The past season was definitely the year of Natalia Kaczmarek. It all began in January, when, during a training camp in South Africa, Marek Rożej’s athlete erased from the record books the nearly half-century-old Polish record in the 300 metres, which belonged to the legendary Irena Szewińska. In Potchefstroom, the Pole ran 35.52. However, this result was only a foretaste of what awaited us in the summer season.
The Podlasie Białystok athlete began her season in April at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, and several days later helped the national relay team in Nassau, where the Polish women secured Olympic qualification. On 10 June, Kaczmarek made history by becoming the European champion in the 400 metres in Rome. At Stadio Olimpico, she recorded a time of 48.98 and broke Irena Szewińska’s national record from 1976.
Several days before the Games in Paris, at the Olympic Stadium in London’s Stratford district, she ran 400 metres in 48.90 and improved her own national record even further. The crowning achievement of the season for the Pole was the Olympic final at Stade de France. On the evening of 9 August, after a close contest, she finished third in 48.98 and could celebrate winning the third Olympic medal of her career, but her first individual one. At the end of these months filled with success, Kaczmarek was nominated—for the second year in a row—for the title of European female Athlete of the Year.
“This season was incredible. The European title, an individual Olympic medal and, on top of that, Polish records. It sounds like a dream, but it all really happened. Now I have also been nominated for the title of European female Athlete of the Year. It is a great honour for me that all these achievements are appreciated so highly,” Natalia Kaczmarek admits.
The experts also recognised Stanisław Strzelecki, who was nominated by European Athletics for the title of European Athletics Rising Star. Our young 400-metre specialist became the European under-18 champion in July. During the competition in Banská Bystrica, he impressed in the final by recording a time of 46.50. This not only secured his victory but also made him the leader of the European rankings. In addition, Strzelecki improved the 13-year-old Polish under-18 record, set by Patryk Dobek in 2011 during the World Cadet Championships. The Bolesłavia Bolesławiec sprinter did not stop at his individual success. At the end of the championships, the Polish 100-200-300-400-metre relay team, with the individual European champion running the final leg, won gold; its time of 1:51.62 placed it second in the all-time European rankings. Strzelecki simultaneously became one of two athletes competing at the championships to win two gold medals.
“Stanisław Strzelecki’s performance in Banská Bystrica is truly impressive. He is a talented athlete and already during the indoor season showed ambitions of achieving really good results outdoors. Let me remind you that at the Polish Indoor Championships in Wrocław, he improved the Polish under-18 record in the 300 metres with a time of 33.55,” notes Sławomir Landyszkowski, head of the sprint group at the Polish Athletics Association.
Voting for the continent’s best athletes is available on the European Athletics website and runs until 29 September. The finalists will be announced at the beginning of next month, while the winners of the annual poll will be presented on 26 October during the Golden Tracks gala, which this year will take place in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia.