Wojciech Fortuna assesses Poland’s ski jumpers: “Be patient — the goal is the 2026 Olympics”

Poland’s ski jumping legend and 1972 Sapporo Olympic champion Wojciech Fortuna urged patience regarding the national team’s slow start to the World Cup season. After five individual events, Kamil Stoch and Kacper Tomasiak share 16th in the overall standings with 73 points each, followed by Dawid Kubacki (29th, 23 pts), Piotr Żyła (36th, 14 pts), and Paweł Wąsek (41st, 7 pts). Aleksander Zniszczoł has yet to score. At the top, Slovenia’s Anže Lanišek leads with 356 points, ahead of compatriot Domen Prevc (270) and Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi (266).

Fortuna emphasized that the Polish jumpers traditionally gain momentum as the season progresses and that their main target is the Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in February. He floated the idea of lineup adjustments, including not ruling out a recall for veteran Maciej Kot, arguing that in the absence of similarly young prospects beyond Tomasiak, experience could be valuable.

He believes the team’s core, together with the coaches, can iron out small technical errors and manage pressure thanks to their maturity. Fortuna identified the Four Hills Tournament (29 December–6 January) as the pivotal test and said he is especially awaiting a resurgence from Kamil Stoch, who has hinted at retirement and, when enjoying his jumping, can still show his claws. The next chance to gauge form will be the upcoming weekend competition in Wisła.

The piece cites the Polish Press Agency (PAP).