Despite?a?bright?and?warm?summer?in?Poland,?European?Football?Championships?and?a?visible?excitement?of?the?soon?forthcoming?Olympic?Games?in?Brazil,?let?me?throw back?a?little?to?the?winter in 1920 when?Poland?organized?its?first?championships?in?ski?jumping. Ski?jumping?! One?may?ask?while?trying?to?imagine?a?person?wearing?skis?and?desperately?attempting?to?take?off?a?flat?and?snowy?ground.?Close,?but?not?exactly. Ski?jumping?is?an?absolutely?fascinating?and?not?rarely?thrilling?winter?discipline?(although?nowadays?modern?technologies?allow?the?sportsmen?to?perform?also?in?summer),?which?involves?a?jumper?who?speeds?up?on?a?huge?slope?situated?on?a?high?hill?and?takes?off?at?the?edge?of?the?slope?in?order?to?fly?as?long?as?possible?and?try?to?land?further?than?his?competitors. And?this?is?how?it?looks?like As?I?have?already?mentioned,?Polish?ski?jumpers?participate?in?national?and?foreign?competitions?since?1920’s.?Before?the?WWII,?one?of?the?most?popular?sportsmen?was?Stanis?aw?Marusarz,?who?in?1938?won?a?silver?medal?during?the?World?Championships.?In?the?following?years?Polish?ski?jumpers?were?still?a?stable?and?difficult?to?conquer?power,?regularly?warmed?up?by?such?successes?like?the?longest?jump?in?the?World?performed?by?Piotr?Fijas?in?1987?and?undefeated?until?1994.?However,?the?best?was?yet?to?come. In?1995?his?debut?had?young?Adam?Ma?ysz,?who?later?became?an?absolute?symbol?of?an?invincible?sportsmen?and?a?hero?of?the?entire?country.?Among?other?significant?awards,?Ma?ysz?won?4?Olympic?medals,?6?World?Championships??medals?(including?4?gold?ones!),?he?also?became?a?4?times?winner at the?FIS?Ski?Jumping?World?Cup?and,?finally,?in?2001,?as?the?only?Pole?in?history,?he?won?a?prestigious?Four?Hills?Tournament.?Adam?Ma?ysz?s?victories?which?lasted?for?the?whole?decade?caused?a?huge?national?interest?in?the?entire?discipline?and?led?to?the?huge?crowd?of?proud?Polish?fans?following?our?ski?jumping?team?from?one?competition?to?another.?So-called?mania?around?the?person?of?Ma?ysz?became?a?widely?recognized?phenomenon?and?the?jumper?himself?became?a?celebrity.?It?is?worth?mentioning?that?the?heritage?of?Adam?Ma?ysz?earned?a?worthy?successor,?as?a?current?leading?representative?Kamil?Stoch?has?already?won?two?gold?medals?in?World?Championships,?2?gold?Olympic?medals?and?a?World?Cup!