The general picture of the Polish ski jumping team after Saturday in Wisła is not positive. This is probably an understatement. Positives? Paweł Wąsek in the season's best 11th place, four players in points and what many would consider the greatest of them: Jakub Wolny's points.
The free man waited 989 days for this. He finally scored
The last time in “30” Wolny was in the penultimate competition of the 2021/22 season. On March 25, 2022, he took 15th place in the flying competition in Planica. Then he had to wait 989 days to gain points for his performance in the World Cup again. – A lot of time has passed – Wolny admitted.
Now in Wisła he succeeded – he was 26th after jumping on 116 and 121.5 meters. This first distance may not be impressive, but the Pole fought against strong gusts of wind at the back of the hill. In the second attempt, the wind was less disturbing and he immediately flew a little further.
A single person would like more. “But I have to be happy about it.”
– There's some relief. It's a little reward for the hard work I've put in all summer. You can see the progress, because last year I was 50th in the qualifications, and now I'm scoring points, so there is noticeable progress – said Jakub Wolny after the competition.
– It's definitely better to have these points than not to have them. I would like to take much higher places, but I have to be happy about it – added the ski jumper.
The slow one switched on the attack mode. This is what Thurnbichler wanted from him
– His goal for Saturday was to switch on attack mode. And he really did it, which makes me happy. We need him for the coming years, said Polish coach Thomas Thurnbichler.
On Friday, Wolny was 41st in the qualifications and after his jump he was afraid of qualifying for Saturday's competition. Then he approached his jumps differently and the improvement was immediately visible. – I decided to approach it a bit more aggressively and it certainly worked – he explained.
Apart from Wolny, three more Poles scored points in Saturday's competition: Paweł Wąsek (11th), Aleksander Zniszczoł (16th) and Dawid Kubacki (25th). Apart from the “30” there were 33. Kamil Stoch, 34. Maciej Kot and 35. Piotr Żyła.
Another chance to score points and improve the Poles' results on Sunday. First, nine players – Wolny, Wąsek, Zniszczoł, Kubacki, Stoch, Kot, Żyła, plus Andrzej Stękała and Kacper Juroszek – will take part in the qualifications scheduled for 1:45 p.m. The first series of the second individual competition of this weekend is scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. Live coverage on Sport.pl, and broadcasts on Eurosport, TVN and the Max platform.