It was the start of a weekend in Park City. Two years earlier, he had won a bronze and a silver medal at the Olympic Games there. In February 2004, the then three-time winner (he was the only one in history to win three Crystal Balls in a row, he added a fourth in 2007) did not jump so well. In the 2003/2004 season he did not win any competition and “only” four out of 16 starts finished on the podium (always in second place). There was no start on the seventeenth. Not the eighteenth, nor any of that winter, and none under his command.
“I had to hit hard because my helmet is cracked”
At the first training in Park City in 2004, what both men gave to our jumping and Polish sport in general as a great athlete-coach duo ended. During this unfortunate training, Malysz had the 15th result, but he didn’t even know it. Shortly after landing, he fell and hit his head on the landing with such force that he lost consciousness.
This is how he reported the situation for TVP: “- I had to put my head down after the fall because my helmet was cracked – Adam Małysz told me in the hotel after returning from the hospital in Salt Lake City. – My head hurts and the skin on my face burns terribly. But it’s good that I didn’t break down – adds Małysz. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is not good. The concussion excludes Adam’s next starts. “
On the other hand, in the “Tempo” newspaper, coach Tajner said even more terrible things. “From the first camera it looked quite innocent. Only the second shot, from the opposite side, showed how terrible the fall was. Adam is lucky that he is so light and athletic. Let me put it bluntly: a normal person would not survive this!”
The season ended with Kruczek. Farewell to the Secret
Years later, Małysz admits that that fall was the most serious in his entire career. This one was definitely the hardest. I lost consciousness, I had a problem with my spine, and my psyche suffered. I knew I had to end the season with some jump. It was already the end of winter, the conditions were very difficult, but I also asked Zakopane to prepare the hill for me. I went with , jumped five times, convinced myself that everything was fine and only calmly closed the season – .
Malysz was not allowed to start in the World Cup at the end of that season. He missed competitions in Park City, Lahti, Kuopio, Lillehammer and Oslo. In the winter of 2003/2004 he finished 12th in the World Cup classification. Had he started to the end, he would probably have been in the top 10 (he only lost 20 points to the tenth Peter Zonta). But a place in the top ten would not have defended Tajner’s position anyway. After three years full of successes (three gold medals of the World Championships and one silver, silver and bronze of the Olympic Games, won the Four Hills Tournament, three Crystal Globes), that winter was considered by all to be simply a complete failure.
The earring went down the drain
As it turns out, it was not only the farewell of the player Małysz with coach Tajner, but also Małysz with his iconic ornament. Older fans probably remember that in the first years of his career, Małysz wore an earring in his left ear. And he stopped wearing it after his fall in Park City. Why?
– The Americans took it out of me when they took me unconscious for an MRI, wrapped the earring in a piece of toilet paper and put it in my pocket. I found out that it was an earring and not just a piece of paper long after it had gone down the drain, Malysz says.
The US waited 19 years. There will be three competitions
The first US World Cup competitions since those events will be held on February 11 and 12 in Lake Placid. Let’s hope that good memories from the States will be brought by Polish jumpers who will perform there in the lineup: , , , , and Tomasz Pilch.
Saturday at 16.00 Polish time at Mackenzie Intervale Ski Jump, the first individual competition is about to start. at At 11.00 pm, the first duet competition in the history of the men’s World Cup is scheduled. And on Sunday at 16.15 the second individual competition is to start, preceded by the qualifications (at 14.45).
Source: Sport.PL
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
