After a long period of hanging, the Polish Ski Association finally announced the commitment of ex-national coach Stefan Horngacher – in the role of training coordinator. The current head of the association, Adam Malysz, explains why the personnel changes were ultimately surprisingly quick – and what role they play for ski jumping in Poland.
“It was my idea, but then the coaches who wanted to work with Stefan played a big role. That’s why I worked so hard to bring him to Poland,” the ski jumping icon told “Interia”.
Horngacher’s contract has not yet been signed, said Malysz. “But at least there are job guarantees now that a decision has been made.”
Horngacher and Michal Dolezal, who will work closely with the 56-year-old Austrian as part of the Polish coaching team, both had “many offers,” said Malysz. “But they both want to do something great in Poland and I hope it works. I also convinced our other coaches of this idea. At some point I lost faith in it, but now we’ve done it. It’s a good decision for Polish ski jumping.”
Malysz, who will no longer be running in the upcoming election of the association’s board in mid-June, also explained what appealed to Horngacher about the mammoth task with Poland’s struggling ski jumpers: “In Germany, where he worked in recent years, he didn’t have a completely free hand. He had the feeling that he couldn’t build anything else there. There he should concentrate exclusively on the senior national team. However, he always had great ambitions. That’s why he chose Poland, because he knows that he can build something really great here.”
Ski jumping: Will Poland become “a power” again?
Horngacher recognized the “great potential” of the Polish ski jumpers, added the four-time world champion. “He admitted to me that it is his dream that the Poles compete at the highest level again and dominate not only the World Cup, but also the Continental Cup and the FIS Cup. And Stefan firmly believes that we will become a power again.”
The former national coach, together with Dolezal and head coach Maciek Maciusiak, had already begun to “put the puzzle together two months ago, and it is taking on really interesting shapes,” praised Malysz. “He was so determined that not even the recent turmoil discouraged him. He always believed that he would work in Poland again. He took that risk.”
