60th anniversary of the Nordic World Cup in Zakopane
Exactly 60 years ago, on February 18, 1962, the Nordic World Ski Championships began in Zakopane. It was the third championship in history held in the capital of the Polish Tatra Mountains (the previous ones took place in 1929 and 1939). In just 10 days, the juniors will start competing for the titles of world champions in ski jumping and nordic combined on the renovated Średnia Krokiew and COS cross-country tracks.
In 1962 there were for the first time two jumping competitions - on a medium and large hill. The first, historic vice-champion of the world in a smaller facility was the Pole Antoni Łaciak. In this way, he repeated the achievement of Stanisław Marusarz from the World Championships in Lahti in 1938 on a large hill. From today's point of view, it is amazing that the legendary "Grandfather" Marusarz... started the Zakopane championship as an honorary forejumper of the Wielka Krokiew competition! The ski jumping competition during the 1962 World Cup was also record-breaking in terms of attendance - 110,000 spectators each watched both competitions.
