Broken down, Stoch got a card from a stranger and was speechless. “Leaf goes everywhere with me”

Łukasz Jachimiak: I have heard that you could be the standard bearer of our Olympic team if you participated in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Don’t you feel sorry that you won’t raise the white and red flag?

: On the one hand, regret. On the other hand, I don’t even know if the ceremony will be in front of the fans or with empty stands. Of course, and without spectators in the stadium, the ceremony will be uplifted and will be seen by millions of people on their televisions. Sure, it would be an honor for me to be able to participate. But such a ceremony lasts for several hours. Most of the time you are standing. It’s not a problem for endurance athletes. But we are all about technique and dynamics. We have to be careful, for us, standing for a few hours just before the competition would not be positive.

Speaking of the positives – taking part in the ceremony is probably also a covid risk?

– There is some threat, but here at the Olympics, it is really negligible. No one was allowed into the village who had at least a suspicion of being infected. Even an ambiguous test causes a person to isolate himself immediately. Everyone here wears masks all the time, everyone has tests every day, everyone is constantly disinfecting their hands, and the organizers also disinfecting common areas. They take care of every detail.

It was an exaggeration, since Izabela Marcisz was so skidded in the disinfected corridor that she grabbed the door so as not to fall.

– Not bad! You need to be careful.

How do you mentally handle this constant testing? Have you found a method to avoid the stress of waiting for the results? Can you not think about it all the time?

– Now I am much less nervous. From the moment you arrived at. Of course, I have it in the back of my head all the time, but it’s nothing to do with the fact that just two weeks ago I was a nervous wreck. I was afraid of the tests and the results. I wanted to feel that the likelihood of catching a positive result was less. It was a lot, so I was stressed. Also in. Especially that many formalities related to the trip were still being dealt with there. There was filling in applications and declarations, uploading and coordinating many procedures strictly defined by the time in which it must be done. You couldn’t just focus on jumping. All preparations took their toll in the last few days. But now, after arriving at the Olympics, I feel really safe. Of course, I will not predict how it will be. I can tell you that I feel safe and that tomorrow I can be positive. I pray it won’t be so!

It was probably the most difficult for you when Dawid Kubacki and then Piotr Żyła had positive results? You were with them for part of that training session in Zakopane when you turned your ankle up.

– Yes. Back then, we all tested ourselves, some were negative, others were positive, and others were inconclusive. Such situations create uncertainty. It doesn’t make sense to say that I feel immune, that I could have caught it a thousand times and not caught it. Saying like that doesn’t do any good. But I believe that I will manage to avoid it, that I will be able to enjoy the Olympics and that by the end of the season I will be able to jump normally, in good health.

Ending the health topics: is the cube so good that from the first training sessions in Beijing you will remind the judges that you are a stylist for 19.5 marks, or will you land to save the cube?

– First I have to feel the jump. I hope that the landing hill will be well prepared. The conditions for this are perfect, because it is frost all the time and there is no problem with snow here. But in general I think about the normal hill here as a whole, bearing in mind what you all told me last year at the World Championships in Oberstdorf. Then the journalists kept saying that I have an advantage on the normal hill, because I am a stylist, because everything is nice and beautiful with me, and it will be easier for me on the normal hill. And it turned out that it was very difficult for me. That’s why I prefer to be ready for anything, work and be as focused as possible, so that the jumps are from start to finish as they should be.

Don’t you get the feeling that December 11th was much earlier than less than two months ago? So much has happened to you since your podium in Klingenthal that the emotions could probably be divided into several seasons?

– It definitely is! A lot has been going on since the very beginning of this season. For me, this winter is a roller coaster of emotions and experiences. Well, I have a lot of experiences.

In an interview with skijumping.pl after the competitions in Willingen, you said that you got a lot of support from people when you were looking for a form and treated your injury. Will you quote a letter, an entry, any words that are left in your head and heart?

– There was really a lot of good news. On the other hand, the situation from the plane on which I was returning appealed to me the most. I was flying alone. And a family was sitting nearby. A lady from that family came up to me, gave me a piece of paper, nodded her head and left. The note said that this family is with me, that they wish me all the best and no matter what results I will achieve, they will always cheer me on. Something like this was completely unexpected! At that moment, I was coming home with a very heavy head, even with black clouds in my head. And that was a ray of hope and a ray of kindness that poured into my heart. This note is going everywhere with me now.

