Tokyo 2020 was a triumph for Polish sport, with an impressive 14 medal haul, including four gold, five silver, and five bronze, which has raised the bar and expectations for the 2024 competitors.
Of the more than 200 Polish competitors descending on Paris, Poland’s most high-profile gold medal hopefuls are the women’s world number one tennis player Iga Świątek and the men’s volleyball team, who are also ranked number one in the world.
Świątek will be a red-hot favorite in the women’s singles as the competition will be held at Roland Garros, the scene for so much of the success in her career. She has won four French Open titles there, including the last three. Furthermore, she has only lost one match on clay this season.
The Polish men’s volleyball team has never looked better placed to repeat the gold they won at Montreal in 1976. Poland are currently ranked No. 1 in the world, a status well earned given their victory in last year’s Nations League and European Championships, plus reaching the final of the World Championship 2022.
Tennis
Świątek will be a red-hot favorite in the women’s singles as the competition will be held at Roland Garros, the scene for so much of the success in her career. She has won four French Open titles there, including the last three. Furthermore, she has only lost one match on clay this season.
Additionally, one of her biggest challengers, world No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka, has withdrawn from the tournament. She will not have the opportunity to compete in the mixed doubles, though, after her partner, Hubert Hurkacz, recently pulled out with an injury.Iga Świątek (-125) has won the French Open for a third consecutive year! 🏆
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) June 8, 2024
Back-to-back-to-back ✅pic.twitter.com/Uey8aDOqbf
Volleyball
The Polish men’s volleyball team has never looked better placed to repeat the gold they won at Montreal in 1976. Poland are currently ranked No. 1 in the world, a status well earned given their victory in last year’s Nations League and European Championships, plus reaching the final of the World Championship 2022.
Poland will face Brazil, Italy, and Egypt initially, in what has been described by many as the group of death. While Egypt are probably the weakest team at the Games, Italy are ranked number three in the world, and the Brazilians number five. However, concern among fans is more focused beyond the group stage. The team will be eager to break the perceived “curse of the quarter-final.” Remarkably, they have fallen at the same hurdle in each of the last six Games.Poland 🇵🇱 are the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Men’s champion!#EuroVolleyM #EuropeanVolleyball #Volleyball #EuroVolley2023 pic.twitter.com/OTAFcetkbt
— European Volleyball (@CEVolleyball) September 16, 2023
Speed climbing
Aleksandra Mirosław first entered the public consciousness at Tokyo 2020, where the sport debuted. She set a new world record, but in the end just fell short of a podium finish in fourth. Now, with speed climbing and bouldering separated, her medal chances skyrocketed.
Having broken her own world record on numerous subsequent occasions, including most recently at the Olympic European qualifying stage last year, she stands a strong chance of gold if she performs to the best of her ability. Aleksandra Kałucka also possesses a decent chance of a medal. She took silver at the 2022 IFSC Climbing European Championships.A world record in 6.84 seconds! ⏱️🤯
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) April 3, 2024
Here's another look at Aleksandra Mirosław smashing the speed climbing at Tokyo 2020! 🤩 The Polish athlete has gone on to break her own world record SIX more times. 👀
Sport Climbing returns alongside three other urban sports this spring… pic.twitter.com/G1UrDCrhiW
Canoeing
Experienced sprint canoeist Karolina Naja is at the core of Polish hopes on the River Seine. She earned a silver and a bronze at Tokyo 2020, plus a bronze at Rio 2016. In Paris she will pair up with Anna Puławska (with whom she won silver in Tokyo) in the K2 500 m and with Puławska, Adrianna Kąkol, and Dominika Putto in the K4 500 m, where podium finishes will be the minimum expectation. Slalom canoeist Klaudia Zwolińska has won a gold, silver, and a bronze at the last three World Cup’s and looks a sure thing for an Olympic medal. Justyna Iskrzycka has proved herself Europe’s best female canoeist over 1,000 m; however, that is not a discipline included in the Olympics, and she will have to adapt her approach for the shorter K1 500 m. Iskrzycka, from Silesia in southern Poland, has four European championship medals, three world championships, and a bronze in K-4 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Rowing
The success in rowing was one of the revelations for Poland at Tokyo 2020. This time around, they are not quite blessed with the same depth of quality. Mateusz Biskup, Fabian Barański, Dominik Czaja, and Mirosław Ziętarski in the men's quadruple sculls will likely be fighting it out with the Dutch and British for the gold.
Hammer
Poland has a rich history of producing top hammer throwers. Three-time gold medalist Anita Włodarczyk is widely considered the women’s greatest thrower and was chosen to be one of the athletes to carry the Olympic torch to Paris. With Włodarczyk no longer competing at her finest level, the attention turns to the men’s discipline. Wojciech Nowicki won gold in Tokyo and stands a decent chance of repeating the feat, having taken silver at the World Championships in 2023 and gold in the European Championships this year.
Five-time world champion and bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020, Paweł Fajdek, has an outside chance of joining him on the podium this time around.King of the hammer! 🔨
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 9, 2024
🥇 2018
🥇 2022
🥇 2024
Wojciech Nowicki 🇵🇱 wins his third European hammer title in #Roma2024! #IgniteTheFire pic.twitter.com/so6NlRKqNn
Athletics
Natalia Kaczmarek was a silver medalist at last year's World Championships. At Tokyo 2020, she was part of the teams that won gold in the mixed 4 x 400 relay and silver in the women's 4 x 400 relay.
The professional soldier looks well placed for a podium finish this time around, but she will have her work cut out to topple Jamaica's Nickisha Pryce, who ran the fastest time recorded in 2024 just last weekend. Katarzyna Zdziebło will compete in one of the first events of the Paris Games on Friday. The World Championship silver medalist will be striving to go one better in the women’s 35 km walk.That reaction! 🥲🥹
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 10, 2024
Natalia Kaczmarek 🇵🇱 is crowned European 400m champion in a super-fast 48.98! 🔥
Fastest time by a European this century as well! #Roma2024 #IgniteTheFire pic.twitter.com/s0DviQKa1n
Swimming
One of Poland’s most experienced Olympians in Paris will be Katarzyna Wasick, as this will be her fifth Games. Having picked up a bronze at this year’s World Championship and a silver in the 2022 edition, she will fancy her chances of breaking her Olympic duck in France in the 50 m freestyle.
Wrestling
Ukrainian wrestler Anhelina Łysak began representing Poland in 2021 and has won medals on three occasions at the European Wrestling Championships in the 57kg event. A bronze seems plausible in Paris.
Cycling
Track cyclist Mateusz Rudyk is the only Pole in his discipline in Paris. Having earned silver twice at the European Championships, he stands a good chance of a podium finish. On the road, Katarzyna Niewiadoma is a strong contender for a top-three finish in Paris. The Pole has been performing promisingly this season, with a notable victory in the prestigious La Flèche Wallonne race boosting her confidence. Her best Olympic finish was sixth place in 2016 in Rio.
Source: TVP Sport, Kaszuby 24
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