Łukasz Paweł Kruczek (born 1 November 1975) is a Polish former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

. He represented Poland at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano, and is a four-time gold medalist at

Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a Blend word, portmanteau of the wor ...

. From 2008 till 2016 he has been the coach of the Polish national ski jumping team. Since 2016 he is the coach of the Italian national ski jumping team

Personal life

Łukasz Kruczek was born in

Buczkowice Buczkowice is a village in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Buczkowice. It lies approximately south of Bielsko-Biała and south of the regional capital K ...

, Poland. He graduated from the Academy of Physical Education in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. He has a wife Agata. They have three children - daughter Anna and two sons - Michał and Kacper. He is fluent in three languages: English, German and Russian.

Ski jumping career

Kruczek started ski jumping when was 6 years old. His first club was LKS Klimczok Bystra. Until 1994 he practiced Nordic combined. He was Polish Junior Champion in Nordic combined three times. He resigned from the Nordic combined, because it was not a popular sport in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He debuted in ski jumping

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in 1996 in

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

. Kruczek's best finish at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial Nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...

was 32nd in the individual large hill event at Ramsau in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. He finished 46th at the 1996

Ski-flying World Championships The FIS Ski Flying World Championships is a ski flying event organised by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1972 and held every two years. Overview The event takes place on hills much larger than ski jumping hills, with the construct ...

Bad Mitterndorf Bad Mitterndorf () is a town in Salzkammergut in the Austrian state of Styria. Situated between Salzburg and Graz, it is a popular winter sports resort and also as a location for walking and cycling in the summer. Bad Mitterndorf is the site of t ...

. He was at the Olympic Games 2002 in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, but did not start in any competition. He won four gold medals at the Universiade individually (1997, 1999, 2001) and one bronze with the team (2003). Kruczek's best World Cup career finish was 14th at a large hill event in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in 1999. He ended his career as a ski jumper after season 2002/2003.

Coaching career

His career as a coach began when he was

Heinz Kuttin Heinz Kuttin (born 5 January 1971) is an Austrian former ski jumper. Career At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he won a silver medal in the Team large hill and a bronze medal in the Individual large hill. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in ...

's assistant (for two seasons). Then Kruczek worked with Hannu Lepistö. On March 28, 2008 he began working as coach of Polish national ski jumping team A. He was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit in 2010. His first successes as coach were Kamil Stoch's podium places in the

in 2011. Polish team had a bad start to the season 2012/2013. Łukasz Kruczek was criticized and considered his expulsion from work. At that time,

Kamil Stoch Kamil Wiktor Stoch (; born 25 May 1987) is a Polish Ski jumping, ski jumper. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport, having won two FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, World Cup titles, three Four Hills Tournaments (two o ...

publicly supported the coach. At the World Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme his ward

became World Champion individually on the large hill, and the Polish team -

Maciej Kot Maciej Kot (Polish pronunciation: ; born 9 June 1991) is a Polish Ski jumping, ski jumper. He is a member of the national team and competed at the Winter Olympics in 2014 Winter Olympics, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics, 2018. He is a FIS Nordic Wor ...

Piotr Żyła Piotr Paweł Żyła (Polish pronunciation: ; born 16 January 1987) is a Polish Ski jumping, ski jumper. He is a member of the national team and competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He is the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2021, 2021 ...

and

Dawid Kubacki Dawid Grzegorz Kubacki ( ; born 12 March 1990) is a Polish Ski jumping, ski jumper. He is a member of the national team and competed at the Winter Olympics in 2014 Winter Olympics, 2014, 2018 Winter Olympics, 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022, ...

won bronze medal. Since then his jumpers occupy high positions in the World Cup and Summer Grand Prix. During his work as a trainer has 5 different Polish jumpers (

Adam Małysz Adam Henryk Małysz (; born 3 December 1977) is a Polish former ski jumper and rally driver. He competed in ski jumping from 1995 to 2011 and is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport. His many accomplishments include ...

Jan Ziobro Jan Ziobro (Polish pronunciation: , born 24 June 1991) is a Polish Ski jumping, ski jumper, a member of the national team, a participant of the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympic Games, a bronze medalist at FIS Nordic World Ski Championship ...

Krzysztof Biegun Krzysztof Biegun (born 21 May 1994) is a Polish ski jumper. Career Biegun's debut in FIS Ski Jumping World Cup took place in February 2013 in Oberstdorf. On 24 November 2013, he won the event in Klingenthal at large hill. At the 2013 Winter Univ ...

and

) was winning the World Cup competitions. In the season 2013/2014 Stoch is the leader of the World Cup. In 2014 Kamil Stoch was a double gold medalist at the

Olympic Games 2014 The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Polish team was 4th. Kruczek led the Polish team for the best results at the Olympic Games in history.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruczek, Lukasz 1975 births Living people Polish male ski jumpers Olympic ski jumpers for Poland Ski jumpers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Winter World University Games medalists in ski jumping FISU World University Games gold medalists for Poland FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Poland Competitors at the 1997 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 1999 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 2001 Winter Universiade Medalists at the 2003 Winter Universiade Ski jumping coaches People from Bielsko County Skiers from Silesian Voivodeship 20th-century Polish sportsmen