It was an agonising day for the ski-jumping team and figure skaters as the Polish representatives finished 6^th and 17^th, respectively, despite a valiant effort

Piotr Żyła, Paweł Wąsek, Dawid Kubacki, and Kamil Stoch looked for one final chance of winning a medal at the Zhangijakou National Ski Jumping Centre. Changeable strong wind conditions, which could turn at any point, meant there was no clear favourite for the men’s team competition. This gave Poland hope, knowing that if they could put their best form forward they would be in chance of a medal.

Indeed the weather played an important part in the first half of the competition. Lots of interruptions and hold-ups between jumps led to a disjointed session. The delays led to the athletes being stuck at the top of the hill, wrapped in blankets as they struggled to stay warm in the -19°C temperatures.

No ski jumper could be confident of a good distance or an assured landing, as the wind could start blowing up and under the skis, and suddenly turn and push them in the back, mid-jump. The judges, too, struggled to score with consistency.

In the first round of jumping, Żyła and Kubacki failed to land impressive jumps, although they did bear the brunt of some of the toughest conditions. Wąsek was able to build on the confidence from Saturday’s individual large hill competition with another solid jump, whilst Stoch was able to put the heartbreak of Saturday behind him with another classy performance – the best of any competitor in the first round.

An improved jump by Żyła in the second round had left Poland in 4^th place, and with the tantalising hope that the red and whites could come away with something heavy around their necks. But that burning hope was extinguished by the freezing temperatures, and strong middle jumps from Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Norway, who took the competition from beyond Poland’s grasp.

In the end, the team found themselves in a losing battle for 5^th place, falling behind Japan into 6^th – their worst team result at an Olympics since Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010. Despite the unpredictability of the conditions, Poland’s finish reflected their performances from Saturday and their underwhelming season so far.

Disappointment was also felt on the rink, by figure skaters Natalia Kaliszek and Maksym Spodyriev, as they competed in the ice dance – free dance, having qualified from Saturday’s rhythm dance stage. The pair were looking to push on from their 15^th position in the rankings, and were doing a smart job of it, until a fall by the couple in the final part of their routine cost them dearly, as they slipped to 17^th.

“It was a second’s loss of concentration” Kaliszek told TVP Sport, whilst Spodyriev added “we tried to squeeze everything we had into the performance.” Their trainer, Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka, wanted to focus on the positives of the dance, telling Eurosport.pl “Overall, I am pleased”, adding, “it was a difficult part of the dance and unfortunately it didn’t work out.”