Kowal, who started for WKS Legia Zakopane , made his debut in the Ski Jumping World Cup on December 30, 1983 . In his first competition in Oberstdorf as part of the Four Hills Tournament 1983/84 , however, he was only able to achieve 75th place. The other jumps on the tour were also unsuccessful. At the Nordic World Ski Championships 1985 in Seefeld in Tirol , Kowal jumped to 63rd place on the normal hill and 57th place on the large hill. On March 24, 1986 he was able to win World Cup points from the large hill in Planica for the first time with a 12th place. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1987 in Oberstdorf he reached 14th place on the normal hill and 41st place on the large hill. Shortly thereafter, Kowal was part of the squad for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary . There he jumped from the large hill to 37th place. At the end of the normal hill he was tied with French Didier Mollard in 34th place. In the opening competition of the 1988/89 World Cup season in Lake Placid , Kowal was able to achieve the best individual result of his career with 7th place. After further placements in the points he finished 34th in the overall World Cup ranking.
At Polish Championships Kowal was very successful both individually and in a team for WKS Zakopane. He won seven individual championship titles, four of them on the normal hill and three on the large hill. In 1989 and 1991 he was able to win all three competitions and thus joins the list of the most successful athletes at national championships.
Since he remained internationally unsuccessful after the 1988/89 season and could not achieve top positions in the World Cup or the World Championships in the following years, Kowal ended his active ski jumping career in 1993.
Poland