A glimmer of kindness, but also just appreciating everything you’ve done. Did you know that in Olympic jumpers and jumpers polls your name is most often used as inspiration?

– I did not know. It’s very nice.

But I know you a bit, and I think you’d like to show everyone that you’re not a legend yet. I think there would be a place for another nice souvenir from the Olympic Games in the Kamiland gallery?

– Legend? I avoid thinking and defining myself this way. For me, a legend is something of the past. This is how I feel. And I am and still feel like an active athlete. Of course, what I have already achieved is a beautiful story. But a story. And I still want to write something new. And as long as I can ski, as long as I can do it at the highest level, I will fight for the highest goals.

When you took your vow in a village in Zhangjiakou, did you have a special picture of your previous games before your eyes? You are an Olympian for the fifth time and I wonder if your first association with the Olympics is the first gold from Sochi, the last gold from Pyongchang, or something else.

– I will say this: a week ago, and even a few days ago, when I heard about the Olympics, I did not feel them at all. And even felt discouraged. I thought to myself: “Jesus, there are so many things to do, so many limitations and sacrifices, and this season is going as it goes.” Well, I really didn’t take my view of it all. But once we got here, it changed completely for me. The trip was already good. And accommodation, acclimatization, first impressions about the organization – it all poured a lot of energy into me. There is joy to be here, I have a great desire to jump, I am very happy that I can simply be here, that I have worked for it, but also that I am lucky. I know that there are athletes who have earned, and they cannot be here and start. I appreciate what I have. And every day, every hour, I have more joy and willingness to jump.

You can definitely feel grateful that you are at the Olympics when you look at, for example, the story of the best ski jumper in the world at the moment, Marita Kramer [jedna z najlepszych skoczkiń w historii, liderka PŚ i faworytka do złota nie pojechała do Pekinu przez pozytywny wynik testu na koronawirusa].

– That’s it. I feel very sorry for her. And I salute all the athletes who are in a similar situation. It is known that we have to focus on ourselves, but still thoughts go to athletes who are very unlucky. You need to support them at least with a good word. I could say that in my opinion the Games should not be held during a pandemic. That it’s a distortion of the competition, because someone is in great shape, feels good, and has a positive test and stays at home. And he will have another chance only in four years.

Or never.

– Yes, some will not survive anymore. But on the other hand, being here, feeling this atmosphere, wearing the outfit of the Polish national team and seeing other athletes in these outfits, and having a desire to get to know a new facility that I only saw in pictures, I really want it all to take place. This is such a duality.

Understandable duality. After all, the Olympics are something you work for, it’s an important part of your life and suddenly it wouldn’t be happening?

– Yeah. This is the other side of the coin. It’s all terribly difficult to comprehend. But somehow we all have to deal with it.

Let’s go back to your Olympic memories. Do you have any picture that appears first in your head when you hear the word “The Olympics”?

– Sure I have such memories. The best are from Sochi. Not only because I had the best results there [dwa złote medale]. There was the best atmosphere there, I met great people there, everything functioned perfectly organizationally there. I must say that now I am also very impressed. And honestly, I hope to bring back even better memories from here.

Finally, let’s talk about the war. Hardware. Assessing the protests of Stefan Horngacher from Willingen, you told a group of Polish journalists in Beijing that your former coach was childish, like in a kindergarten, where it is reported that someone picked up crayons. Horngacher pissed you off? Disappointed?

– No. Absolutely. I don’t want to discuss it. In my opinion, it makes no sense to delve into this topic. It happened as it happened. He did what he did. And I said what I thought. In my opinion, such reporting, such stalking, all of this should not have happened. But I compete on the hill and that is my goal. On the other hand, you can understand that he is defending the interests of his team and is doing everything for their best. And he did as he did.

You will not use the improved shoes at the Olympics. Do you think “gosh, that’s a pity because they were really cool!”?

– I think we have very good equipment. One that allows us to compete for the highest goals. First of all, we, the players, have to do the job, and only then can the equipment help us. I believe that we really do have the equipment that enables us to achieve our goals.

I wish you such an implementation. If you are successful in Beijing, then for Hollywood directors even just one season in your career would be like a hit script.

– Ha, ha! What can I tell you? Let it be so. Amen!