In 2022, Kamila Karpiel announced that she would interrupt her ski jumping career indefinitely. The Pole, who was allowed to compete in the World Cup once in 2021/22, disappeared from the big stage for three years. But now the 23-year-old threw herself down a ski jump again for the first time in three years.
At the ORLEN Cup in Szczyrk, Karpiel was one of eleven participants who started from the 75-meter hill and finished both competitions with young jumpers in fifth place. After the first competition since 2022, the four-time ski jumping champion of Poland, who had repeatedly been set back by injuries in her young career, the former cross-country skier was relieved.
“It was great! I didn’t set myself any results goals for these competitions. I just wanted to jump and feel the atmosphere of the competitions,” she told skijumping.pl. Karpiel added that her decision to return to the ski jumping circus was only made a few months ago.
Ski jumping: Comeback “a long process”
“This idea germinated in my head, at the beginning of this year a lot of people asked me whether I would return to ski jumping. And I let myself be persuaded. It was a long process to organize all the necessary things,” explained the former World Cup cross-country skiing participant, who has had a strenuous summer behind her.
At the beginning of her preparation, she was “a little nervous,” said Karpiel: “I started with the 40-meter jump in Zakopane in June. That’s when I realized that I could still do it. But I can see the difference between me years ago and the version I have today. I haven’t jumped for three years, so there is a difference after such a break.”
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Nevertheless, she is optimistic that she will be able to return to the big hill “in October.” But Karpiel is still going into the winter without any expectations: “I’m not setting myself any goals for the 2025/26 season.” Nevertheless, the Pole has set herself an overarching and very ambitious mission for the long-term future.
“If I can achieve something, that’s great, but I want to use this time to prepare for the next Olympic Games. So that the time until the next Games is used wisely. Courchevel 2030 is a realistic plan and my goal,” she explained confidently.