The Little National Hero

The Poles elected the pope to be their outstanding figure of the 20th century. Second place went to a tiler with a Walrus moustache.

Poland is a country where the boundaries between art and sports become blurred in a pleasant way. Ski jumpers are often seen visiting theater performances. And well-known theater directors reflect on ski jumpers. Wojtek Klemm, for instance, once said the following about Adam Malysz: “The consistency of his victories are something special for a Pole. For centuries the Poles saw themselves as romantics whose mission was to do something great and magnificent but at the same time they were only to do singular and rather unpractical deeds. The motto was pull off a grand, unique and admirable attack and then die.“

In 2001, the year of his first World Championship title, Malysz won nine World Cup ski jumping events and thus also led in the overall ranking. In 2002 and 2003, the Pole was also the overall World Cup champion. Neither before nor after has a different ski jumper succeeded in such an impressive show of consistency.

World Cup Beats Nobel Prize

In the election of the “most outstanding Pole of the 20th century“ Adam Malysz came in second. Oscar winners such as Andrzej Wajda, Nobel prize laureate such as Marie Curie and presidents such as Lech Walesa landed behind the trained tiler. There was only one ahead of him: Karol Józef Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. Adam’s home in the small town of Wisla to the south west of Cracow is seen as a tourist attraction and has almost become a pilgrimage site. Buses with fans come from all over the country to get a glimpse of the great popular hero – or at least of his house.

Personal Happiness, Professional Crash

“Malysz“ literally means “little“. The athlete, who is actually only 1.69 meters tall, landed his first World Cup victory in the last jump of his idol Jens Weißflog in 1996. At the age of 19 the man with the moustache (who also happened to be the Polish Junior Champion in the Nordic Combined) had three World Cup victories to show.
Yet instead of the fast breakthrough a crash followed. In 1997 Adam married his childhood love and became father. The responsibility for his daughter Karolina put him under enormous pressure which he did not feel up to. “Suddenly I was responsible for a small human being but I still felt like a child myself.” The low of his career were the Olympic Winter Games of 1998 in Nagano. He came in 51st on the normal hill and 52nd on the large hill.

Phoenix on the Jump

He chased after the competitors for four years. “It’s not me who got worse. The others got better, while I stood still.“ In the 2000/2001 season “Batman from Wisla“ (to quote the title of a biography that appeared in 2002) took everyone by surprise. He won the Four Hills Tournament with a record lead of more than 100 points. His trainer at the time, Apoloniusz Tajner explained: “What Malysz achieved four years ago, was the fruit of his talent. What he has now accomplished can be explained by hard work.“ As a reward for his hard labour followed a fantastic streak of luck that has lasted to the present day. In addition to his three World Cup overall victories Adam set the ski flight record in 2003 with 225 meters and rose to his present standing of 29 World Cup victories. He is thus number four on the list of all-time best. Of the active jumpers only Janne Ahonen has been the winner more often.