The most valuable Polish victory in the season. Thurnbichler’s gesture says it all

They were not hindered by strong gusts at the doorstep, rivals scaring with form a few hours earlier in the first competition and the fact that they showed the fewest jumps on the hill in Lake Placid. Piotr ya and Dawid Kubacki, in the competitions held on the night from Saturday to Sunday, Polish time, showed not always the longest, but the most even jumps and won the first duets competition in the history of the World Cup. The Poles were followed by the Austrians and the Japanese.

Thurnbichler waved his clenched fist and the Poles jumped for joy. At last

At the beginning, it seemed that the podium was within the reach of the Poles. The Austrians were in the lead with a clear advantage – Żyła and Kubacki were losing 11.1 points after the first round. It was going to be a fight for victory, but it was necessary to reverse the roles and great jumps of the Poles.

These came in the second round. It was then that the players of coach Thomas Thurnbichler gained the most, and after Dawid Kubacki’s 127-meter attempt, the Austrian eloquently waved his clenched fist several times. The runner-up in the general classification of the World Cup in the first round flew even a meter further, but this joy of the trainer concerned primarily the situation in the competition. Piotr Żyła had previously added 122.5 meters, and the Austrians clearly weakened – they fell to fourth place and lost a total of 17 meters to the Poles.

The main rivals of Poles for the victory were Germans – Karl Geiger and Andreas Wellinger, but they missed Żyła and Kubacki by 11.2 points. The jump before the end of the competition after Żyła’s bomb on 127.5 meters was already 15.8 points. And it ended with their disaster – Andreas Wellinger landed on the 122nd meter and the Germans fell off the podium. And in the Polish team came euphoria after the victory by 13.2 points over Austria. Joy was in the case of bouncing Żyła and Kubacki, as well as hundreds of fans from the American Polish community at the hill in Lake Placid. They finally had reasons to celebrate.

38 days and 12 competitions. Poles lived to see the victory in the most important moment of the season

This is probably the most valuable Polish victory this season. All because of the circumstances. The previous five wins of Dawid Kubacki and his high position in the fight for the Crystal Globe, of course, we wouldn’t trade for anything, but they happened at the beginning of winter, far before the most important event of the season. We had to wait 38 days and 12 competitions for another “Dąbrowski Mazurka” on the podium, but it was worth it.

Because it was played at the best possible moment. For the last three weeks one could have had many fears – about the jumping technique of the leading Poles, about the fact that rivals are ahead of them, that there is no improvement and, above all, that the world championships in Planica are approaching. Now there are thirteen days left until the first competition on the normal hill in Slovenia, and Kubacki and Żyła showed their best jumps in a long time. Especially the first one.

Of course, there will be no medals for duo jumps in Planica. There is no competition in the new competition format at the World Cup, but it doesn’t matter. An injection of self-confidence after the last days of uncertainty about the form of Poles will give a lot of peace and arouse appetites. After the disorder in the technique of jumping on the Kulm mammoth and the defeat in an uneven fight with difficult conditions in Willingen, one could have fears, even raise the alarm. The victory in Lake Placid, however, shows a change in the jumping of Poles and that they are at the forefront.

Now we need to confirm this result with further good results. However, you can breathe a sigh of relief, because it was the best performance of the Poles that could be dreamed of at that moment. Others in the duet competition jumped very unevenly. And if it turns out that they will now have problems, and the Poles will grow, then the smile on Thomas Thurnbichler’s face, which appeared on Saturday in Lake Placid, may not leave for a long time. Hopefully at least until March 4 and return from the World Championships in Planica. Let this victory be an impulse to keep fit.