Piotr Żyła speaks out after Klingenthal World Cup: “This annoys me!”

Poland’s Piotr Żyła was blunt after the Klingenthal World Cup weekend: “After the takeoff I can’t catch the rhythm on this hill, and it annoys me.”

The competitions at Vogtland Arena were difficult for the Polish team. On Saturday the best Pole was Kacper Tomasiak in 18th place, and on Sunday Żyła led the team with 20th—results the squad considered disappointing, with no Poles in the top 15.

On Sunday, Żyła landed at 130.5 m and 129 m. The world champion from Oberstdorf and Planica admitted he made too many mistakes: “I know I’m capable of much better jumps, but the mistakes got in the way. I wasn’t flying as I should. You have to accept it and move on.” Pressed on what exactly is going wrong, he declined to dissect details, joking instead about solutions during the season: “Change the hill!” He added that the plan is simply to keep traveling and jumping.

In the overall World Cup standings, Żyła is 24th. Two other Poles are currently ahead of him: Kacper Tomasiak (18th) and Kamil Stoch (20th). Żyła’s best finish this season came a week earlier in Wisła, where he placed seventh after being second following the first round.