Mateusz Rutkowski

Mateusz Rutkowski (18 April 1986 − 7 January 2024) was a Polish ski jumper.^[1]

Mateusz Rutkowski
Rutkowski in 2005
Country	Poland
Born	(1986-04-18)18 April 1986 Skrzypne, Poland
Died	7 January 2024(2024-01-07) (aged 37) Skrzypne, Poland
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Ski club	Wisła Zakopane
Personal best	201.5 m (Planica, 2004)
World Cup career
Seasons	2004–2005
Medal record Men's ski jumping Representing  Poland World Junior Championship 2004 Stryn Individual NH 2004 Stryn Team NH
Updated on 26 February 2014.

Biography

Mateusz Rutkowski was born in Skrzypne, Poland. He had a younger brother Łukasz, who is also a ski jumper.^[2]

At the age of 18 he won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships. He became the first Polish representative in history to win a Gold medal at that level. Seeing his great success in 2004 one of the top senior ski jumper Adam Małysz commented that "he has great talent potential". But unfortunately, due to discipline issues, problems with Alcohol, neglecting training and then getting caught when he was driving under the influence of alcohol saw Rutkowski getting kicked out of the national team the following season. He never returned to the ski jumping after that.^[3]

After that for a very long time it was not known what was happening in his life. His name appeared in the media again in 2017, when, together with his brother Łukasz, he founded the Rutkow-Ski Sports Club dedicated to training children and youth.^[2]

On 7 January 2024, Mateusz Rutkowski died at the age of 37 due to a sudden Cardiac arrest.^[3][4]