Ski jumping: Legend reveals details after Poland’s big shake-up

Polish ski jumping underwent major upheaval in the spring. First, sporting director Alexander Stöckl left after a dispute with Polish icon and federation president Adam Małysz. Shortly thereafter, the former powerhouse dismissed head coach Thomas Thurnbichler.

Assistant coach Maciej Maciusiak was promoted and is tasked with steering an aging squad back to world-class level over the coming months. Thurnbichler, for his part, has moved to the German youth setup.

Roughly half a year later, Małysz has elaborated on the decisions in an interview with Interia. “We reached a point where this change was necessary,” said the national hero. “I will defend the decision, but I won’t say hiring Thurnbichler was a mistake. I remember his first season — it was really very good.”

According to Małysz, problems mounted when top athletes such as Kamil Stoch and Piotr Żyła fell into a deep slump and solutions were no longer forthcoming. “Then there were misunderstandings inside the team,” Małysz explained. “That probably stemmed from differences between our countries of origin. The biggest problem was communication. The jumpers claimed Thomas changed his mind very often. He, in turn, said he was reacting to the situation in real time.”

Małysz added that before the dismissal, Thurnbichler himself had raised the issue that athletes were not discussing their problems with him. “I suggested that he should be the first to reach out,” the four-time World Champion said.

With Maciusiak now at the helm, Poland is attempting to reset and return to the world elite, while Thurnbichler continues his career in Germany’s development pipeline.