The Polish ski jumpers are slowly wrapping up their
preparations for the winter season. On October 27th
their agenda included attending a press conference
to kick off the 2013/14 winter season. This event
could not be complete without the medalists from
Val di Fiemme, including World Champion Kamil Stoch,
nor the members of the youth representation.
„We just wrapped up our first training camp with
jumps on the ice inrun track. We wanted to get on
the ice earlier and start using this substitute
for winter, and we succeeded in doing that, although
we couldn’t avoid problems altogether,” said head
coach ?ukasz Kruczek. „This week we have motor training.
We would like to go back to training on the ice
inrun next week, and we will probably opt for Oberstdorf
again. After coming back from there, we will monitor
the situation in Europe because we know that November
is a month when the weather can be quite surprising,
but we want to choose a spot for training about
2 or 3 days before the World Cup starts, and above
all, it has to be a place with excellent conditions.
From November 21. onward, we will operate according
to the FIS calendar. In early December there’s not
only the World Cup, but also the Universiade which
we would like to participate in, as well as Continental
Cup competitions. As for the potential World Cup
starts, certain adjustments are possible, and we
are taking into account the possibility of leaving
out one World Cup weekend – naturally, as far as
the Universiade participant group is concerned –
and it will probably be Sapporo or Willingen that
they will miss” – added the Polish trainer.
Coach Kruczek also mentioned the superb cooperation
between different training groups in Poland. „So
far, this has been the best year in terms of excellent
collaboration between groups, everything has been
functioning well on every level, and we hope we
can keep that up. It’s safe to say that year by
year, this cooperation is continuously improving,
and we are clearly seeing effects. It’s not always
just the A team members achieving the best results,
the other groups are also doing a great job. This
is where we can point out two athletes from the
remaining training groups who have had a great summer
season, and they are Krzysztof Biegun and Jan Ziobro,
whose hard work is proof enough that they are fit
to compete with the world’s ski jumping elite”.
Aside from the Olympic Games in Sochi, the Polish
national team’s main objective will be the World
Cup. „As far as our plans for the season go, it’s
important for this season to be better for us than
the last one has been, at least in some part. We’re
counting on gaining more points in the overall ranking
in comparison to last year” – the coach emphasizes.
Kamil Stoch was also in a positive mood. The World
Champion from Val di Fiemme stressed that the current
Polish team is one of the best in history, and that
they can surely take on international competition.
„We now have a strong team, and that gives us more
motivation to work because the competition level
at national competitions is quite high and we have
to put in a lot of effort to achieve any sort of
success there. The high level at national competitions
helps us at international events later. I believe
that we have one of the best teams in the world
and some of the most top-notch national events.
That makes other competitions seem easier,” – said
Stoch.
For the jumper from Zab, Poland, it’s all the same
where the winter season starts. „It doesn’t matter
to me where the winter season starts, and it has
never really mattered to me. My job is to get to
where the competition is scheduled, participate
in it, and do my thing, which is to show the best
jumps”.
At their recent trainings, the Polish jumpers focused
on testing new equipment – among other things, boots
and bindings. „In terms of equipment, there have
been some changes compared to the last season, and
the most has changed with it comes to the bindings
and the boots. Our boots are now hardened, the bindings
are also working better. We could feel the difference
in each element during testing. I think that at
this point, we have everything worked out and there’s
nothing left to do, but to wait for the first competition
starts” – Piotr Z.y?a explained.
„Last season, we let the suit change surprise us
because we didn’t even check them out, and it turned
out they were wrong and this caused some unnecessary
confusion. This year we learned from our mistake
and our equipment is pretty much ready to go. Of
course we will use the remaining time to perfect
everything and introduce even better improvements.
We’re constantly on the lookout for ways to make
the skis even more stable during flight. We have
testing planned for one more element of equipment,
and it doesn’t necessarily concern boots. I do the
most testing in the team. Most of the things I’ve
tested has worked out well for me, because some
of those tests did not come out well and we rejected
some material, and some of it had to be modified”
– added Maciej Kot.
The Polish jumpers emphasize that they are not going
to focus solely on the Olympics in Sochi. „Every
competition is treated the same. I don’t think you
can prepare just for the Olympic Games. You have
to jump the same way as you do in any competition.
Give it your all and fight for the best result,”
– said Z.y?a.
„We don’t classify competitions as important or
unimportant ones, which we don’t have to do well
in. The whole circuit is important to us. Of course
the Olympics are at the top of the hierarchy, but
there are also other highlights along the way, like
the World Ski Flying Championships and the World
Cup. The competitions that are scheduled in Poland
are important to us in that we would like to put
on the best possible show there, those are quite
prestigious events for us,” – said Maciej Kot.
The first World Cup events of this season will be
held in Klingenthal, Germany on November 22.-24.
