For as long as he can remember, he has been under pressure. “Because he jumped like that when he was 10 years old”, “because Małysz's successor”
These will be different Polish ski jumps, because for the first time in a long time without Klemens Murańka. He removed himself from the starting lists. “Something broke inside me,” he admits. His decision shocked me, but it is irrevocable. He says about jumping that he liked it, but he didn't love it. They gave him a lot, but they probably took even more away. You can feel that he has regrets, the fame has overwhelmed him, but he is happy. He talks about his difficult childhood, his sons, the offer he is considering, and what he can't deny himself today.
He quit ski jumping at the age of 30, he assures that it will be permanent. Klemens Murańka took a long time to make this decision. He wanted to retire several times, finally announcing it in September, just before the new season. He finished skiing after 23 years of training and sacrifice. There were successes (medals at the junior world championships, bronze in the team competition with seniors), but whoever you ask in the community will answer: there is great dissatisfaction. When I call his club, I hear: – He should be an Olympic medalist.
There was also a tremendous amount of pressure. His talent skyrocketed during Adam Małysz's heyday. When little Klimek was 10 years old, he jumped 135 m in Zakopane. This jump became a nuisance and he was labeled “the second Little Boy”. It weighed on him until the last day of his career and probably overwhelmed him.
December 2004, the wall of fame of 10-year-old Klimek Murańka Grzegorz Momot/PAP
It was not easy to get Klemens to talk. At first he reluctantly agreed, but when the agreed time came, he refused. He sent a text message in which he withdrew. He apologized and thanked me. I asked him to give me a chance that maybe his statements would help young jumpers and their parents draw conclusions and manage their careers better. A few hours of thought and he agreed.
Tomasz Wiśniowski: Why this hesitation? You wanted to talk but gave up until you were talked into talking again.
Klemens Murańka: First of all, I wanted peace, to give my head a break from it all. Secondly, some people got under my skin.
Journalists. Sometimes they turn the needle into a pitchfork, I was disappointed a few times, I don't talk to some of them anymore.
Were they hiding in the bushes, standing in front of the door to the house like in the times of Adam Małysz's greatest popularity?
It happened when I was younger. Oh, it was happening. There was a time when it was quite overused. I was 10 years old when I jumped 135 meters. And it began. Everyone wanted interviews, preferably all at once. Sometimes I didn't even leave the room, I hid. My father contributed to this, everything went through him, he arranged journalists, often without consulting me, they came and I had had enough.
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