Poles wronged during Four Hills Tournament — sharp criticism from Polish Ski Association

Rafał Kot, a board member of the Polish Ski Association (PZN), told WP SportoweFakty that Polish jumpers have been “wronged” by the way judges award style points at the Four Hills Tournament. He said the issue has persisted for some time and called for action, arguing that top-10 athletes are sometimes treated less rigorously while others—like Poland’s Maciej Kot and Kamil Stoch—have been penalized.

Half of the Four Hills Tournament is already behind us: after competitions in Germany the event moves to Austria for Innsbruck and Bischofshofen. Kot praised strong performances from Polish jumpers such as Kacper Tomasiak and the steady jumps delivered by Kamil Stoch, but noted that their final placings could have been better if style marks were more consistent.

Kot said: “Something needs to be done. We’ve been struggling with this problem for a long time. For example Maciek Kot—though I’m not completely objective in his case—had a good trial on Thursday and was ultimately wronged by the judges. I won’t even mention Kamil. The jury hands out points based on names, and the top ten have it easier and are judged less strictly.”

Kot also commented on the recent controversy involving Slovenia’s Timi Zajc, who received two disqualifications at the Tournament for an out-of-regulation suit and thereby lost a podium in Oberstdorf. Kot praised Mathias Hafele’s courage in enforcing rules and said the sport appears to have moved away from a system that previously gave leniency to the elite. He suggested Zajc may have expected officials not to escalate the punishment after the first disqualification, and was surprised when they did.

The next competition steps are qualifications on Saturday, 3 January for the Innsbruck event and on Monday for the Bischofshofen contest the following day.

Source: media reports (Przegląd Sportowy).