Piotr Żyła on the podium, madness in Lahti! Just after Thomas Thurnbichler's decision

Piotr Żyła on the podium of the Continental Cup! The Polish veteran, dismissed from the World Championships team by Thomas Thurnbichler, secured a sensational second place in Lahti. It was a close call as he almost shared the podium with another Pole.

Piotr Żyła (Foto: EXPA / newspix.pl)

The weekend of the Continental Cup has been very successful for Żyła. On Saturday, he showed that he should not be underestimated, finishing as the top Pole in an impressive fifth place. However, few expected that he would improve on that result so soon.

Sunday in Lahti brought very good conditions with bright sunshine. Żyła achieved a solid jump of 129 meters in the first round, placing him in fourth at the halfway mark.

In the second round, he improved his distance by half a meter, boosting optimism, especially as his competitors did not jump as far. Ultimately, Żyła finished in an astonishing second place, only losing to Markus Müller. The Austrian managed a jump of 138.5 meters in the first round, which allowed him to maintain a point advantage over Żyła despite a weaker jump of 126.5 meters in the final round.

There could have been more Polish athletes on the podium, as Kacper Juroszek was also in the running. However, his jump of 115.5 meters landed him just shy of the podium in fourth place.

Five other Poles participated in the competition. Kacper Tomasiak took 17th place with jumps of 106.5 and 117 meters, while Tymoteusz Amilkiewicz was 27th (114.5 m, 82.5 m). Adam Niżnik ranked 36th (98.5 m), Szymon Byrski finished in 46th (90 m), and Klemens Joniak was disqualified.

Overall, the Continental Cup weekend was a significant success for Żyła and the Polish contingent, with many looking forward to the upcoming competitions in Zakopane on March 22-23, where two individual competitions are scheduled.