My road to Sochi – part 2: Kamil Stoch the Olympic champion!
The history has been built in front of my eyes. Not for the first time but the ski jumping Olympic gold in Sochi 2014 tastes like the most amazing dessert in my whole ski jumping adventure.
Two days ago Kamil Stoch won the most desired trophy for all athletes after doing two great jumps on a Normal Hill in Sochi. It is a first medal at these Olympics for the Polish team and also the second ski jumping gold in Polish history after Wojciech Furtuna took it in 1972 in Sapporo. The legendary ski jumper Adam Malysz, despite so many amazing titles, could never win a fight for the Olympic gold taking a silver and a bronze in Salt Lake City and two silvers in Vancouver.
On the competition day I felt nervous and excited since the early hours. I knew this was an important day – my first competition day in Sochi and a big Polish medal chance. Kamil was jumping good during all of the trainings, but didn’t show his complete potential. There is also nothing you can be sure of in sports, as a result is often a mixture of a good form and luck. That is why it was quite difficult to predict the final outcome.
Waiting in the mixed zone for the first round and looking at Kamil’s first jump was really nerve wracking. I tightly kept my fingers crossed saying very quitely “fly,fly,fly” after he jumped of the table. Then a smile brightened my face and relief seized my body – 105.5metres, the longest jump of the day. It was time to join Polish broadcasters in order to be ready for the final and taking valuable quotes.
The second round came and as Kamil’s jump was getting closer and closer all of the Polish media started focusing on gold, talking about possible interviews or programmes. The appetite for the medal was big but the only thing to do was to wait. The moment finally came and I kept my fingers crossed repeatedly saying “fly” again, like a special spell. It felt like it helped! 103.5 in the second round looked like it was enough to stay on a leading position but we still needed to wait a while until the results were official. It was a while but it felt like hours of looking at the screen.
Finally it happened! Kamil Stoch being the first Polish winner at Sochi 2014 Olympics was carried on the shoulders of his teammates looking like the happiest person in the world. Seeing his coach Lukasz Kruczek talking to Polish TV, having tears of joy in his eyes, and then seeing Kamil hugging everyone around was one of the most amazing moments in my life.
Monday’s medal ceremony in the Olympic Park brought even more emotions. Standing almost at the front of the crowd in a good spot to take pictures, seeing Kamil Stoch walking together with Peter Prevc on a second and Anders Bardal on a third place and hearing the Polish anthem sounding in front of the Olympic Flame was something I will never forget. While I managed to hold my emotions in check I decided to take a look back at my friends. After seeing one of them cry I couldn’t stand it any longer and tears flowed down my cheeks.
Thinking about for how much I waited for this medal and remembering Kamil from the days when I was travelling to ski jumping competitions as a child, him being only two years older than me and jumping not on the highest level. It all made me appreciate his hard work, dedication and that moment even stronger. And being there was the most amazing that could happen to me.
