Miracle boots for Polish ski jumpers

Even though nobody knows exactly what the new boots of the Polish ski jumpers are really like and whether these new boots make longer jumps possible, but they are the main issue in Polish media before the World Cup opener in Wisla (POL). The media reports about miracle boots with which the athletes jump 6 - 8 meters longer.

It's a fact, that the boots are an important part of the Ski Jumping equipment. The boot is the link between the athlete and the skis. A lot is possible with the right boots, nothing with the wrong ones. And now the Poles developed new boots together with a small company in Nagaba.

First things first, these are not miracle boots, as they are called in some Polish media outlets, but it's a very important step for the Polish Ski Jumping team. A Ski Jumping boot that is tailor-made for every athlete.
"It's difficult to tell how many meters these boots will bring", head coach Michal Dolezal explains on onet.pl, but the new boots will definitely help us. They will be better than the boots, the athletes were jumping with so far. The main advantage is that they are individually adapted to each athlete. They will be our biggest weapon."

So far the Poles had to use off-the-rack boots, now they have tailor-made ones, that are, for the most part, produced according to the athlete's feedback. A huge advantage. "You have a better feeling for the ski during the flight and they are more comfortable in the outrun", Piotr Zyla describes the advantages of the new boots.
Three-time Olympic champion Kamil Stoch explains: "These boots do what they are supposed to, they help you during the flight. For us, it's important to have our own supplier."

The new boots are part of a bigger project concerning the equipment with regard to the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022. So the boots are basically still in a development phase that shall be completed until Beijing 2022.
Adam Malysz, former world-class ski jumper and current coordinator for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined in Poland, started the project a while ago with the approval of head coach Stefan Horngacher, who is now coaching the German ski jumpers.

The boots have been developed for a couple of years and now they could be used in an international competition for the first time in Wisla. "The new boots will not, all of a sudden, turn an average athlete into an outstanding ski jumper. That's now how it works. First and foremost, the athlete has to jump well, then the boots might help him a little bit. We are creating a database, that can be updated and improved. When something is new on the market, these innovations are never a huge "wow" in the first year. There's still time until the Olympic Games. Improvements are made constantly for the future, without neglecting the present", Gregor Sobczyk, assistant of the new head coach Michal Dolezal, is quoted on onet.pl.