The Polish national ski jumping team in the 2012–13 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season achieved a record-breaking total of 3,447 points. This surpassed all previous seasons. The team secured 5th place in the Nations Cup. 10 athletes contributed to the points tally, a record at the time.
The season began with poor results, prompting the coach to consider resignation. However, the team rebounded, achieving seven podium finishes in individual competitions, including three victories by Kamil Stoch and Piotr Żyła. Stoch was the highest-ranked Polish athlete, finishing 3rd in the overall World Cup standings. The team also secured two podium finishes in team events.
Background
The previous World Cup season (2011–12) was the first without the team's former leader, Adam Małysz, who retired. Poland finished 6th in the Nations Cup, with Kamil Stoch as the top individual performer, placing 5th overall and earning seven podium finishes in individual World Cup events.
In the 2012 Summer Grand Prix, Maciej Kot was the top Polish performer, finishing 5th overall, while Dawid Kubacki placed 8th.
The first group of the A-team, coached by Łukasz Kruczek, included Kamil Stoch, Piotr Żyła, Maciej Kot, and Krzysztof Miętus.
Season overview
Early struggles Individual competitions in Lillehammer
The Polish team began the 2012–13 World Cup season with an individual competition on the normal hill in Lillehammer on 24 November. In the qualifications held the previous day, Krzysztof Miętus (5th), Dawid Kubacki, Piotr Żyła, and Maciej Kot placed in the top 40. Kamil Stoch was prequalified, while Bartłomiej Kłusek finished 45th.
In the main competition, Dawid Kubacki jumped 91.5 meters, placing 34th. Krzysztof Miętus (89 meters) and Piotr Żyła (90.5 meters) finished 44th and 36th, respectively, failing to advance to the final round. Maciej Kot's 93-meter jump secured 23rd place, qualifying him for the second round. Kamil Stoch, with a 91.5-meter jump, took 30th place in the first round, narrowly beating Tom Hilde by 0.2 points. In the second round, Stoch's 87.5-meter jump, the second shortest of the round, resulted in a final 30th place with 220 points. Kot, jumping 92 meters, dropped to 25th with 231.1 points. The Polish performance was described as weak.
Coach Łukasz Kruczek noted that the athletes "tried to jump better than usual", leading to forced efforts. Kot acknowledged the need to improve his takeoff technique.
In the large hill competition, all Polish athletes qualified, but only Krzysztof Miętus scored points. His 128.5-meter jump placed him 29th after the first round. A second-round jump of 125.5 meters moved him to 26th. Other Poles finished outside the top 30: Stoch (36th, 128.5 meters), Żyła (43rd, 122.5 meters), Kubacki (45th, 122.5 meters), Kłusek (46th, 121 meters), and Kot (48th, 120 meters).
After Lillehammer's two individual competitions and one mixed team event (in which Poland did not participate), the team ranked 10th in the Nations Cup with 12 points. Individually, Maciej Kot was the highest-ranked Pole at 32nd with 6 points, followed by Miętus (34th, 5 points) and Stoch (40th, 1 point). Media described the team's performance as "very poor".
Team and individual competitions in Rukatunturi For the qualifications in Rukatunturi on 29 November, the same athletes were entered, except Kłusek. Kamil Stoch failed to qualify, finishing 50th with a 106.5-meter jump. Stoch competed in the team event the next day, jumping 104.5 meters in the first group. Piotr Żyła (110 meters) and Dawid Kubacki (123.5 meters) followed, briefly moving Poland to second-to-last place after the third group. However, Maciej Kot's 103.5-meter jump dropped the team to last (11th) with 354.3 points, 749.8 points behind winners Germany.
In the individual competition on 1 December, only Kubacki reached the second round, placing 22nd after a 127.5-meter first-round jump, earning his first World Cup points. Kot finished 32nd (115.5 meters), Miętus 47th (102.5 meters), and Żyła 48th (94.5 meters). Kubacki's 116-meter second-round jump maintained his 22nd place, adding 9 points.
Stoch and Żyła then trained in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria, with Kruczek, while Kubacki, Kot, Kłusek, and Miętus, coached by Zbigniew Klimowski, competed in Sochi.
