeing the new trophy. “I’m proud to be part of this competition again because I think that it is very important to encourage children’s imagi-nations. Following the process of turning a drawing into a real trophy and presenting it to the winner of Planica 7 competition must be a unique experience for every child. I therefore invite every young creative to have a go at designing and drawing the Planica 7 cup,” said former ski jumper Cene Prevc, who is once again part of the jury tasked with selecting the winning design.
Last year’s winner keen to encourage this year’s entrants
Žiga, the winner of last year’s competition, will be at Planica again this year to cheer on the jump-ers, and the young ski jumping fan is already keen to encourage his peers to make their own flights of imagination. “I want to see my friends and all my peers have a go at designing the trophy as well as they can,” he says. The young designer was given the opportunity last year to watch the process of turning his drawing into a real trophy, have it painted as he wishes and finally to present it to the winner of last year’s Planica 7 competition, Stefan Kraft. As the great Austrian was keen to point out: “What an honour for me to win the Planica 7 for the first time. Even more so because I received such a wonderful trophy designed by a youngster.”
Several thousand children from every part of Slovenia will gather at Planica once again
In addition to the authors of the winning drawings and their classmates, Thursday at Planica will once again see the arrival of almost 4,000 “Children of Triglav” and their teachers and parents, giv-en the opportunity to watch the qualifying rounds by Slovenia’s biggest insurer. The trophy-design competition is part of the “Children of Triglav at Planica” project, which for more than 40 years has brought children from all sorts of environments into closer contact with their Slovenian sporting heroes. “These campaigns are designed to gently encourage young people to adopt healthier life-styles, and the trophy competition is part of this. At the same time it encourages children to express their creativity, so it’s a win-win,” explains Tjaša Kolenc Filipčič, director of the Zavarovalnica Triglav marketing department.
