Nakamura wins Summer Grand Prix opener in Wisła; Tomasiak leads Poles in seventh

Nakamura dominates in sweltering conditions

The 2026 Summer Grand Prix season began on Friday at the Adam Małysz hill in Wisła, Poland, under a new FIS format that skipped qualifications and sent athletes straight into competition after training. Temperatures exceeded 30°C, and variable wind made conditions tricky. Japan's Naoki Nakamura delivered the day's standout performance, jumping 129 metres in the first round and 135 metres in the second to win with 271.7 points. Austria's Marco Woergoetter took second (125.5 m and 132 m, 266 points), and Switzerland's Gregor Deschwanden placed third (123.5 m and 129 m, 262.4 points). After a cautious first round, organisers raised the start gate for the final, leading to longer jumps across the field.

Tomasiak leads Polish contingent

Kacper Tomasiak was the highest-placed Pole, finishing seventh after a post-competition disqualification. He sat sixth at the halfway mark with 119.5 metres, then improved to 128 metres in the final round, slipping to eighth before Sundal's removal lifted him to seventh with 251.4 points. Dawid Kubacki climbed from 19th after the first round to 10th overall, landing 119.5 m and 126.5 m for 244.1 points. Maciej Kot (119 m and 125 m) placed 17th, Klemens Joniak (117 m and 124 m) 22nd, and Paweł Wąsek (117 m and 124.5 m) 28th. Five of the ten Polish starters advanced; Piotr Żyła (116 m), Aleksander Zniszczoł, Kamil Waszek, Jakub Wolny and Łukasz Łukaszczyk did not. Coach Maciej Maciusiak said Żyła's jump was "one of the better ones recently" despite missing the cut.

Sundal disqualified after investigation

Norway's Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal initially placed sixth with jumps of 122 m and 130 m (252.2 points), but FIS later annulled his result after reviewing his first jump. The disqualification moved Switzerland's Juri Kesseli into sixth, Tomasiak up to seventh, Kubacki to tenth, and Zniszczoł into the points in 30th.

Women's event and Horngacher's return

In the women's competition, Anna Twardosz was the only Pole to reach the second round, finishing 11th with jumps of 117.5 m and 121 m. She admitted to a "big disappointment" but said the sporting anger would fuel her for the next day. Twardosz, who won the Polish Summer Championships in Wisła a year ago, said she feels much more confident now and that her training jumps have improved. She also spoke about meeting Stefan Horngacher, the Austrian coach who returned to the Polish Ski Association after seven years as training system coordinator and worked with the women's team for the first time.

I was very stressed, but that's good. It was a really nice experience and I could repeat it. I think he is an authority. You can just see it.

Reactions and outlook

Tomasiak acknowledged that his physical form is still building toward winter.

We are still in the preparation period, not strictly the competition phase, so physical form is not yet what it should be in winter. Nevertheless, we always take the competitions themselves just as seriously.

He added that the heat was easier to handle during competition than in training because of longer breaks. Maciusiak noted that Tomasiak had minor inrun issues but improved with each jump, and that "if everything had clicked, he could even have fought for the podium." Kubacki was satisfied with his top-ten finish, calling it a positive step after inconsistent recent weeks.

I think I did a pretty OK job on the hill today, especially looking at the last few weeks. When you've been jumping inconsistently, I think before these competitions I would have taken 11th place without hesitation.

The second competition in Wisła is scheduled for Sunday at 11:30, with six Polish men set to start, including debutant Kamil Waszek.