In a big sporting year that featured both the Olympic Games and football’s European Championships, Polish athletes found success in unexpected areas and failure in more predictable fields.
Olympics:
While there were some outstanding achievements and near misses for medals, the Paris games were overall underwhelming for the Poles, with the country accruing one gold, four silver and five bronze, their lowest medal haul since Helsinki 1952.
Poland’s outstanding athlete at Paris 2024 was Aleksandra Mirosław. The speed climber won the nation's only gold medal, breaking her world record on her way to the final.
The broader impact of Mirosław’s success has also been outstanding, with the Polish soldier significantly raising the profile of climbing in her home nation by blowing the competition out of the water and leaving onlookers in open-mouthed amazement with her breathtaking display of speed and agility. The sight of her and fellow compatriot Aleksandra Kałucka on the podium will likely inspire a new generation of climbers.
Volleyball is second only to football in the popularity stakes in Poland and the men’s national team had the country on the edge of its seat during their run to the Olympic final.
Despite being one of the sport’s dominant forces this century and holding the world number one ranking, the team has not won gold since 1976.
The team were outstanding throughout the tournament, overcoming their quarterfinal hoodoo, which had seen them knocked out in the last eight in the previous five consecutive Games.
It seemed as if destiny was calling when they overturned a 2-1 deficit to the U.S. in the semifinals. However, the White and Reds ultimately lost in the final to the French and had to settle for silver.
Female Polish boxer Julia Szeremeta also fell at the final hurdle but became a household name—she was the second most Googled name in Poland in 2024—with her high-paced, front-foot approach. She wowed audiences in the 57 kg division with her fearlessness, often fighting with her guard down.
She lost the gold medal fight to Lin Yu-ting, the Taiwanese fighter who continued to generate headlines after the Games ended due to uncertainty over the boxer’s gender.
Honourable mentions go to Olympians Klaudia Zwolińska, who won a silver medal in canoeing (K-1 slalom) and Daria Pikulik, who also finished second in cycling’s omnium. Natalia Bukowiecka (Kaczmarek) was the only Pole to earn a medal in athletics, taking an admirable bronze in the 400m.
Football:
The national team began the new year with renewed optimism under the stewardship of Michał Probierz, who steered the team successfully through European Championships qualification playoffs.
The team’s performance at the summer’s tournament itself was forgettable, though. They lacked the quality to compete with—albeit high-ranking—nations in their group and the attacking intent to entertain supporters, exiting Euro 2024 with a whimper.
The Nations League campaign through autumn was equally uninspiring. Poland were relegated to the competition’s second tier after four defeats from their six group matches.
In fairness to Probierz, he has been dealt a tough hand, drawing Netherlands, Austria and France at the Euros and fixtures with Portugal, Croatia and a rejuvenated Scotland in Nations League A.
The former under 21’s coach has shown a willingness to experiment with different formations and youth but the hard truth is that there is a lack of noteworthy emerging talents, aside from Bologna’s skillful midfielder Kacper Urbański.
On the upside, wideman Nicola Zalewski has had a remarkably consistent year for the national team, offering much-needed speed and the ability to beat his man. Piotr Zieliński, who earned a move to Italian champions Inter Milan over the summer, further cemented his position as midfield lynchpin with his outstanding technical ability.
Robert Lewandowski may not have had a particularly fruitful 2024 for the national team but he has returned to his imperious best for Barcelona. The Polish captain’s high point of the year came in November when he reached an exceptional 100 Champions League goals, a feat only matched by Messi and Ronaldo.
In the domestic game, Jagiellonia Białystok won their first-ever Polish Ekstraklasa on the final day of the season.
Their success owes much to Adrian Siemieniec, who at 31 became the youngest-ever top-flight manager in Poland. After helping them narrowly avoid relegation the season before last, he remarkably led them to the league title in May 2024.
He has continued to build a dynamic and flexible team this season with an emphasis on possession and tempo. They have qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League with two games to spare.
That record has been matched by Legia Warsaw, who have also enjoyed a prosperous campaign—under their fiery young manager, Gonçalo Feio—in the same competition. The two sides’ positive results have handed a much-needed boost to the Polish domestic game, both in terms of morale and UEFA ranking.
The women’s game rose in stature in Poland in 2024. The national team reached the European Championship finals for the first time in December with a 1-0 victory over Austria, seeing them through.
The scorer of the crucial goal that evening was Ewa Pajor, who has done more than any other Pole to bring the women’s game to wider attention.
After nine seasons with Wolfsburg, Pajor sealed a move to giants Barcelona Femení, who have been the best club side in Europe for the last few years. As of mid-Decmeber, she has registered a remarkable record of 10 goals in 10 games.
Tennis:
Polish tennis fans have grown used to success in recent years, largely thanks to the remarkably consistent Iga Świątek. She remains the queen of Roland-Garros, winning her third successive French Open in 2024. She also won prestigious tournaments in Rome, Madrid, Indian Wells and Doha, remaining number one for most of the year.
However, in relentlessly scaling the heights of her sport, small drop-offs become all the more noticeable. The Pole’s form began to stutter at the Olympics, where she was the favorite for gold.
She put in a string of error-prone performances before losing in the semifinals and eventually taking the bronze medal, which it appeared she found hard to take, with her focus having been so set on the gold.
By October, her great rival Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus dethroned her from the number one spot after 11 months on top. Although this should be placed in its appropriate context. Following her exit from the US Open, Świątek announced she was taking a break and searching for a new coach.
She returned to action in late November. Her absence was enough to give Sabalenka, who continued steadily amassing more points, the edge in the WTA ranking at the close of the year.
Świątek’s female compatriots rose to greater prominence in 2024 with both Magda Linette and Magdalena Fręch enjoying a prosperous year.
The two met in the first all-Polish WTA Tour final in the Open Era, with the more experienced Linette coming out on top. It is Fręch, however, who ends the season higher in the ranking in 25th, reaching a career high of 22nd in October.
In the men’s game, Hubert Hurkacz had a solid year in which he reached a career-high world ranking of sixth but injuries in the second half of the year have seen him drop to 16th.
His high point was narrowly losing to Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in a five-set thriller. Hurkacz will be seeking a return to the top 10 in 2025 following the appointment of two new coaches (Ivan Lendl and Nicolás Massú) in November.
Speedway:
Few Polish sportsmen have mastered their discipline to the same degree as the legendary Bartosz Zmarzlik, who clinched his fifth FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship in September.
