– Of course it will end someday – Aleksander Zniszczo³ said about the pursuit of the podium when I asked him about it after the duet competition in Oberstdorf. Then the Poles fell out of the top three after the last jump. Earlier, Zniszczoł had a great chance for the first podium in his individual career twice – when he was fourth after the first series in Zakopane and was leading at the halfway point of the competition in Willingen, but he wasted both of these opportunities. This chase seemed to be endless, and after the weekend in Oberstdorf, when the leader of the Polish team jumped slightly weaker for the second week in a row, it seemed that she could have escaped for good. Nothing of that. The Destroyer was right.
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The podium did not surprise Zniszczoł at all. Although just the weekend before he looked tired and sad
He did not give up and finally got his desired World Cup podium – third place in Lahti. He took advantage of good conditions in the first round of Sunday’s competition and made a great jump of 128.5 meters, which gave him second place. This time he did not make any significant mistakes and in the second series, although the pressure had to be similar to that of the first two podium chances this winter, he withstood it. 129.5 meters gave him third place, 1.1 points ahead of Johann Andre Forfang from Norway. The Pole was overtaken only by Austrian Jan Hoerl and Slovenian Peter Prevc.
In Oberstdorf, Destroyer looked very tired and sad. But by no means resigned. He was still convinced that if he tried and fought, he would return to the top. He rested and in Finland he looked much better in his new olive overalls. From the first jumps it was clear that he was capable of joining the ranks of the best again. And that’s how it happened. He was so calm that it would happen that on the podium or in front of the Eurosport cameras, although he was happy, it was not as effusive as one might have expected. This success did not surprise him at all. He was aware of it even before he reached the podium.
Twelve years of fighting He destroyed. He took the title from Kubacki. “The most patient of Poles”
Zniszczoł has been jumping in the World Cup for twelve years. This podium in Lahti is a success not only for the jumper who is having the best season in his career and wanted to end it properly – at least with one scalp. Above all, it is a beautiful culmination of the difficult and long path the jumper has traveled.
We already saw that Zniszczoł is a great talent when he made his debut in the World Cup in 2012 and took ninth place in his fourth highest-ranking competition in Zakopane. Previously, he finished in the first round of two competitions and did not qualify for one. On the second day of the competition at Wielka Krokiew, he took fourteenth place, but he had to wait a long time for further successes. In 2014, he won gold at the Junior World Team Championships with his friends, and in the 2014/2015 season he scored points quite regularly in the World Cup. But there was no flash. This only came in December 2021, when he was sixth in Nizhny Tagil. However, part of the group did not start there, and besides, Zniszczoł did not follow through and was unable to reach such a high level again. He’s only just figured it out now. In the meantime, he made the most starts in history in Continental Cup competitions. He was sent there many times, but he did not give up and achieved his goal.
– He already had self-confidence last season, then he caught it – explains the former coach of the B team, Maciej Maciusiak, who knows Zniszczoł very well and helped him get back into shape many times. He’s talking about the period when, although he hardly scored any points at the beginning of the winter of 2022/2023, he then returned to the World Cup and became quite a solid player. His highest finish was thirteenth in Lake Placid. – We know how he finished the season in Planica (14th and 17th place – ed.), but then few people focused on him because others jumped much better. Now Olek had, I guess you could say so, the best preparatory season in our summer. At the beginning of the winter, there was probably a bit of disappointment, because the first weeks were difficult, he was sidelined and went to the Continental Cups. Then Thomas had no choice but to reinstate him because he was overpaying. He is the most patient of Poles. David was always such an example, he was called the king of patience. Now Olek has definitely become such a jumper. He continues the work he started last winter. He is experienced enough to know what suits him best and does it – describes Zniszczoła Maciusiak.
Destroyed “is getting stronger mentally.” Thurnbichler guided him accordingly
– Not much has changed in his technique. He jumps similarly, has the same hands. He rides a little higher, has a higher position. And very good – says the trainer. Maciusiak means that too big changes would mean tinkering and that the jumper is missing something. And with Zniszczoł it was about changing the approach in other elements. – He is developing and getting stronger mentally. Previously, he didn’t take full advantage of the pressure and made mistakes. He was angry when it didn’t work out and he had his chances. But it was out of ambition, because he wanted it very much. However, it is clear that he knows what to do. As he says, “he has the puzzle sorted out” and I think we will enjoy many successful competitions with his participation – points out Maciusiak.
