Stop Deceiving Ourselves! Poland's Power Needs a Few Years

When the song "You're Crazy" blared from the speakers before Sunday's competition, one could think someone was joking. Only the insane would count on Polish jumpers to dominate the World Cup in Wisla today. The facts tell a different story – two domestic competitions yielded no top ten finishes. Currently, Polish jumpers seem to belong to the second league. Better times may come, perhaps soon, but the overall picture is bleak, and it will take years for positive results to manifest.

Had Dawid Kubacki not jumped poorly on Saturday in Wisla, and slightly worse in the first series, we would have had the most symbolic image of this winter at the onset of the season. He would have joined Kamil Stoch, Piotr Żyła, and Maciej Kot, who all failed to qualify for the finals. This "big four" were the first and only team ski World Champions in our history. That power no longer exists; only beautiful memories remain.

Sometimes we easily forget how quickly time flies. That four-man team won their gold in Lahti in 2017. They were phenomenal, unattainable for the rest. Regardless of the wind or conditions, they soared the farthest. There wasn’t even a grand story of fighting until the last jump. They simply won, accomplished what they came to do on the ski jump. However, nearly eight years have gone by, and during that time, we have essentially pinned all hopes on the trio from that team, as Maciek quickly returned to mediocrity and has been searching for his way back to the top ever since. Kamil, Dawid, and Piotr were the ones bringing medals and joy, and keeping ski jumping in Poland afloat. Occasionally, Kuba Wolny or Andrzej Stękała emerged, but these were brief flashes.

That power in ski jumping is gone. That doesn’t mean any of them will win nothing anymore. Only a lunatic would dismiss guys with such experience and potential. The future of ski jumping in Poland can no longer rely on them.

The issue is that in this and last season, it feels like years ago, but reversed. They arrive at the jump and simply take what they can. Except now, they don't secure medals; instead, they settle for lesser roles and spots in the third ten or even outside it.

Somewhere in the race on the jump in Wisla, we encountered Apoloniusz Tajner. The former president of PZN and now a member of parliament is renowned for always seeing the future of ski jumping in rosy colors. This time around, he insisted that Poles, even the older ones, will ignite and are capable of truly excellent results in individual events, perhaps even the most important ones, as the World Championship is in the season's calendar. However, his optimism was not as infectious as it had been for years.

Today's situation is average, simply put. Something is coming to an end. It's worth recalling the words of the current chief of skiing in Poland, Adam Małysz, who said in our conversation, "Perhaps the best athletes have fully reached their potential and will continue to jump well, but they will no longer be dominant. I don’t know; these are just my thoughts." Many have long been reluctant to accept this thought...

Kamil, Piotr, or the youngest of them, Dawid, can still show great class, but to attract crowds to the Polish ski jumps year after year, we need the successes of Olka Zniszczoła, Pawła Wąska, and younger talents because the first three are undeniably closer to the end of their careers than to their peaks. The problem is that these youngsters do not exist yet. There are even younger names often spoken of in the community with great optimism, but it will take years before they reach the age at which we can expect them to compete with the best. It’s unnecessary to kid ourselves; a colder perspective is required to ask the question. Will the average results, because today our jumpers are simply average compared to the world, suffice to further develop the discipline and maintain interest?