The Bolesłavia athletes ended the season on a high note. For the second time this season, Mateusz Tofil improved—this time his own—Polish record, which had stood at 3,902 points since 23 August. Coached by Bartosz Gruman, he dominated the competition at the Autumn Combined Events, held on 4–5 October in Zielona Góra, and scored 4,033 points.
Already in the first event, the 100 m, our athlete recorded 11.66 s, raising hopes that he would surpass the 4,000-point mark. In the following events, he either set personal bests or came close to doing so. After the javelin throw, in which he improved his personal best by more than 3 m, the crowd gathered at the stadium was certain that the magical barrier would fall. And so it did. In the 1,000 m, Mateusz recorded a time of 2:58.70 and improved the Polish under-16 record for the second time this year.
Mateusz is now a serious candidate for a place in the Polish under-18 national team at next year's World Championships in Cali, Colombia.
“Mateusz has enormous room for improvement in every event. It should also be mentioned that in the high jump (2.01 m), only two under-16 athletes in the history of Polish athletics have jumped higher than him, and he can still bring us a great deal of joy in this event as well,” says coach Bartosz Gruman. “One of the goals for next season is, of course, to compete at the World Championships in Colombia. However, for that to happen, my athlete must change his approach to life and sport. There is no room for many pleasures in professional training, and the sooner every athlete aspiring to great results realizes this, the better. To a great extent, one must subordinate one’s life to education and sport. There is no other alternative.”
He adds: “Otherwise, Mateusz will become another wasted talent in Polish sport. I hope he realizes this in time and that next season we will be able to celebrate his successes.”
The coaches who work with Bartosz Gruman are: Paweł Wiśniewski in the high jump and Tomasz Markowski in the throwing events.
Dariusz Łomański/ii