Kubacki came third in the men’s normal hill event in Zhangjiakou, behind Japan’s Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi and Austria’s second-placed Manuel Fettner.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda watched from the VIP lounge as Kubacki took the bronze medal, and later congratulated the ski jumper in person.
The presidential office wrote on Twitter: “Dawid Kubacki has claimed a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Congratulations!”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted that Kubacki was “a grand master” who “has proved that nothing is impossible.”
“It’s a wonderful day for Polish sport,” Morawiecki wrote.
Kubacki jumps for bronze
After the first round of Sunday’s event, three-time Olympic champion Kamil Stoch looked the most likely to claim a medal for Poland. He was third, with Kubacki eighth. However, Kubacki produced an impressive second jump to reach the podium, while Stoch slipped to sixth.
The other two Polish jumpers, Piotr Żyła and Stefan Hula finished 21st and 26th respectively.
Kubacki’s bronze is Poland’s 23rd medal in the history of the Winter Olympics, and 10th in ski jumping. It was the highlight of the day for Team Poland.
Earlier on Sunday, cross-country skier Dominik Bury finished 26th in the men’s 30km skiathlon, while Mateusz Sochowicz came 25th in the men’s luge singles.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have brought together almost 3,000 athletes from 91 countries to compete in 15 sports. Team Poland consists of 57 athletes, 27 men and 30 women.
The Beijing Games run until February 20.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, TVP Sport