The Polish Youth Olympic Taekwondo Championships were held on 16 and 17 May in Ciechanów. Five athletes from Bolesławiec representing UKS Ilyo took part in the competition. Grzegorz Kozioł can celebrate success, having won his first medal. The Bolesławiec athlete lost only in the semifinal to an athlete from AZS AWF Warszawa and won bronze in the up-to-58 kg category. Justyna Szyposz also took third place, in the up-to-49 kg category. The Bolesławiec athlete lost her semifinal bout to Polish national-team representative Beata Przewłocka of AZS UWM Olsztyn.
The other three UKS Ilyo athletes—Patrycja Piasecka, Paweł Knapik and Yevgen Nikitin—finished the competition in scored fifth places. In the club classification of the Polish Youth Championships, UKS Ilyo took fifth place, earning a total of 67 points.
The Polish Youth Olympic Taekwondo Championships held in Ciechanów were the last Polish Championship-level tournament covered by the Youth Sports System. Athletes who placed 1st–4th in their weight categories at qualifying tournaments qualified for the championship final. The five athletes from Bolesławiec competed in the championships after winning qualifiers in Krasnystaw and Bogatynia. “We can regard this championship season as the best in the club’s ten-year history. This motivates us to continue working and to maintain the highest possible sporting level,” emphasizes the Bolesławiec athletes’ coach, Mariusz Sulma.
This year, UKS Ilyo athletes have reached the podium six times at the Polish Olympic Taekwondo Championships. They won two Polish Championship titles, one runner-up title and three bronze medals. Two club athletes were called up to the Polish national team. Krzysztof Jasiński will compete at the European Junior Championships, which will be held in Trelleborg in less than two weeks. Kamil Serafin will compete at the European Cadet Championships, to be held in Zagreb at the turn of June and July.
(UKS Ilyo/MZ information)