The medal tally marked Team Poland's worst Olympic performance since the 1956 Melbourne Games, placing it 42nd in the overall table in Paris.
The United States finished top of the standings, with 126 medals, including 40 golds. China finished second, with 40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze medals.
One gold, four silvers, five bronzes
Klaudia Zwolińska opened Poland's medal tally at the Games in France by taking the silver in the women’s canoe slalom K1 competition on July 28.
Zwolińska finished second in the Olympic final, clocking a time of 97.53 seconds.
Australia's Jessica Fox claimed the gold, finishing 1.45 seconds ahead of the Pole. Britain's Kimberley Woods won the bronze, with 98.94.
On July 30, Polish fencers Martyna Swatowska-Wenglarczyk, Alicja Klasik, Renata Knapik-Miazga and Aleksandra Jarecka took the bronze in the women's épée team competition to secure their country's second medal of the 2024 Games.
The Polish fencing team defeated China 32-31 in the third-place match.
On July 31, the Polish men’s quadruple sculls team of Dominik Czaja, Fabian Barański, Mirosław Ziętarski and Mateusz Biskup won bronze in the Olympic rowing competition.
The Poles finished third in their Olympic final, 2.59 seconds behind winners the Netherlands.
Italy earned the silver, finishing 0.19 seconds ahead of Poland.
On August 2, Polish tennis player Iga Świątek claimed bronze in the women's singles competition at the Olympics after defeating Anna Schmiedlová of Slovakia in the third-place match.
The Polish world No. 1 secured the bronze after being beaten by Qinwen Zheng of China in the semifinals the day before.
On August 7, Aleksandra Mirosław won a gold medal for Poland in the women's speed climbing competition at the Paris Olympics, with her compatriot Aleksandra Kałucka claiming the bronze.
Mirosław reached the top of the 15-metre wall in 6.10 seconds in the Olympic final, beating Deng Lijuan Lijuan of China by eight-hundredths of a second. Kałucka finished third in 6.53 seconds.
Earlier in the competition, the 30-year-old Mirosław set a new world record for women's speed climbing with a time of 6.06 seconds.
On August 9, Polish track-and-field athlete Natalia Kaczmarek earned the bronze in the women's 400m, after finishing third with a time of 48.98 seconds.
Dominican sprinter Marileidy Paulino grabbed the gold, setting a new Olympic record of 48.17 seconds.
Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain secured the silver, finishing in 48.53 seconds.
On August 10, Poland won silver in the Olympic men's volleyball tournament after losing 0-3 to France in the gold-medal match.
The Poles, managed by Serbian coach Nikola Grbić, crushed Egypt 3-0 in their Olympic tournament opener and followed up with a 3-2 win over Brazil in their second match in Paris. The Polish team lost 0-3 to Italy in its final preliminary-round fixture, having already secured a place in the knockout stages.
Grbić's men beat Slovenia 3-1 in the quarterfinals and defeated the United States 3-2 in the semifinals.
Also on August 10, Polish boxer Julia Szeremeta claimed silver in the women's 57 kg competition after losing the gold-medal bout against Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan.
Szeremeta had advanced to the final of the women's 57 kg, with a win over Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines.
Her second-place finish marked the first Olympic boxing medal for Poland since 1992, when Wojciech Bartnik won bronze in the men's light heavyweight category at the Barcelona Games.
On August 11, the final day of action in Paris, track cyclist Daria Pikulik stunned the field and won a surprise silver in the Olympic women's omnium competition to bag her country’s 10th medal of the Paris Games.
The head of the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl), Radosław Piesiewicz, said ahead of the Games that it was realistic to expect that Polish athletes would bring home up to 16 medals from Paris.
Hefty rewards for Olympic medals
Officials have reaffirmed their promise to pay out hefty rewards to Polish athletes who have brought home medals from the Paris Olympics.
With the Games ended, the Polish Olympic Committee is expected to allocate a total of PLN 4 million (EUR 930,000, USD 1 million) to the medal winners, state news agency PAP has reported.
Under a decision by the national Olympic body earlier this year, athletes competing in individual sports could expect cash rewards of PLN 250,000 (some EUR 58,500, USD 63,500) for a gold medal, PLN 200,000 for silver, and PLN 150,000 for bronze.
Additionally, each Polish Olympic champion was promised a two-bedroom apartment in Warsaw, according to the bankier.pl news website.
Athletes competing in team events such as rowing crews and athletic relay teams were eligible for identical rewards, bankier.pl reported.
Athletes in team sports such as volleyball could count on cash rewards of PLN 2 million, PLN 1.5 million and PLN 1 million respectively, to be split among the team members.
All Paris medalists will also be gifted a diamond, a valuable painting and a vacation voucher, the sports newspaper Przegląd Sportowy reported.
These rewards are far more generous than in any previous Olympics, summer or winter, according to bankier.pl.
Deputy Sports Minister Piotr Borys said ahead of the Games that all Polish medalists at the Paris Olympics would additionally be rewarded PLN 100,000 (EUR 23,350, USD 25,350) in government funds for a gold medal, PLN 70,000 for silver, and PLN 55,000 for bronze.
A total of 211 athletes competed for Poland in this summer's Olympics in France.
Poland was represented by athletes competing in 22 Olympic sports, including more than 60 track-and-field contestants and 20 swimmers.
The Polish Olympic team for Paris also included a contingent of more than 200 coaches, doctors, physiotherapists and other personnel.
Polish athletes take part in the closing ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games in the French capital on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. Photo: EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
The Paris Olympics took place in France from July 26 to August 11.
According to a prediction last month by sports data provider Gracenote, Poland had a chance of winning 17 medals at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
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.
The next summer Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles in 2028.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass waves the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony for the Paris 2024 Games on August 11, 2024. Photo: EPA/MAST IRHAM
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Source: IAR, PAP, TVP, olimpijski.pl
