The Youth Olympic Games qualifications were held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Bolesławiec athlete Kacper Olszewski competed in the shot put. The Bolesłavia athlete, coached by Tomasz Markowski, put the shot 18.58 m during the qualifiers and advanced to the 12-man semifinals.
The following day, he reached 19 metres and 27 centimetres in his very first throw, which allowed him to advance to the final and ultimately finish fifth. Kacper met all the criteria that would have allowed him to travel to the Olympic Games by finishing among the top nine competitors in Baku. Unfortunately, only one athlete from each country can participate in a given event at the Games. The shot put competition was also won by a Pole, Konrad Bukowiecki, with the world’s best result of the year, 23.13 m. He will represent Poland at the Games. It is encouraging that Kacper broke his personal best at the main event, which is also the Lower Silesian record.
Kacper has delighted us with his performances on many occasions. The most important achievements to date of our athlete include:
- Polish youth champion in the javelin throw
- bronze medallist at the Polish Youth Championships in the discus throw
- indoor Polish under-18 vice-champion in the shot put
- fourth at the School World Championships in the J. Humbert Cup
- Lower Silesian youth record holder in the javelin throw
- Lower Silesian youth record holder in the shot put
- Lower Silesian under-18 record holder in the shot put
- multiple Lower Silesian champion in the javelin throw, discus throw and shot put
- fifth in the European qualification for the Olympic Games.
Kacper will compete in the Polish LZS Championships in Biała Podlaska next weekend, followed in July by the Polish Under-18 Championships. We wish him success and more record-breaking throws.
(information: Tomasz Markowski/ii)