Last season is practically forgettable for Poland. Dawid Kubacki was still out of shape, Kamil Stoch and Piotr Żyła recorded good single jumps. The unexpected leader of the team was Aleksander Zniszczoł, who stood on the podium twice. As Tomasz Kalemba from Interia Sport noted, the poor performance of Kubacki, Stoch and Żyła throughout the winter may also be related to the absence of two Polish coaches on the staff.
Watch the video Małysz assesses the season of Polish jumpers. “I wouldn’t give more”
Possible return to the Polish ski jumping team
According to Interia Sport, Thomas Thurnbichler is looking for new assistants for his staff. He is thinking about cooperation with Polish trainers. There are two names on the radar – Maciej Maciusiak and Grzegorz Sobczyk. Adam Małysz confirmed the Austrian’s interest.
– Thomas sees that we have so few coaches in Poland that we cannot afford to lose them in ski jumping. Therefore, he is constantly advocating for both Maciek Maciusiak and Grzesiek Sobczyk. He would like them to return to training in Polish ski jumping. We’re certainly having these conversations, wondering what could be done – said the president of the Polish Ski Association in an interview with Interia.
Maciej Maciusiak still led the B team in 2023, but decided to resign. He didn’t get along with Thurnbichler and complained about cooperation with the coach of our best jumpers. He had an offer from PZN to work in a different position, but he thanked the union. He became a television pundit.
The players themselves would be in favor of Maciusiak’s return, but to this day no one has contacted the coach regarding renewed cooperation – neither the union nor Thurnbichler himself.
Another coach who would help Thurnbichler implement the recovery plan would be Grzegorz Sobczyk. In the past, he was Michal Dolezal’s assistant. He left his job at PZN in a rather tense atmosphere, siding with the fired Czech. Today he is led by Vladimir Zografski, the representative of Bulgaria.
Thurnbichler even asked about Sobczyk and his contract in the Bulgarian federation. The Pole signs a contract every year for 12 months. But there was no attempt from PZN to contact Sobczyk.
The new World Cup season is scheduled to start on November 23. According to the preliminary calendar, it will open with an individual competition in Lillehammer.
