In recognition of their exploits in 2022, Fajdek and Kubacki will both receive the Polish Olympic Committee’s annual Great Honorary Sporting Award for Athlete of the Year, according to officials.
Athletes of the Year
Fajdek, 33, in July won the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Paweł Fajdek PAP/Adam Warżawa
It was his fifth consecutive world hammer title, after wins in Moscow (2013), Beijing (2015), London (2017) and Doha (2019).
Meanwhile, Kubacki, 32, in February scooped Poland’s only medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
He claimed bronze in the men’s normal hill event, producing an impressive second jump to reach the podium after finishing eighth in the first round.
Dawid Kubacki PAP/EPA/Filip Singer
The Polish Olympic Committee on Thursday also announced the winners of the Great Honorary Sporting Award in two other categories.
Team of the Year
The men’s volleyball side were named Team of the Year, for claiming the silver medal at the 2022 FIVB World Championships.
Poland came close to completing a hat-trick of world championship victories as they reached the final of the tournament.
Urged on by the home crowd in the southern city of Katowice, the Poles went out with all guns blazing in the title showdown, but eventually lost 1-3 to Italy, finishing runners-up and taking the silver.
Poland's men's volleyball team. Photo: Polish Olympic Committee
Coaches of the Year
There were two winners in the Coach of the Year category.
Aleksander Wojciechowski was honoured for guiding Poland to the world championship in the men's quadruple sculls (M4X) event this year; it was the fifth world title in Wojciechowski’s coaching career.
Meanwhile, Tomasz Kryk was rewarded for overseeing two world titles and three European titles in 2022 as coach of Poland’s women’s kayaking team.
Aleksander Wojciechowski (left) and Tomasz Kryk (right). Photo: Polish Olympic Committee
Established in 2009, the Polish Olympic Committee’s Great Honorary Sporting Awards have in the past been won by the likes of triple Olympic hammer throw champion Anita Włodarczyk, football superstar Robert Lewandowski and tennis world No. 1 Iga Świątek, officials noted.
This year’s prizes will be handed out at an annual ceremony dubbed the New Year’s Meeting of the Olympic Family, reporters were told.
(pm/gs)
Source: Polish Olympic Committee, dziennik.pl