Polish ski jumping has recruited Slovenian equipment specialist Rožle Žagar, a key figure behind Japan’s dominance of the sport over the past decade, according to Sport.pl. Žagar was spotted at the unofficial training session ahead of the Summer Grand Prix event in Wisla wearing the Polish team’s navy sponsor shirt.
No formal announcement has been made. Žagar told Sport.pl reporters briefly and off the record that he would not speak to media until he had signed a contract. He traveled to Wisla privately and is currently in what the report describes as a trial period, with talks still ongoing in Poland.
Nine years with Japan, five Olympic medals
Žagar, 36, spent nine years as a serviceman with the Japanese national team after earlier stints with South Korea. During his time with Japan the team won five Olympic medals, including the individual gold taken by Ryoyu Kobayashi in Beijing. The team also claimed three Four Hills Tournament titles and two overall World Cup globes in that period. Kobayashi is said to have valued Žagar highly.
A former club-level jumper himself, Žagar announced in March that he would leave Japan at the end of last winter. Contacts in the Japanese set-up described him to Sport.pl as meticulous and scrupulous. Janne Vaatainen, a coach who worked alongside him with the Japanese squad, said Žagar was an excellent person who knew his job inside out and that the move looked like a good step for him.
Beyond his national-team work, Žagar runs a ski equipment company in Slovenia and is behind the Speed Wax ski wax brand, which is used by close to half the World Cup field. He is considered one of the leading wax experts working directly in ski jumping rather than at a large manufacturer supplying multiple winter disciplines.
Horngacher’s first major hire
The move was driven by Stefan Horngacher, the Austrian coach who recently returned to Poland as training coordinator, making this his first significant personnel decision since rejoining the Polish Ski Association. Sport.pl reports that Horngacher lobbied association board members hard to invest in an additional specialist.
The hire was not without internal resistance. Board members were said to be skeptical as recently as June, with some arguing that equipment was not a major weakness for Polish jumpers. New association president Apoloniusz Tajner said in June that he believed too much weight was being attached to technology and that there was more to be gained from improving technique. He added, however, that with Horngacher involved, any gap that existed could be closed.
Former president Adam Małysz disagreed with the board’s assessment and pushed for the appointment before leaving his role. He argued in mid-June that Swiss, German, and Japanese teams had become significantly faster on the takeoff ramp, and that Polish jumpers were losing up to two kilometers per hour there, which translated to losses of eight to fifteen meters on the hill. He said the board, the new president, or the sports director would have to address the issue sooner or later.
Transfer came as a surprise
The signing caught many in the sport off guard. One former colleague of Žagar messaged Sport.pl to say he was in shock, adding that after leaving Japan it had seemed Žagar would focus on his wax business rather than attach himself to another national team.
Žagar was not the only candidate considered for the role. Sport.pl reports there were several applicants, though the pool of specialists in the field is small. Małysz wrote to the outlet earlier that one candidate had already been identified but that negotiations had been paused, though it is unclear whether that referred specifically to Žagar.
Sport.pl notes that a single equipment hire does not resolve all of Poland’s technology problems in the sport, pointing to several missed opportunities in recent years including a chance to acquire high-value testing equipment cheaply. The arrival of Žagar is described as a small but meaningful shift in approach.
