- The rivalry in Wisła was the premiere episode of the series entitled “World Cup”. The fans waited impatiently for its start
- Hopes for a good result were awakened by the team competition on Saturday, in which the Poles came third, and above all the qualifications won by Kamil Stoch
- The best of the Biało-Czerwonych after the first round were Piotr Żyła and quite unexpectedly Klemens Murańka
- In the final series, Stoch had a completely unsuccessful jump. Dawid Kubacki and Murańka could also be dissatisfied. However, Żyła stayed in the lead and was promoted to 5th place
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Both the jumpers and fans had to consider the summer season practically non-existent, as it was completely torpedoed by the commotion related to the coronavirus pandemic. After two inaugural competitions in Wisła, in which Dawid Kubacki triumphed, and which turned out to be the only ones in the competition, the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided that the winner of the general classification would not be selected.
Real jumping, as in recent years, has returned in Wisła again, unfortunately without the presence of fans in the stands. However, a few dozen of them gathered under the ski jump and in the forest near the landing hill.
In the first serious chord – qualifying for the Sunday competition – Kamil Stoch was the best, who did not give his rivals a chance. It raised great hopes in the hearts of the fans, especially that the athlete from Ząb is the only jumper who has more than one triumph on the im. Adam Małysz.
On Saturday, a team competition took place in Wisła, in which, apart from Stoch, also Dawid Kubacki, Klemens Murańka and Piotr Żyła appeared. The Poles had a very good performance and took third place, giving way to Austrians and Germans. The Biało-Czerwoni did not hide that they were satisfied with the podium place, especially that the leader of the Poles struggled with migraine in the competition. The coaches were even prepared for his “exchange” before the competition, but Stoch decided to jump.
On Sunday, the fans finally had an individual competition. Unfortunately, there were problems, because the strong wind blowing made it impossible to play the trial series. Nevertheless, the judges decided that the competition would start as planned. As many as eleven Poles appeared on the start list – thanks to the law of the organizer -. One representative of Biało-Czerwonych, an absolute rookie, Jarosław Krzak, who joined the team just a few weeks ago, was eliminated in the qualifications.
The competition was opened by Andrzej Stękała and in strong winds he gained 124.5 meters under the skis, which, as it turned out later, was enough for promotion. Two more Poles did worse: Tomasz Pilch landed at 119 meters, and Paweł Wąsek, who fell to 102.5 meters, lost his chances of dreaming about the top 30.
After a very long break caused by an injury, the Olympic champion, winner of one of the competitions in Beskidy (2014), Andreas Wellinger, appeared on the hill in Wisła. However, the German still has a lot of work to do in returning to his former disposal, because he only climbed 114 meters.
Murańka showed a good disposition, after five years he returned to the team for the World Cup competition on Saturday. The 26-year-old athlete landed at 127.5 meters and took the lead. He did not enjoy it for long, as Halvor Egner Granerud, who was jumping on it, already jumped the limit of 130 meters. However, he could calmly wait for the competition in the final series.
Aleksander Zniszczoł (115 meters) failed to perform, and after his attempt it seemed impossible for them to be promoted, especially as the start list still included a whole galaxy of excellent players. His fate was unfortunately shared by Jakub Wolny (114.5 meters). After his attempt at 117 meters, Maciej Kot shook his head with dissatisfaction, but the Pole was helped by the change of conditions on the hill and the poor disposition of the rivals, who landed really close, and Michał Doleżal’s charge reported in the second round. Similarly, Stefan Hula, who jumped a moment earlier, reported to the final with a distance of 112 meters.
The real “dynamite” was started by Markus Eisenbichler. The German jumped 137.5 meters, just one and a half meters from the hill record, and beat his rivals. On Saturday, Daniel Huber, who was very solid on Saturday, also showed a great performance, adding a meter to the rival’s result and jumping into the lead. A Slovenian, Anże Lanisek, jumped surprisingly well and, after flying 136 meters, pushed the Austrian leader from his seat.
The fans were already waiting for the leading Polish players. Żyła did well. The competitor from Wisła gained 125.5 meters and entered the top ten. Stoch, who landed at 121.5 meters, and Kubacki (124.5 meters), fared worse, and both recorded a significant loss to the leader, who unexpectedly remained Lanisek. The real sensation, however, was 112 meters and the defender of the World Cup, Austrian Stefan Kraft, was not promoted to the final series.
It was followed by: Żyła (6th), Murańka (8th), Kubacki (9th), Stoch (11th), Kot (22nd), Stękała (26th) and Hula (29th). However, Wolny (33), Zniszczoł (35), Pilch (43) and Wąsek (48) said goodbye to the competition.
The final competition started from the raised starting beam. However, Hula did not take advantage of it and landed at 111.5 meters. Stękała (127.5 meters) did much better and he could be sure that he would, at least, keep his position in the first round. However, he managed to overtake Kot, who was jumping after him (121 meters), and he was certainly pleased with the performance on Sunday.
The second ten was opened by Martin Hamann, who received a blast against the skis, soared to 138.5 meters, but did not stop his jump. However, the judges immediately lowered the starting beam, which significantly lowered the results obtained by the jumpers. Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes broke this trend and had to take the lead after a flight of 134 meters.
The jury reacted again and another Stoch at the start was facing a lowered in-run again. The Polish champion, however, had a lot of problems and the 104 meters he achieved pushed him to the end of the field. Kubacki and Murańka, who recorded 116 and 107 meters, and fell in the classification, could not be satisfied with the attempts. However, they could talk about a lot of bad luck, because they encountered really poor conditions. Żyle did a bit better, he landed at 128 meters and was the only one to remain at the forefront of Sunday’s competition.
The competition was very exciting there. First, Eisenbichler had a great jump (134 meters). Huber, who recorded 125.5 meters, and the leader, Lanisek (118 meters), responded ineffectively, which made the German winner in the Vistula.
In the end, Żyła (5th) before Kubacki (11th), Stękała (19th), Kot (20th), Stoch (27th) and Hula (29th) turned out to be the best.
The winner of the Sunday competition became – naturally – the first World Cup leader this season. Eisenbichler will be jumping with the yellow plastron at the next competitions in Ruce next weekend (November 28-29).
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