All five Poles advanced to Saturday's competition, but their positions were not great. The second best from Thomas Thurnbichler's team was 18th Paweł Wąsek (125.5 meters), 25th was Jakub Wolny (130.5 meters), 27th Kamil Stoch (128.5 meters), and only 45th was Aleksander Zniszczoł (115 meters). meters).
Therefore, Żyła's 12th place after a good jump of 131 meters is definitely the biggest positive of all this. The Pole clenched his fist right after landing, and when he was shown calculating the final qualifying score, he moved towards the camera, shouting and making further gestures of joy. This is a really great return to the series of top-ranking competitions for him.
Żyła interrupted the Eurosport journalist and added important words. This shows what he really needed
Such a door-to-door entry by Żyła during the World Cup weekend can be impressive. Especially since there was no Wiślanin in Titisee-Neustadt. He spent the previous week in Finland, where he took part in the Continental Cup in Ruka. And he didn't shine there, even though he was the best Pole and the national team decided to give him a chance to replace Dawid Kubacki, who wasn't doing well.
Anyway, it seems that this is the best solution for both players: Żyle clearly lacks starts, but Kubacki's situation indicates that he can gain the most from calm training. This was well demonstrated by Żyła's reaction to Kacper Merek's words in an interview for Eurosport. The journalist said that Piotrek told him in Wisła that he lacked ski jumping. And Żyła interrupted immediately and added: “But in competitions.”
– That's why I went to Ruka. I had a great time jumping there, Żyła added. – So far it looked cool here, training was going well. I defeated this one in qualifying. It should probably fly a little further, because the conditions were still nice there – he pointed out.
– I just came to do my job. I planned the whole weekend elegantly. So that's cool. I think you have to pursue your goals and do what you know how to do. Because nothing more will happen – said the 37-year-old in his own style.
Żyła fell, but he did it in his own style. “I saw double”
At the beginning of Friday's series in Switzerland, he both electrified and worried Polish fans. In the first training he flew as far as 133 meters, but after landing he was held by fresh snow and fell. It looked dangerous, and Żyła did not get up from the jump for a long time. But then he got up on his own, and when he talked to journalists from Eurosport and Skijumping.pl, he was in a good mood.
He approached this event with a smile even after qualifying. – It was worse, but I found soft snow and actually knocked myself out with my finger. I landed, it caught me there, I flew and I felt like I got hit here a little bit, said Żyła, pointing to a small scratch on his forehead.
He was then asked if it had been a good day for him despite the fall and he started joking. – I don't know, because after I fell, I don't remember much, ha, ha. I saw double and I thought to myself as I was driving down the inrun: “Which threshold is good? Oh, it doesn't matter,” the jumper laughed.
I hope he saw one threshold during Saturday's competition and missed landing on soft snow, but made a full, nice telemark. To beat his best result this season, he needs to be higher than 26th place, which shouldn't be a problem for him. And who knows, maybe he will refer to his best results from Engelberg in his career. He stood on the podium four times, including second place twice in 2018. Now a place in the Top 10 would be a great, motivational kick towards the Four Hills Tournament.
Saturday's competition will start at 4:00 p.m. and will be preceded by a trial series at 2:30 p.m. Live coverage on Sport.pl, and broadcasts on Eurosport, TVN and the Max platform.