The heart was the one that told me it's time to open a new chapter in life

Peter, how long did this decision take to mature?

It took almost two years. After the Olympic Games, I began to think about when to finish, how much my body can handle, how much my heart can handle, whether I can still give my all to the sport. Another big reason was hinted at in Planica last year that sometimes you can't just keep banging your head against the wall. Even if you do everything towards your goals, desires, everything doesn't always align in life. After that, I came to this decision.

If you fast forward, can you imagine life without ski jumping? You've been a professional athlete for 15 years, and now you'll have to cut ties.

I'm not sure if I can completely cut ties, but I don't have to. Maybe I'll jump for recreation someday. You never know. But it's hard to write off something you've lived for so long.

You achieved your greatest success in Planica with the globe. How does the film play back now, what are you most proud of?

A significant success is that I was in the World Cup for 15 seasons, during which I achieved many top results and set some milestones. I am proud that the sport grew alongside me and that it has risen to an internationally enviable level in Slovenia.

How would you like your colleagues and the youth who started training jumps because of you to remember you?

I want my colleagues to remember that we had some fun together. As for the youth, I want them to remember that you don't need much to be successful. I hope I've shown that it's not just the equipment that brings success. Your personal decisions are what educate you, improve you. When you decide what to do in the evening. These are the decisions that educate you for the better.

If this season had turned out a little differently, you were on the brink of the podium a few times, would you be here today?

No one knows that now. Most likely, yes. Maybe I would have decided even more easily if I had the yellow jersey at the moment.

How much burden did you feel throughout your career, as you co-created the history of ski jumping? How did you experience this throughout your career?

You experience a burden, expectations of yourself, completely differently. Until the 2016 season, everything somehow went smoothly, without major fluctuations, always on the rise. At that time, good results carry and confirm the burden. With that, you can cooperate. After that season, I imposed so much burden on myself that maybe I didn't achieve some medals at major competitions. I often went there as a silent favorite, finished 4th, 6th, maybe because of the pressure of a major competition, I didn't achieve what I was capable of.

How do you view the successes of your family now that your career is over? Is the Prevc family in good hands with your younger brother and sister?

My older children have passed on the baton to the younger ones. It is a phenomenon that there are so many successful people from one family. But I don't know the reasons.

Would you change anything in your career if you could turn back time?

In December 2017, I wouldn't have been so demanding of myself, but I would have let some weekends go by.

What vision do you have for the future in your life?

I want to live. I can dive into sports as a coach, I can go to the office, I can go to the forest. I have the knowledge, the strength, and a healthy body to do many things.

What did your family say when you told them?

They supported me. My father even said he had been waiting for this for a while.

What will the rest of the season look like?

I hope it will be as good as it has been so far, or even better. I will skip America this weekend, and then I will participate in all the competitions until the end of the season. As long as my health serves me.

How much did the constant rule changes influence the decision?

There is not one reason for the decision, but one of them is also the uncertainty of the sport when you don't know which way it will go, what will change every year, where they will measure you again, what the new competition format will be next season. Maybe this uncertainty also contributed to it.

How much did last year's fall in Planica contribute to the decision?

Probably also a little. There is not one reason. There are 100 reasons, just as there were 100 reasons to continue. When you are 30 years old and have a family, it seems a bit irresponsible to be in the hospital.

How much do you still enjoy skiing? How much was it torture due to injuries? Robi Kranjec enjoyed it, but he always talked about how much sacrifice was involved.

Somewhere not long ago, I read well that these are not sacrifices, these are decisions. Like a parent deciding to go away for three days, no one is forcing you. You decide, no one is forcing you, because at that moment it seems very important to you personally. I may have had a lot of struggling, maybe a season or two ago, but not the last two years, except before the Planica championship. But this season, I'm already really enjoying it, the results are better, the mood is better, and so on.

With what wish will you come to the Planica festival this year?

I will come to this weekend as always, just for the last time, I believe, with good form and the possibility of a world record.

Media representatives see you as the best Slovenian jumper in history. How do you see yourself?

With these successes, it's hard to compare. Primož and I compete in terms of the number of globes, there are victories in one season… Every jumper, every athlete who wins the trophy for the best of the season is very high up among competitors.

What was the hardest thing for you in your career? What was going through your mind at that time?

The hardest thing is that you train the same, you have the same people around you, it looks the same on camera, but it's not the same. The body doesn't release energy, you don't let go of everything you can, what you know. Looking for that breakthrough from 15th to 10th place, that was always very difficult for me.

The championship season. How do you view it from a distance? What are your feelings now that you were unbeatable?

At that time, it was very good. You relax like a boat on the river and you just sway and don't fall because it's not too turbulent. You live for it. But because of everything that's happening to you, maybe you don't experience everything as you could.

Would you also direct your children to ski jumping, given that you have excellent genes for this sport, or would you opt for a safer sport?

That's a question I get asked a lot. But what is a safe sport, I wonder. Professional sports are always at the limit of human capabilities. Even in football, handball, knees get injured. Jumpers are unlucky to fall from a height. I would definitely guide everyone into sports, even into professional sports. It's better for a person to do what they love and express themselves there than to spend their whole life wondering why they didn't try?

Have you received any congratulations from a foreign jumper since 9 a.m.?

I distanced myself from the phone. I read two articles, and I became a little too emotional; I said it's not time to read that yet. I wanted to wait until the press conference.

You have always been known for fairness, collegiality, even towards other foreign competitors. Will you remain friends even after your career?

I don't have close contacts from abroad. But after the competitive period, it seems to me that there are more opportunities to become friends. You are no longer competing against each other, and not everyone has their own hectic schedule.

You will finally have free time, what hobbies will you pursue?

I hope I'll go somewhere with a camper for a very long time. Skiing for a few days in winter, mountains for several days. I need to keep up with the kids, I need to maintain fitness for at least another 10 years. These are things I've missed a bit now.

In the role of a fan next season. Do you see yourself, have you already thought about it? Where will you follow the key moments of the season?

I had the role of a fan a year ago. How it will be in the future, how much I will follow, I don't know yet. But certainly, there are some World Cup venues that I would like to see as a tourist.