It was Kamil Stochthat we want to watch. With a great, strong exit from the threshold, properly fired up in the first phase of the flight and dynamic right up to the landing. There was a problem with him, but no wonder – after all, the Pole had not landed as far as 135 meters in a competition for a long time.
Stoch's bomb in the second series. After the first one he looked sour, then the smile came back
Stoch finished Saturday with a real bomb, which gave him 24th place in the competition. In the first one serieswhich he barely got through, he gained 127 meters and this attempt was still missing something. The jumper walked through the mixed press zone, worried, with a sour face. But after the second series, he already had a distinct smile on his face.
– The other one jump he was one of the best, if not the best, on the threshold this winter – admitted Kamil Stoch. – However, the body has somewhat forgotten how to react during such a good and long flight. This made it very unstable in the air, but the jump was still cool – he said.
– Kamil jumped better today, it was obvious that he had changed something in his technique – said the coach Thomas Thurnbichler. – It makes it fly better. If he had had a better inrun speed in the first series, he would have been able to score in the Top 20. However, I think it was influenced by the conditions. It's good to see that he is moving in the right direction and changing something, said the Austrian.
18 points from the German judge. As if he didn't see what Stoch did. “Maybe for the good old days”
For his jump in the second series, Stoch received 51 points from the judges. That's still quite a lot. His troubles began in the air when he was tilted heavily forward and to the left. Ultimately, he landed on two feet with a very deep telemark. Although it was close and he would have completely forgotten about “extending the landing gear”.
It seemed that the judges would deduct even more than three points from him. Meanwhile, he only received two 16.5-points (from Martin Roenningen from Norway and Blair Tomten from the USA), one seventeen (from Mitsugu Sato from Japan), one 17.5-point (from Christian Begutter from Austria) and one eighteen-point (from Thomas Scherm from Germany). This last assessment by the German judge is especially exaggerated. And Scherm's character is not anonymous – we wrote about his “show” during flights in Oberstdorf last winter here.
This “18” looks as if the person issuing the note didn't even notice what Stoch did. I guess he gave him an early Christmas present. Or maybe it's the result of Stoch's renowned surname? There is no denying that some judges take into account the class of a given jumper in their notes and give higher marks to the best ones.
When we told him how much he received from Scherm, Stoch immediately laughed. – Maybe for those good old days – he suggested with a smile. – This jump shows me that I can jump well, but I need a lot of consistency and patience. Maybe then I will do more such jumps, not just one – added the three-time Olympic champion seriously.
Stoch explained what he changed: I have to “get into it”
What changed in Stoch that made him suddenly fly away? – I started work in Wisła, which today brings such small results. Like that last jump. It's about sticking to the plan consistently. When things don't work out, you can get discouraged, but you need a cool head. Do everything patiently until it works, then it becomes a habit and you start to feel more freedom, and therefore more energy. And this is exactly what happens when you jump. But there's still a bit of work to be done on the fly, he admitted.
– Do I let go of my hands a lot when I get into position? With them, it's about making me feel where I am and where my center of gravity is. So as to properly balance the position. Overall, I didn't really change anything much. I went back to what worked in the summer in the fall. Then we looked for the center of gravity a bit. We changed a lot because in the winter I became very stiff. Generally, in the body. Hence, it was difficult for me to find the optimal position. Now we're back to what it was like in the summer and I have to get into it. And find good feeling and freedom in all this – explained Kamil Stoch.
Stoch will have another chance to make similar long jumps and achieve even better results on Sunday. One more qualification and a second individual competition are scheduled in Titisee-Neustadt – at 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively. Live coverage on Sport.pl, a broadcasts on Eurosport, TVN and on the Max platform.