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Speedway champ voted Polish athlete of 2019

06.01.2020 07:50
Motorcycle speedway racer Bartosz Zmarzlik has been named as Polish athlete of the year for 2019 following a public vote.
Speedway rider Bartosz Zmarzlik, with fiance Sandra, ahead of the awards ceremony.
Speedway rider Bartosz Zmarzlik, with fiancée Sandra, ahead of the awards ceremony.Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

The sport of speedway has many fans in the country, and Zmarzlik, 24, last year became the third Pole to win a world title, after Jerzy Szczakiel in 1973 and Tomasz Gollob in 2010.

Meanwhile, star football player Robert Lewandowski was voted runner-up in the annual poll, which was held by Poland's leading sports newspaper Przegląd Sportowy and private television broadcaster Polsat.

Robert Lewandowski with wife Anna. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange Robert Lewandowski, with wife Anna, in Warsaw on Saturday night. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

Hammer thrower Paweł Fajdek, who last year won his fourth world championship gold, was ranked third as the coveted awards were announced in Warsaw on Saturday night.

Paweł Fajdek. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange Paweł Fajdek. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

Fajdek’s coach, Jolanta Kumor, was named as Coach of the Year, and the Polish men's national basketball team, which reached the quarterfinals of last year’s World Cup in China, was designated as Team of the Year.

In other awards, Lucyna Kornobys, a wheelchair athlete who won two medals for Poland at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, was singled out for praise in the Sports Without Barriers category.

A Special Award from the head of the Polish Olympic Committee went to Witold Bańka, who served as Poland’s sports minister from 2015 to 2019 and who on January 1 took over as chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Witold Bańka (right), head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with wife Monika. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange Witold Bańka (right), head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with wife Monika. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

In other highlights of the ceremony, retired tennis player Agnieszka Radwańska, a former world No. 2, was handed a "Superchampion" lifetime achievement award, while former NBA basketball player Marcin Gortat walked away with a Heart for Sport Award for organising training camps for children and supporting sporting talent as part of his “Aim High” Foundation.

Agnieszka Radwańska. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange And the 'Superchampion' goes to: Agnieszka Radwańska. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange
Marcin Gortat. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange'The Polish Hammer': Marcin Gortat. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

Dazzling on duty: Poland's new Sports Minister Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk, with husband Robert Andrzejuk. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange Dazzling on duty: Poland's new Sports Minister Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk, with husband Robert Andrzejuk. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

The annual awards were handed out in Warsaw for the 85th time.

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Source: Polsat Sport, PAP, polskieradio24.pl