A phenomenon named Adam Małysz - Fenomen Adama Małysza

3 December 1977 turned out to be a lucky day for Polish sport fans. One of the most entitled sportsmen in Polish history was born on that day in Wisła – a small town in the south of our country. What I have already said would be enough for the vast majority of Polish citizens to guess who I am talking about. Why? Because there is no other sportsmen as popular in our country as Adam Małysz.

What is the reason for his popularity? One of them is beyond any doubt his successful sports career. However it seems quite unusual that his popularity came with his first spectacular success. In 2001 he won the Four Hills tournament – the most important one in ski jumping. He was the first Polish to win it.

In subsequent years he won two Olympic medals, four gold World Championships medals and four times in row finished the season being the first and winning the World Cup. There was only one ski jumper (Matti Nykannen) in history who won more tournaments than him. It seems unbelievable because the Poles have never played an important role in this sport. Ski jumpers from Germany, Austria and Scandinavia have always dominated but it has changed since Adam Małysz won his first tournament.

As I have already said his popularity since the very beginning was amazing. Everybody watched his performances on TV, he was being interviewed almost all the time and his private life seemed to be a matter of the past. Wisła became an overcrowded town since all his fans wanted to take a picture in front of his house or meet him if possible. Thousands of Polish fans travelled around the world and cheered during various tournaments.

During the World Cup tournament in Zakopane, which is considered to be 'the winter capital of Poland', amazing crowds gathered to support our champion and watch his victories. It took Adam Małysz only a month to make ski jumping as popular as football.

It might be a little bit surprising that Małysz became the most popular sportsman in Poland so fast. Probably apart from his victories this was a matter of his behaviour. At the very beginning he was very shy and many people could find it desirable. Contrary to many other sportsmen he was not conceited and simply likeable. What is more he achieved a great success and proved that the Poles do not have only to be defeated. He was the one we could take pride in.

Adam Małysz satisfied many of our needs. He was a multiple winner and he was better than competitors of other nationalities. Considering the fact that many people in our country suffer from low self-esteem and seem to think that we are somehow worse than people from other countries his phenomenon becomes understandable. The scale of people’s interest in him is really unbelievable though.