It is clear that Zniszczoł has also found himself well in his new position: as the best Pole in the World Cup. In Oberstdorf he said that he felt the burden of a new situation for him, but a weekend later it helped him again. He didn’t let it get him down. – It was a challenging time for him. For several competitions, he carried the weight of the entire team. He was our leader. This is also natural, it may happen that you have a slightly weaker period afterwards. It is important that he rests now, trusts his good form and what he can show on the hill. It’s good for him to approach the competitions in Lahti with a fresh mind, coach Thomas Thurnbichler told us before leaving for Finland.
This is also a small success for the Austrian: if we often say that Polish ski jumping lacks someone new, a breath of fresh air, Zniszczoł has just given the signal that he is becoming one. Thurnbichler guided him accordingly. Especially at the beginning of the current season, when Zniszczoł needed a little shock. The decision to exclude the jumper from the Continental Cup after poor performances in the first two weekends had not only sporting, but primarily disciplinary reasons. She was right and it turned out that it only strengthened Destroyer, who quickly returned to the squad and only grew thanks to subsequent good results.
A very important role of Destroyer. It may help not so much to patch but to avoid a hole in Polish ski jumping
Thanks to this, Zniszczoł became a new great figure for the team. This is very important, because if Thurnbichler intends to make significant changes in Polish ski jumping in the coming months, and within two or three years carry out a kind of generational exchange and develop juniors, then Zniszczoł may turn out to be a good link between the slowly burning out group of the most experienced ski jumpers and those , whose level is slightly below the World Cup. Let this be an example for others. After all, Zniszczoł is not young anymore – he managed to reach the podium before his 30th birthday, which he will celebrate on Friday.
He showed a role in which we would like to see many more names – for example Paweł Wąsek, who was disappointing this winter, or the group of jumpers from the B team, who jumped worse than the Polish juniors this weekend in the Continental Cup. It was a player like Zniszczoł Thurnbichler that he needed: to motivate others, but also to work on not wasting the potential of young talents. The worst thing is when there are no successes and a hole is created. Any further good results of Destroyer would help not so much to patch it up, but perhaps even to avoid it.
Maciusiak: The role of team leader is a reward for Olek. We know how it was “rolled” for many years before.
– The leadership role suits Olek and he appreciates it. This is a reward because we know how he was “rolled over” for many years, cheated on places in the squad: here he was not included in the team, here he was not included in the squad. Last season, he seemed a certainty for the Four Hills Tournament and was supposed to win the Polish championship, which was a lottery, in his own way. He was missing from the squad and that certainly hurt him too. The same with playing in the team when he jumped well in training and someone else was selected. Now Olek has a clearer head, because although he may make a worse jump, he knows that he will go to the next competition, that he is in this position. At least he doesn’t have to think about it. This is what suits him best in this new role – explains coach Maciej Maciusiak, who also deserves a lot of respect. Because it was largely thanks to him that Zniszczoł is where he is and he can think about even greater results than the podium with Lahti. Although for now it’s better to appreciate them than to rush into announcements.
There are eight individual competitions left until the end of the World Cup season – two on the large hill in Oslo, one on the normal hill and the large hill in Trondheim as part of a trial before next year’s world championships, and two each on the mammoth hill in Vikersund and Planica. In each of these places, Zniszczoł will be at least a candidate for a place in the top ten. This, as he himself said, is what he expects from his jumps. Better results – top fives, podiums – will only confirm that Zniszczoł does not have his head in the clouds, saying that the podium in Lahti does not make him that happy because he has other goals in mind. Now that he has reached this level, he wants to stay there as long as possible. It’s a side effect of how long he’s waited for all this. If there was patience, now there is also a desire not to have to return to it. The destroyer deserved to stay there for as long as he could.