Sensational Decision by Thomas Thurnbichler: He Scratched a Legend from the World Championships

The article reports that following the recent World Cup events in Sapporo, Thomas Thurnbichler was forced to make a difficult decision regarding the Polish national ski jumping team for the upcoming World Championships in Trondheim. Despite expectations bolstered by performances in Sapporo, the coach decided to exclude the legendary Kamil Stoch from the team, favoring a squad composed of Paweł Wąsek, Piotr Żyła, Dawid Kubacki, Aleksander Zniszczoł, and Jakub Wolny.

Thurnbichler explained that his decision was based on the current World Cup rankings and the best individual season results. Paweł Wąsek, as the leader of the general classification, and Piotr Żyła, who has been instrumental as the defending champion on the normal hill, solidified their positions. Meanwhile, despite some improvement in Kamil Stoch’s performance at Sapporo, his results did not meet the coach’s stringent expectations.

The coach also mentioned that the decision was made not only with performance in mind but to foster a team environment with reduced internal competition ahead of the high-pressure world stage in Trondheim, where the championships will run from February 26 to March 9, 2025. Thurnbichler left open the possibility for Stoch and even Maciej Kot to return to the team after further positive results in the coming competitions.

Overall, the decision has undoubtedly stirred up controversy in the ski jumping community, with many questioning whether the exclusion of a legendary figure was the right call as the team prepares to defend its honor on the international stage.