It was the magic of ski jumping in Poland! Everyone remembers this triumph of Adam Małysz

Polish jumpers have certainly had more worries than reasons to be satisfied in the last dozen or so months, looking at the results achieved in the 2023/24 season. The team under the baton of coach Thomas Thurnbichler most often failed, and those with well-known names were replaced as leaders quite unexpectedly by Aleksander Zniszczoł.

FIS remembers the great success of Adam Małysz. It was a special time!

What will it be like in the 2024/25 campaign? We will probably find out after a few weekends with the World Cup. Probably the fact that no ski jumper is among the 25 best athletes nominated in the “Przegląd Sportowy” plebiscite is something that shows the current situation of the discipline. Ski jumping has gained great popularity in Poland, mainly due to the successes of Adam Małysz. The successor was Kamil Stoch, Piotr Żyła and the only Polish Olympic medalist from the games in Beijing (2022), Dawid Kubacki, also had their beautiful moments.

To cheer up our hearts, a nice gesture from the perspective of a Polish fan was made on the official FIS Facebook profile. It was recalled, two days before the start of the new season, that only two jumpers in history have won the final World Cup classification four times. These are Finn Matti Nykaenen and Adam Małysz. The image of the latter, triumphant with the Crystal Ball in his hand, was decorated with an entry referring to the last such success of the Eagle from Wisła, in 2007.

Małysz is a ski jumping legend. The Pole won the World Cup in the seasons 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2006/07. This last success had a special meaning, because the Polish ski jumper once again showed the whole world that he is a great competitor, despite the fact that many experts had already ruled out his belonging to the top – after several weaker years.

Additionally, Małysz has four Olympic medals, three silver (Salt Lake City 2002 on the large hill and Vancouver 2010 on the normal and large hill) and one bronze (Salt Lake City on the normal hill). The Pole also won four gold medals at the World Championships (2001, two in 2003 and 2007), one silver (2001) and one bronze (2011). The Pole also won the most prestigious series of the World Cup season, the Four Hills Tournament, in 2001. And in the said plebiscite, “PS” triumphed four times (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007), was third twice (2010, 2011) and received the so-called Superchampion in 2011.

Currently, Małysz is the president of the Polish Ski Association. As the head of the federation, he would certainly like any of the current team members to join the game for high goals this season. If the very experienced Stoch-Kubacki-Żyła trio does not return to the top, we will have to rely on other, younger players. Perhaps the above-mentioned Zniszczoł or Paweł Wąsek, winner of the 2024 Summer Grand Prix?

When does the 2024/25 Ski Jumping World Cup start?

A total of 38 competitions are planned for this winter. This number includes 30 individual competitions, three duets, three mixed teams and two team competitions. The season is scheduled to start on the weekend of November 22-24, with the competition taking place in Lillehammer, Norway. There will be a mixed doubles competition (Friday) and two individual competitions (Saturday and Sunday). The HS of the hill is 140 meters.

When are Polish competitions planned? We are talking about the weekends of December 7-8, 2024 (Wisła) and January 18-19, 2025 (Zakopane). The season will traditionally end with the competition in Planica. A weekend full of sunshine in Slovenia is planned for March 29 and 30, 2025. Additionally, it is worth remembering that the World Championships will be held from February 26 to March 9. The venue for the most important moment of the season will be Trondheim, Norway.