While Germany’s ski jumpers are still without a new head coach for the coming season, the coaching question in Poland is also unresolved. A panel of experts now discussed the future of the controversial trainer Maciej Maciusiak.
Also there: the renowned ski jumping journalists Michal Chmielewski (TVP Sport), Mateusz Lelen (TVP Sport), Kacper Merk (Eurosport) and Dominik Formulaa (Skijumping.pl).
Merk advocated for Maciusiak to remain in his current position: “Even if I was disappointed with how this season went, I would give him a second chance. He has proven himself at the Olympic Games. You can say that the World Cup is the most important thing, and many athletes believe that – good. If the Olympic Games had ended without a medal, there would have been no discussion at all.”
At the competitions in Predazzo, the Poles collected precious metal three times: top talent Kacper Tomasiak won silver on the normal hill and bronze on the large hill, as well as the silver medal in the super team competition together with Pawel Wasek.
Merk also referred to the lack of alternatives to Maciusiak. “I would give him another year for one simple reason: Maciej Maciusiak made it very clear from day one that the Olympic Games were his priority,” said fellow journalist Formulaa. “He put all his strength into this event.”
Ski jumping: survey results “shocking”
According to the expert, Tomasiak trained with assistant coach Wojciech Topor last summer. “But the truth is that the last two or three weeks before the Olympic Games were exemplary for Kacper.”
Lelen cited a poll that said 83 percent of voters would support a separation from Maciusiak. “I find that shocking. If someone had told me in November that we would win three medals at the Olympics and 83 percent of the fans would say no.” [zu Maciusiak] If I had said that, I wouldn’t have understood it.”
The biggest problem for the Polish national ski jumping coach is his public appearances, stated Lelen. “I get the impression that he gets a little nervous in front of the camera. Sometimes he resorts to the simplest answers.”
One thing is clear: the 2025/2026 World Cup haul for the Poles, who have been so spoiled for success in the past, can be expanded. “We were terrible,” Chmielewski said in his summary of the season.
