A curse hangs over the record holder! An amazing story straight from Poland

Although the fact of PlusLiga’s fifth gold disc is not the key here. Jurij Gladyr is the first volleyball player in history to win the Polish championship in the colors of three different clubs.

It started almost exactly a decade ago, in 2016, in the colors of ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle. Then, Gladyr won three titles in the ranks of Jastrzębski Węgiel (2021, 2023 and 2024) and the latest one, as Jurassic Knight – i.e. 2026.

– What pleases me most is that no one has ever managed to win the Polish championship in three different PlusLiga clubs. And I think I’m the first player in history to do it. Okay, it took me a long time, but I’m the first and that’s what it’s all about. The others can repeat it later, but the point is to achieve it for the first time – admitted the center of Aluron CMC Warty with a smile.

Yuri Gladyr with the curse of the Champions League? This would be a historic breakthrough!

The fifth match of the PlusLiga final on Sunday (May 10) showed how valuable the midfielders are, looking at the course of the competition. Gladyr, together with Mateusz Bieniek, were able to add a lot of important points in important moments, but also work as a block.

Even though he will soon be 42 years old, Gladyr managed to win a place on the pitch in coach Michał Winiarski’s team. However, it is no secret that this is the last season for this volleyball player in the club from Zawiercie. From the new season, the Jurassic Knight will include, among others: center Jakub Kochanowski.

Gladyr has one more mission – to win gold in the Champions League. And here’s an interesting, slightly disturbing statistic. Just as the above-mentioned “Kochan” cannot win the Polish championship in his career, Gladyr cannot achieve Champions League gold. There were three final attempts, but each time it ended with silver.

In the years 2023-25, the midfielder lost the Champions League finals twice in the ranks of Jastrzębski Węgiel and once as Juraski Rycerz.

– From Wednesday, all focus is on Turin. This is also my goal and I would like to end this season with this. For our club to finish playing with such a heavy double crown. I would like to wish all of us this (…) The Polish championship definitely won can give us even more motivation. It’s quite a treat to win gold in PlusLiga. This doesn’t happen very often, a person feels empowered after such a success. We went through a lot of difficult things this season and we were always true to ourselves. We have been working hard all the time to stand here today and enjoy the championship we have won, and then look at participating in the Final Four of the Champions League – admitted the volleyball player after the victorious final against Bogdanka LUK Lublin.

In total, the volleyball player from Ukraine, but who has had Polish citizenship since 2013, won as many as 11 Polish championship medals in PlusLiga alone. In addition to five gold medals, the list includes five silver medals (2011, 2013, 2017, 2022, 2025) and one bronze medal (2012).

Polish Cups? Yes, in 2013 and 2014. Polish Super Cups? Three times, in the 2021, 2022 and 2024 editions, respectively. As you can see, Gladyr is only missing the Champions League gold to be completely happy in the context of playing for a Polish club.

Will the volleyball player be able to break this curse hanging over his head? The semi-final of the Champions League final tournament in Turin will take place next Saturday (May 16). The Zawiercie team will play to qualify for the decisive match against Ziraat Bankkart Ankara. The Turkish giant, where one of the stars is Tomasz Fornal, from the new season… also Jurassic Knight.

Gladyr and Fornal know each other well from playing together in Jastrzębie-Zdrój. They also lost the mentioned Champions League finals together in 2023-24. Now it is certain that only one of them will have the opportunity to fight for gold on Sunday (i.e. May 17).