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Paris 2024: Polish athletes aim for Olympic glory

26.07.2024 22:30
As the 210-strong Polish team begins competing in the Summer Olympics, many are wondering how many medals the country's athletes will bring home from Paris.
Photo:
Photo:PAP/Adam Warżawa

Polish athletes won 14 medals, four gold, five silver and five bronze, at the previous Olympics in Tokyo, the national team's best haul this century.

Officials say any higher figure this summer would be a reason for national pride, though some insist Poland has a good chance of winning more medals in Paris than at any previous Games.

Volleyball, tennis, track-and-field

One of Poland’s biggest medal hopes at the Paris 2024 Olympics is the men’s volleyball team, with its recent track record of success in the sport, including two world championship titles.

Fans are also pinning their hopes on Poland's women's volleyball team, which showed good form ahead of the Games by winning bronze in the Nations League last month.

Meanwhile, Polish tennis player Iga Świątek, the world No. 1 in women's tennis, hopes to make amends in Paris after an unsuccessful campaign in Tokyo.

Many consider her Poland's best hope for a gold medal in Paris.

Other Polish tennis players hoping to make their mark in Paris include Magda Linette and Magdalena Fręch.

Among track-and-field athletes, Poland has two medal hopes in the men's hammer throw. One is defending Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki, who also won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

The other Polish medal prospect in the event is four-time world champion Paweł Fajdek, who claimed bronze in Tokyo.

In the women’s hammer throw, all eyes are on Poland’s Anita Włodarczyk, the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympic champion, who holds the impressive world record of 82.98m but is returning to action after missing most of the season due to injury.

Another strong Polish candidate for a track-and-field medal in Tokyo is Natalia Kaczmarek, who won gold in the women's 400m at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome in June. Just days before the Games, Kaczmarek set a national record of 48.90 seconds in the event.

Poland's track-and-field medal prospects in Paris also include the women's 4x400m relay team, long the pride of Polish athletics and the current world runners-up and former European champions.

Fans are also keeping their fingers crossed for sprinter Ewa Swoboda and javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk, who took the silver in the women's javelin at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Some other Polish track-and-field athletes to watch at this year’s Summer Olympics include Pia Skrzyszowska in the women's 100 hurdles, Damian Czykier and Jakub Szymański in the men's 110 hurdles, and Piotr Lisek in the men's pole vault.

Water sports, cycling, speed climbing

In water sports, Polish medal hopes include swimmer Katarzyna Wasick and slalom canoeist Klaudia Zwolińska.

The country is also counting on strong performances from its rowers, kayakers and sailors.

Other Polish athletes eyeing medals in Paris include speed climber Aleksandra Mirosław, who narrowly missed out on a bronze at the Tokyo Games.

Poland is also pinning hopes on its fencers, shooters, judokas and boxers.

Some other Polish names to watch during the Games include road racers Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Michał Kwiatkowski.

The Polish men's 3x3 basketball team, which qualified for the Olympics in May, has also been named among Team Poland's medal prospects for Paris.

The head of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radosław Piesiewicz, has said the country has a chance of winning 16 medals at this year's Olympics.

The Paris 2024 Olympics opened on Friday and run until August 11.

Polish athletes brought home 14 medals, four gold, five silver and five bronze, from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games, the national team's best haul this century.

At the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016, Poland won 11 medals, two gold, three silver and six bronze.

At the London Olympics in 2012, Team Poland scooped 10 medals, three gold, two silver and five bronze.

(gs)

Source: TVP Sport, IAR, PAP