Malysz Flies Again


Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "New Warsaw Express"

Polish ski-jumping sensation Adam Malysz soared back into the nation's good graces last weekend, taking second-place in the annual competition in Zakopane and regaining a fighting chance of his fourth consecutive world cup victory.
Malysz took second place on both Saturday and Sunday, jumping to fifth place from eighth in the Cup standings and regaining the confidence of fans, many of whom had almost written him off after a disappointing start to the season.
The stands at Malysz's adopted home run in Zakopane were packed with more than 32,000 partying Polish fans throughout the weekend and he was quick to pass the credit to those fans, saying the "fantastic atmosphere" they created was responsible for his success.
"How do I feel? Fantastic!" he told Gazeta Wyborcza after Sunday's success. "This is a tribute to the crowd...this comeback is thanks to them."
Other ski jumpers also tipped their helmets to the crowd, with Austrian Wolfgang Loitzl hailing them as fantastic for their response when he slipped at the start and ended up sliding down the jump.
The fans themselves were no less satisfied. "It was a fantastic weekend," said Warsaw father Pawel Borkiewicz. "You couldn't hear anything for the plastic trumpets and people roaring them on. I took my nine-year-old son and he just loved it."
Malysz won the world cup in 2001 and 2002, and took home silver and bronze medals from the 2002 Olympics. In the process he has driven ski-jumping to record popularity in Poland, winning hearts both with his skills on the jumps and his cleancut, sober image in private.
Since running to a big early-December lead in this year's championship, however, the boy from the resort town of Wisla near the Czech border has hit a rare run of bad form, slipping to a series of finishes outside the top ten. In typical style, the Zakopane success came courtesy of a back to basics approach which saw him return to training with his childhood club coach Jan Szturc, but both Malysz and Szturc were keen to play down talk of a rift with national team coach Apoloniusz Tajner.
Tajner, in turn, earned plaudits for his willingness to let someone else try with Malysz when the going got tough. After the weekend's events he stressed Szulc's place at Malysz's side would remain open. "In a crisis situation Tajner kept his nerve and showed his class," applauded Gazeta Wyborcza's comment after the weekend.
The one unfortunate note to emerge later, were complaints from several hundred ticket- holders, who were turned away from the stands on Saturday. This is the third year running the fans have been victims of poor organisation – but there seems no end in sight.

ANDREW POWERS

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