he waited a long time, from time to time rays of hope appeared and all experts emphasized that the Pole was very close to his ideal form. However, his frustration was growing that he was unable to translate his sometimes great training jumps into the first competition series, in which he often made mistakes. Like then in Kuusamo, when he was furious in the Saturday competition because he was too late in the jump.
However, there were no delays in Klingenthal, and Stoch flew very far twice. In the first series, 132 meters in the most difficult of the best conditions, in the second series – 133 meters (also in difficult conditions). In total, it meant that Stoch confidently stood on the lowest step of the podium, although he lost only 0.1 points to the second Granerud.
He just rolled his eyes. Stoch wronged twice
Kamil Stoch, despite great jumps on Saturday, can talk about a lot of bad luck there. The Pole faced poor conditions twice, which meant that he had points for a weak wind. His rivals competed in much better conditions, so … Stoch was punished twice. Why? Well, because not only is it obvious the points for the backwind do not fully reflect how the wind bothers the competitor, but also the jumper is punished by accident by the judges. He is punished with lower marks for style. Because if the judge sees that one jumper is flying far and the other is flying lower and lands closer, they are immediately subtracted and they do it without looking at the conditions under which he jumped. This is what jumping is like now and probably everyone has got used to it.
When the TVN reporter Kacper Merk asked Michał Dolezal what he felt when he saw that Stoch lost 0.1 points to Graneurd, the Czech only eloquently rolled his eyes. He was afraid that the Pole might be close to the podium again. – I don’t know, in all ten it was probably only Kamil who had added points for the wind, but his jumps were very good. This is an important day for Kamil and the rest – said Doleżal. So it can be said that if Stoch had competed on Saturday in slightly better conditions, he would have even been able to win. The first podium of the season is still a great result
Only three ahead of Stoch in the all-time standings
For Stoch, it is already the 80th podium in his career. Thus, the Pole caught up with Simon Amman, who is 4th in the all-time classification. Before Stoch only Ahonen (108), Adam Maysz (92), and Gregor Schlierenzauer (88)
– I think I deserved this podium because I have been working hard since the beginning of the season. I know the jumps were really good before, but it just didn’t fit together. Great day, great reward for work. I am very happy! – said Stoch in Eurosport. And he added: Now we can start the season.
It is also worth noting that Kamil Stoch stood on the podium at the age of 34 years, 6 months and 16 days, which makes him the fifth oldest jumper in history in this respect – as noted by Marcin Szemraj.
The Sunday competition is scheduled for 4 pm.
“Sport.pl Live” – The new Sport.pl program starts on Monday!
On Monday, December 13 at At 20:00 a new premium video program will debut – “Sport.pl Live”. It will be available for viewing every week on the main pages of Gazeta.pl and Sport.pl, as well as on YouTube and Twitch Sport.pl. In the first episode, the main theme will be the form of Polish ski jumpers and a revolutionary change in equipment that our rivals are already using. Our guest will be, among others, Apoloniusz Tajner (president of PZN). More information available:
Source: Sport
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.
