Here are five unique figures of Polish sport. The year 2024 was theirs!

Football fans will certainly laugh at the European Championships as the most important event of the last twelve months. However, it is safe to say that the Polish national team did not bring the competition from the Old Continent to its knees. On the contrary, it was supposed to be like never before, but it ended… like always. That is, in group games and not advancing to the knockout phase.

Although Robert Lewandowski and company did not conquer Euro 2024 in Germany, our list will include a strong football figure. Moreover, it is clearly linked to the greatest success of the Polish national team in its history.

Choosing the top five was not the easiest one, and its order results only from two issues. First, we distinguish women, first of all, and additionally, there is an alphabetical order. There is no mention of someone important or more important here.

Aleksandra Mirosław, the only gold medalist from Poland at the 2024 Olympics

In fact, in this one sentence you can summarize the reasons why the Pole was included in the ranking for 2024. Mirosław withstood the pressure of expectations, coming to the French capital as the main candidate for the gold medal. However, the Olympic Games have already brutally verified many things.

A specialist in sports climbing, specifically timed climbing, confirmed that being a world champion or a global record holder (two new records in Paris, the latter at 6.06 s) can be turned into the most important medal in sports life. Mirosław remains to be thanked, because she was the only one who ensured that “Dąbrowski’s Mazurek” appeared during the games in Paris. This is happiness for the person concerned, but also a sad truth for the rest.

Iga Świątek, champion of the tennis courts. Roland Garros, although not during the Olympics

The Pole has probably had one of the strangest twelve months of her career. On the one hand, a great first half-year, during which Świątek achieved some really valuable triumphs. Winnings in Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, and finally the fourth Grand Slam in Paris are the best proof of this. Świątek also reached the Olympic podium, as the first Polish woman in the history of Olympics. The problem, however, is that Świątek came to France as a clear favorite. And as she admitted, in hindsight, although the bronze medal is valuable, the appetite for gold was certainly an obvious sports ambition.

The second half of the year is also a great test for the Polish woman’s mental side. From the positive result of the anti-doping test, the breakup with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, to the loss of the WTA ranking leader position. Świątek, however, is still one of the most important reference points for Polish sport.

Ewa Pajor, ambassador of women’s football – with promotion to the historic Euro

One may get the impression that Polish sport was and is a woman. In 2024, women’s soccer players secured their first, historic ticket to an international event. The Polish women’s national football team has existed since 1971. After 43 years, on December 3, the Poles advanced to Euro 2025 by winning a two-legged play-off against the Austrians.

Team leader? Of course, Ewa Pajor. A captain who not only fulfilled her great dream in 2024 – advancing to the European Championship on her birthday – but also transferred to FC Barcelona. Together with Robert Lewandowski, Pajor is the offensive strength of the club from the capital of Catalonia. The Pole looks so good that calling her the winner of the Ballon d’Or is not far from reality. And most importantly, Pajor is constantly developing, just as she wants to develop women’s football in Poland.

Michał Dąbrowski – a lamented symbol of the heroism of Polish Paralympians

This is a special distinction. Dąbrowski won two silver medals in fencing during the Paralympic Games. Showing great sports class. In addition to sports competition, this man led an unequal fight against cancer. In November 2023, Dąbrowski was diagnosed with a fatal disease. He was diagnosed with intrahepatic bile duct cancer. In Paris, Dąbrowski fought not only for places on the podium, but also did not hide the fact that he wanted to win the fight for his health.

He didn’t give up. Both the performance in Paris and the online collection were successful for Dąbrowski. Unfortunately, the deadly disease attacked again. The competitor of the Wheelchair Fencing section of Legia Warszawa died in November, at the age of only 38. The day before his death, President Andrzej Duda awarded Dąbrowski the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for outstanding sports achievements and contributions to the development and dissemination of paralympic sports. Let us add that the Polish Paralympic team won 23 medals in Paris.

Tomasz Fornal, a complete volleyball player and a figure that goes far beyond sports

If Prime Minister Donald Tusk, during the meeting after the Olympics, suggests that he will use your speech during meetings of the Council of Ministers, you should know that it was important! But seriously, it was Fornal’s year. The volleyball player, who won the PlusLiga straight, advanced to the Champions League final for the second time in a row – although Fornal has not managed to achieve this scalp in the colors of Jastrzębski Węgiel (yet). Most importantly, he became the leader of the Polish national team.

His flowery speech in the Olympic semi-final against the USA is one thing. Fornal, together with Wilfredo Leon and Jakub Kochanowski, kept the team mentally afloat in key moments. The volleyball player arouses great interest, and if volleyball continues to do so well in Poland, in the coming years, putting him in one row with, for example, Bartosz Kurek, may not be unimaginable. And most importantly, despite his great popularity, Fornal consistently proves on the pitch that he is one of the best in his field.