Individual competitions in Sochi In the first Sochi competition on 8 December, Kubacki placed 15th after a 98.5-meter first-round jump, and Kot was 27th (97 meters). Miętus finished 43rd (94 meters), and Kłusek 47th (93.5 meters). In the second round, Kubacki's 93.5-meter jump dropped him to 30th, while Kot's 96.5-meter jump placed him 28th. Poland fell to 13th in the Nations Cup, overtaken by Bulgaria.
In the second Sochi event, Kubacki was 16th (97.5 meters) and Kot 23rd (97 meters) after the first round. Kubacki's second 97.5-meter jump dropped him to 17th, while Kot's 96.5-meter jump moved him to 22nd. Kłusek placed 40th (95 meters), and Miętus failed to qualify. Kubacki was the top Pole in the overall standings (36th), with Poland last in the Nations Cup.
Kruczek later admitted considering resignation due to the early season struggles, but the athletes opposed it.
Individual competitions in Engelberg
Stoch and Żyła rejoined the team for the Engelberg competitions, held before the Four Hills Tournament. In the first event on 15 December, only Żyła failed to score points, placing 36th (122 meters). Stoch led after a 132.5-meter first-round jump, 0.8 points ahead of Schlierenzauer. Kubacki was 5th (132 meters), Miętus 19th (128.5 meters), Kot 23rd (126 meters), and Murańka 29th (127 meters). In the second round, Stoch's 134-meter jump earned 2nd place, 0.1 points behind winner Andreas Kofler. Kubacki finished 9th (128.5 meters), Kot 17th (129 meters), Miętus 23rd (124 meters), and Murańka 28th (127 meters).
In the second Engelberg event, three Poles scored points. Stoch was 7th (131 meters) and Kot 8th (131.5 meters) after the first round. Kubacki was 15th (128 meters), and Miętus tied for 30th (126 meters). Żyła (37th, 120.5 meters) and Murańka (40th, 119 meters) missed the second round. In the final round, Kot dropped to 13th (123.5 meters), Stoch to 14th (123.5 meters), Kubacki to 17th (130 meters), and Miętus to 31st (122.5 meters).
After Engelberg, Kubacki climbed from 32nd to 26th, Kot from 34th to 30th, Miętus from 44th to 39th, and Stoch from 49th to 18th in the overall standings. Murańka, with three points, was 48th. Poland moved from 12th to seventh in the Nations Cup.
Four Hills Tournament Poland had a quota of seven athletes for the 2012–13 Four Hills Tournament. Stefan Hula, Piotr Żyła, Klemens Murańka, Krzysztof Miętus, Maciej Kot, Dawid Kubacki, and Kamil Stoch competed in Oberstdorf. Qualification results determined the following knockout (KO) system pairings:
Maciej Kot vs. Maximilian Mechler Sebastian Colloredo vs. Stefan Hula Klemens Murańka vs. Michael Hayböck Jaka Hvala vs. Kamil Stoch Martin Koch vs. Dawid Kubacki Gregor Deschwanden vs. Piotr Żyła Krzysztof Miętus vs. Severin Freund
Stoch won the practice round. In the competition, Stoch's 132.5-meter jump won his KO pair, placing 5th after the KO round, 9 points behind the leader. Hvala, his opponent, jumped 127 meters and qualified as a lucky loser. Murańka's 129.5-meter jump beat Hayböck (124.5 meters), placing 20th. Kubacki's 127-meter jump defeated Koch (118.5 meters), earning 25th. Hula's 128.5-meter jump beat Colloredo (126.5 meters), placing 27th. Żyła (125 meters, 31st), Miętus (129 meters, 33rd), and Kot (111.5 meters, 50th) lost their KO pairs. In the final round, Hula climbed to 21st (126 meters), Kubacki dropped to 26th (124.5 meters), Murańka to 28th (118.5 meters), and Stoch to 13th (125 meters), 44.3 points behind winner Jacobsen.
