“Hautamaeki cannot do this, I wish him that.” And Ma³ysz surprised everyone

These are one of the best remembered medals in the history of Polish ski jumping: he became the double world champion in Predazzo. 19 years ago, on February 22, 2003, he started the World Cup in Italy with gold on the large hill. However, the success of the Pole may not have been, and for many it has become a big surprise.

Malysz forgot his helmet and was standing under the hill with the camera. Tajner said that “she is not a fairy” and did not want to bet on whether there would be a medal

Before going to the World Cup, Małysz was not in the best shape. In the 2002/2003 season, he stood on the podium six times, but never on the top step. The Pole gave up the competition in Willingen and went with his staff to look for a form to Ramsau am Dachstein in Austria.

On the hill, which Apoloniusz Tajner called “the rule”, Małysz first polished the form, and then tested new skis and overalls. , on the last day on the hill, a Pole forgot his helmet. “The suit is put on halfway, its sleeves are hanging from under the jacket. Camera in hand and instead of jumping, it goes to the landing area. It stands at the 90th meter, which is where the friends will land. – We have problems. But small and easy to manage -” says Dr. Blecharz and together with Jerzy Żołąd they get into the car. It turns out that Małysz forgot his helmet. He has time to take pictures, however, “wrote Błoński [fotografowanie to wielka pasja Małysza, w trakcie sportowej kariery wiele wolnych chwil wykorzystywał właśnie, żeby robić zdjęcia. W Ramsau fotografował skoki kolegów – red.]

Later, when the helmet arrived and the equipment was fitted, it showed good jumps and convinced everyone present that he would be one of the favorites for the medals. This is what Apoloniusz Tajner said about him. – My coaching conscience is clear. We’ve done all the right thing. The favorite of the championship is Hannawald. And Adam will fight for medals. This is the form it is capable of. Will it get? I am not a fairy – he pointed.

Malysz came back with a flash. A broad smile appeared on Acorn’s face

A member of Tajner’s staff, doctor Jerzy Żołędy, spoke very interestingly about the form of Małysz. – Adam has always been lacking something so far. That flash that made it possible to win. (…) Why didn’t Adam win? First, he was weary. He has competed too much in recent years, he was treated like a machine. In turn, weariness caused Adam not to accept comments and did not carry them out with the same care as when he was refreshed. And when there was weariness, the technique became disrupted as well. Here was the time to correct it. Has the flash come back? I will answer on duty that we will see; semi-business semi-private, I believe it very much; and privately? Acorn continued, and that was where his broad smile appeared on his face.

And the first training sessions on the large hill of the Trampolino Dal Ben complex did not indicate Małysz as a surety to win two gold medals. As announced, it did not dominate. It was the sixth and twice the third. He regularly lost to Matti Hautamaeki, although he did not lose much in terms of distance. The rest of the rate was different from series to series. Hannawald was missing from the top leaders, so it seemed that the fight for the victory would take place between the Pole and the Pole.

It was good already in the trial round: Małysz defeated Hautamaeki for the first time. In the competition in the first round he showed a very good, solid jump on 134 meters, but he lost to Matti Hautamaeki by 0.5 points, even though the Finn achieved the same distance. The second series was to belong to a Pole. And then Małysz flashed again.

“Hautamaeki cannot do it, I wish him this, I will wait, I will apologize to you, but it seems to me that he cannot”

“And there is Adam Ma³ysz. Maybe 132/3 meters further and then there will be gold! For gold, for a medal, for us, for everyone! He flew! Beautiful, beautiful, there is a medal, there is a medal! But I think there is gold! 136 meters! 136 meters, Adam we love you! ” – this commentary on Małysz’s sky-high jump can be recited from memory by many jumping fans. Włodzimierz Szaranowicz, who commented on the competition for Polish Television at the time, entered history with these words together with Małysz.

The Pole was leading with the hill record and only Hautamaeki was left at the top. Szaranowicz added: “136 meters, Małysz’s gold medal at the World Championships. Hautamaeki cannot jump that, I wish him this, I will wait, I will apologize to you, but I think he cannot jump.” The commentator basically gave Małysz gold before the rival’s jump. Hautamaeki had to jump just as far, and it seemed almost impossible. And according to Sharanovich’s words, Fin could not do it.

133.5 meters and 2.5 points behind Małysz. Hautamaeki would have to land about 1.5 meters further to be on par with Małysz. The Finn could only shake his head and unbuckle his skis as Małysz began to celebrate his second gold at the World Championships and his first on the large hill. Behind Hautamaeki, who won the silver medal, he finished the competition, who won the bronze medal.

Tajner did not make Małysz a favorite, although he believed it. But is it gold? “He’s a nice bachelor”

– I knew he could win at any moment. However, this Hautamaeki was extremely strong. Before Saturday, Adam could not beat him, but he did not treat any of these training jumps as a competition. We were constantly checking something – and these are the suits, and this is the equipment, and we were improving the technique, arranging the optimal angles. Each jump was a test of something. Adam was perfectly prepared for the competition -.

– Anyway, I always believe in Adam. It was like that now, I was counting on a medal. But golden? I do not know. A few weeks ago, if I had said that, I would have been – to put it mildly – naive. Then such blind faith would be foolish. However, this season Adam was close to winning a few times, but always someone turned out to be better, someone jumped in front of him. Now I thought it might be the same. Fortunately, it wasn’t. he was sensational, but Adam turned out to be better. He did not have a flash then, now he has – pointed out the trainer, as if referring to the aforementioned words of doctor Jerzy Żołąg.

According to more emotions, gold and silver obtained two years earlier in Lahti brought. As expected, but the first. Here unexpected, but without the favorite patch, which was removed from Małysz by the coaches themselves. Just after winning the gold, Małysz appreciated the Predazzo medal more. – I’m not surprised. He is quite a bachelor. However, he did a trick on everyone! – Tajner laughed.

In 2003 “a Polish archangel descended to Predazzo”. 23 years later there will be a graveyard?

There was still a team competition and a competition on the normal hill. In the first one, Poles did not play the main role – they took seventh place, although Małysz was the best individually. But in the second, the Vistula defended the gold medal from Lahti. – There, it’s all about power and dynamics. So Adam seems to be an even bigger favorite than he is now. However, nothing is known for certain … – said Apollonius the Tajner mysteriously.

Now, after 19 years, not one but two gold medals are mentioned for Małysz, because he was also the best on a normal hill. Just like the Pole, only three players won at the World Cup then. Two individual medals from one championship were brought only by Bjørn Wirkola, who won in 1966, Garij Napałkow in 1970 and Hans-Georg Aschenbach in 1974. After Małysz, it was also Stefan Kraft who did it, fourteen years later.

The Italian media wrote that “a Polish archangel descended to Predazzo”. They could repeat this beautiful quote ten years later, when history came full circle and the gold medal on the large hill was won in Italy and the team won the bronze.

It is a pity that in 2026, when jumpers appear in Val Di Fiemme by the way, it is possible that “Italians will write about the graveyard of Polish jumps, because at this point the natural successors of Polish stars are not visible”.