He had waited over a year for such a jump. And that face of Doleżal. He deserved the games

If someone deserved to be on the podium in the World Cup competitions after the Olympics, it is for sure. In Beijing the games did not work out – he was 21st on the normal hill, 18th on the large hill and 6th with the team. He was resentful, he even said in his emotions that he did not want to come back to the Olympics. But now he has proved that he is capable of jumping at the level of the world’s best. And for the way it experienced Beijing, he clearly deserved to be on the podium in Lahti.

The great day of the vein! A great second jump gave him his first podium finish of the season

After the first series and a jump on 120.5 meters, the veins were in a great position to attack – he was tied for sixth place. He lost 6.1 points to the podium, and a little more to the leader – 12.3 points. However, it was evident that the Pole was not satisfied with his attempt.

However, he had to wait over a year for the second – 390 days to be exact, because that was the last podium of Żyła on January 31, 2021 in Willingen, when he was second. He jumped 129.5 meters, clenched his fist and moved up three positions. , looking at where Żyła landed, he began to enjoy as never this season. Satisfied, he eloquently looked at his assistant, Grzegorz Sobczyk, and gave him a high five. Żyła finished the competition only 0.1 points ahead of German Markus Eisenbichler. The Pole was overtaken only by Halvor Egner Granerud, who was second and the winner was Austrian Stefan Kraft.

He was as if he remembered the World Cup from four years ago. “I think I like this hill”

This jump was like in 2017 on the same hill. As if he remembered the second series, when he was sixth after the first jump and also advanced to third position, which gave him a bronze medal – the first at a big event in his career. – Today were quite different professions. The third place is similar, but the day is completely different. Although, as you can see, I think I like this hill, laughed Żyła.

Did the Pole expect such a result? – No, where is it? I was pleased with the second jump itself. I did not count on the podium, I had a big loss. I think: there, it can’t be done. I watch how I lost by “two tens” with, I think I probably have no chance anymore. And here I am, we did it and I am very happy about it – summed up the Polish jumper.

For Żyła it is the eighteenth podium and eleventh place in the competition in his career. And at the same time the best result this season – so far it was the seventh place in the competition in Bischofshofen. So far, this has been his only presence in the top ten since the beginning of the season.

Kubacki’s great advancement, lost Stoch and Juroszek’s bad luck

Other Poles? It should be highlighted who showed two good jumps – at 120.5 and 124.5 meters. The latter secured him a promotion by as many as twelve places – from 25 to thirteenth place in the competition. It was so low, because in the first round he found one of the most favorable conditions – 0.4 meters per second for skis. Technically, they both looked good, and that bodes well for his good performance later in the World Cup weekend in Lahti.

He was lost for this. “It’s even hard to explain,” he said about the reasons for his short jumps on 118.5 and 117 meters which gave him 24th place. – I did not commute well here in the competition. It was very fine in training, then it got worse. In addition, in the first round I bounced too early, and in the second round too late – he said.

Kacper Juroszek was one of the biggest unlucky people of the competition – he was 32nd after a jump on 115 meters and he was only one point short of reaching the final round. He jumped very close – 102 meters and finished the competition in the 52nd position, and after reaching only 97.5 meters Paweł W ± sec took the 59th place.

However, this is just the beginning of the World Cup competition in Lahti. On Saturday, the jumpers will compete in the team competition. Poles will perform in the line-up of Piotr Żyła, Paweł Wąsek, Dawid Kubacki and Kamil Stoch. A day later, another individual competition. Live coverage on Sport.pl and in the Sport.pl LIVE application.