All Poles except Murańka, disqualified for an irregular suit, qualified for Garmisch-Partenkirchen. KO pairings were:
Michael Hayböck vs. Maciej Kot Krzysztof Miętus vs. Dawid Kubacki Stefan Hula vs. Lauri Asikainen Piotr Żyła vs. Martin Koch Simon Ammann vs. Kamil Stoch
Stoch's 142-meter jump tied for 2nd with Tom Hilde, 2.8 points behind Schlierenzauer. Kot's 134.5-meter jump placed 6th, beating Hayböck by 13.3 points. Żyła (128 meters) and Kubacki (126.5 meters) were 28th and 29th, respectively. Miętus (38th, 126 meters) and Hula (44th, 124.5 meters) missed the final round. In the second round, Żyła's 122-meter jump earned 30th place and his first point of the season. Kubacki climbed to 28th (126.5 meters), Kot to 5th (135 meters), and Stoch to 6th (131.5 meters), tying with Dmitriy Vassiliev. Stoch rose to 7th in the tournament standings, 60.2 points behind the leader, with Kubacki 19th, Kot 33rd, Hula 30th, Żyła 34th, Murańka 38th, and Miętus 40th.
Murańka was sent to Poland for Continental Cup events before Innsbruck. All remaining Poles qualified, with Stoch and Kot tying for 1st (excluding prequalified athletes) and Miętus 3rd in qualifications. KO pairings were:
Dawid Kubacki vs. Severin Freund Piotr Żyła vs. Taku Takeuchi Stefan Hula vs. Richard Freitag Yuta Watase vs. Krzysztof Miętus Anders Johnson vs. Maciej Kot Anton Kalinitschenko vs. Kamil Stoch
Stoch's 124.5-meter jump placed 4th, beating Kalinitschenko by 30.7 points. Kot's 121.5-meter jump earned 8th, 25.5 points ahead of Johnson. Miętus (117.5 meters) was 28th, 9.7 points better than Watase. Żyła (125 meters) qualified as a lucky loser, placing 20th but losing to Takeuchi by 0.1 points. Kubacki (36th, 117.5 meters) and Hula (39th, 118.5 meters) lost their KO pairs. In the final round, Miętus climbed to 27th (118 meters), Żyła dropped to 22nd (117.5 meters), Kot to 9th (119 meters), and Stoch to 2nd (123 meters), 12.8 points behind Schlierenzauer.
Stoch rose to 6th in the tournament standings, 60.5 points behind the leader. Kot moved to 24th, Żyła to 30th, Miętus to 36th, while Kubacki dropped to 26th, Hula to 34th, and Murańka to 45th.
In Bischofshofen qualifications, Stoch was 2nd, and all Poles qualified. KO pairings were:
Stefan Hula vs. Severin Freund Krzysztof Miętus vs. Andreas Wank Piotr Żyła vs. Dawid Kubacki Maciej Kot vs. Richard Freitag Vegard Swensen vs. Kamil Stoch
Stoch's 131-meter jump placed 4th, 25.6 points ahead of Swensen. Kot's 132-meter jump earned 5th, 3.2 points better than Freitag. Hula tied for 19th (127 meters), 2.3 points ahead of Freund. Żyła was 31st among qualifiers. Miętus (39th, 123 meters) and Kubacki (42nd, 125 meters) missed the final round. In the second round, Żyła advanced to the scoring 30th position after a jump of 124.5 m, while Hula, landing at 122 m, dropped to 29th place. Kot, with a jump of 126 m, fell to 10th place (after the competition he stated that due to "swaying" on the inrun he made a mistake at the take-off). Meanwhile, Kamil Stoch maintained 4th place after a jump of 131.5 m, which, in his opinion, was very late.
Stoch finished 4th overall in the Four Hills Tournament with 1,027.2 points, 2 points behind 3rd-placed Tom Hilde and 73 points behind winner Schlierenzauer. He noted losing the podium by "one meter". Kot was 20th, Żyła 23rd, Hula 30th, Kubacki 31st, Miętus 37th, and Murańka 51st. Compared to the previous year, Poland had one more athlete in the final standings, with two in the top 30 versus one previously.
In the World Cup standings, Stoch rose to 8th, Kot to 19th, Żyła to 47th, and Hula to 46th. Kubacki dropped to 29th, Miętus to 42nd, and Murańka to 55th. Poland climbed to 6th in the Nations Cup, overtaking Russia.
Competitions in Poland and Japan Individual competition in Wisła