Polish athletes shine on Day 2 as Dawid Kubacki claims Poland’s first medal of Beijing 2022.

The 31-year-old overcame an 8^th place finish after the first round of jumping to finish 3^rd on the podium with 265.9 points in the men’s individual normal hill. Former Olympic champion Kamil Stoch finished in 6^th whilst compatriots Piotr Żyła and Stefan Hula finished in 21^st and 26^th place, respectively.

Hope, rather than expectation, has governed the emotions of many supporters of Poland’s ski jumpers of late. The Polish representatives had been heading into this Olympic year off the back of two strong seasons, however performances and results had not matched previous form. A disjointed season of poor jumps, injuries and positive Covid-19 tests had cast doubt on the capability of this team to bring home any glory from the Zhangjiakou National Ski Jumping Centre.

However, Kubacki put those doubts to rest with his best standing of this season since his 13^th place finish in November at the FIS World Cup in Nizhny Tagil, ensuring Poland will not be leaving without a Winter Olympic medal in ski jumping for the first time since Turin 2006. Stoch could have joined Kubacki on the podium, however he was caught still finding confidence in his jumps after recovering from a sprained ankle last month.

The prospect of an Olympics without Stoch and Kubacki – who himself was in a race to recover from Covid-19 – was real, making the final result even sweeter. Their determination to be at the Games was matched by Mateusz Sochowicz. The luger had his own race on his hands after a horrific crash at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre in November 2021.

Sochowicz fractured his knee cap and sustained deep cuts to his leg from colliding with a barrier which should have been open during his training run. The idea of ever being able to complete again seemed remote, let alone competing three months later on the very course which almost brought him his demise.

The admiration for Sochowicz from his fellow competitors has been plain to see, with USA’s Tucker West telling Sports Illustrated that “everyone has a huge respect for him”. The 25 year-old backed up that respect, making it through three out of the four runs in the luge, eventually finishing 25^th in the overall rankings.

Another impressive performance came from Dominik Bury in the men’s 30km skiathlon, who crossed the line in 26^th place, achieving his best result in this discipline, and improving on finishing 52^nd in PyeongChang 2018. Fellow cross-country skier Mateusz Haratyk finished in 51^st place.