Many times among the Polish fans there were sentences: we will soon be like Finland and the Czech Republic. We will lack results, competitors, then commitment to discipline, and finally jumping from Poland will disappear. This is a thesis that at the same time seems to be the worst-case scenario that has no right to come true. However, the weaker results of several age groups of jumpers effectively helped her grow, and there was no clear sign that the young people were okay here. There was growing concern and persuasion that this was the right approach.
Now, finally, there is proof and it can be clearly written: the words that Polish ski jumping would disappear are a myth. Plus, it’s already overthrown.
Polish youth with beautiful jumps answers questions about the future. Transformation
Bronze medal of Jan Habdas, fourth place and a small loss to the podium of Kacper Tomasiak, solid, ninth place of Marcin Wróbel and sixteenth place after falling from eighth after the first series of Klemens Joniak. To say that the Poles, who only a year ago finished the individual competition of the junior world championships without even a single competitor in the top ten, have improved a bit now in Whistler is an understatement. The staff has undergone a major transformation.
Of course, it could have been even better in Canada, because after the first round all Poles were in the top ten, with Kacper Tomasiak in the medal position. These are almost cosmic results showing that young generations have a lot of potential for development. Supposedly, the junior world championships sometimes do not translate into further careers of players, it is difficult to draw conclusions from them. However, this is the most important competition of this type for young players, to which they often subordinate their goals and work during the season. They train for these medals. Besides, Habdas, Tomasiak, Wróbel and Joniak have already shown their talent. Just confirmed it here. And that’s very important. They respond with beautiful jumps and results to questions about the future. We needed a result that would show that young players are not as bad here as some people used to think.
There’s no point calling them future world champions or World Cup winners, that’s for sure. But those who are to enter Polish jumping and continue to lead them, jumping into the forefront? Of course. “The fact that ski jumping in Poland will not disappear in the way that ski jumping in Finland almost ceased to exist is certain. We have a huge tradition, powerful know-how, and millions invested in training and infrastructure will one day pay off. The main goal of the Polish Ski Association is for them to return as soon as possible, so that at the Olympic Games in 2026 we can look towards the podium again, “wrote Piotr Majchrzak a year ago on Sport.pl. A crisis can always come, and some generational gaps may not be patched. But there will be no end of the world, collapse or collapse of jumping in Poland.
PZN took a risk. Now the coaches deserve recognition
A year ago, many expected a multi-level revolution in Polish ski jumping. The same in the national team, which later gained a completely new staff and shape, as well as in the back room or with the juniors. Because everywhere there was a lack of results and it seemed that changes were necessary.
On Sport.pl we also wrote about the need for changes even in the preparations of the youngest players in the country. However, PZN took a risky step: it gave the coaches a chance and trusted them, although there was no great progress. Now, however, activists can be happy. Even if only Jan Habdas has not changed in the team from Whistler in relation to Zakopane, all the jumpers worked with the same coaches. They deserve recognition and recognition for their hard work.
“We can’t complain”, “There will be someone to replace the elders”. Peace of mind for the future with Polish coaches
And how do the coaches assess the current potential of their players? – We have good young jumpers, they showed it today. Of course, there may not be a lot of them, but it’s not like there aren’t any at all. In all years, there are always two or three boys who we can say have good, high potential – believes the coach of the junior team, Daniel Kwiatkowski. – We can’t complain, that’s how you have to look at it – he judges in an interview with Sport.pl.
– We have a group of young players: juniors, youngsters, older boys and I think that for sure there will be someone to replace the older ones in the World Cup – believes the coach from Sokół Szczyrk, Sławomir Hankus. “I won’t list them all because I don’t want to miss anyone, but I’m confident about the future,” he adds.
Kamil Stoch himself, when asked about Polish youth in ski jumping, spoke positively about it. – This process is natural, it is the result of the training system introduced by the association with the help of sponsors. Especially the Lotos company, which supported the discipline to a great extent and did a great job. Now we can reap the harvest. I hope that this is just the beginning of the flowering of Polish jumping – he explained at the Polish Championships in Zakopane in autumn 2021.
Now it will also be crucial to improve the impression after individual team competitions. This one will be played on the night from Saturday to Sunday, and will start at 23:30 Polish time. Poles should fight for a medal, perhaps even a gold one, above all against the Austrians.