It’s a terrible day for the Polish Olympic medalist. “My heart is breaking”
Maria Andrejczyk will not be in the javelin final at the European Championship 2026. The Pole achieved a very poor result in the qualifying round and was eliminated from the competition in Birmingham.
Very weak, so what? Exactly 55.21 meters. A place in the European Championship 2026 final resulted in a result of 56.90 m.
The Olympic vice-champion from the Games in Tokyo (2021) couldn’t believe for a long time what happened during the qualifying rounds on Friday (i.e. August 14). Andrejczyk took a distant, only 18th place, recording a disastrous performance. One of the worst in the 2026 season, if not the worst… At an event for which the Pole was certainly preparing especially.
– I was consumed by stress. I’m a bit in disbelief at this result. No matter what I say at this point, it just didn’t work out for me at all. It wasn’t me. I feel sad and my heart breaks because I deeply believed that I would qualify for the final (…) I really wanted to go to the European Championships. Maybe too much. There were emotions, and I had seasons when I started and didn’t feel anything. This year I was hungry to throw from the beginning. I knew I had stronger cards, but from start to start it looked worse and worse and I can’t answer why – said the Polish javelin thrower in front of the TVP Sport camera.
Let us remember that when Andrejczyk won the Olympic medal five years ago, she threw 64.61 m.
The last European Championship, the one from 2024 in Rome? Also a defeat, but in the final. The Pole took 10th place with a result of 58.29 m.
It is worth adding that another Polish woman, Małgorzata Maślak-Glugla, will perform in the European Championship 2026 javelin throw final. With a result of 58.14 m she took 9th place.
Athletics European Championship for the Polish national team. In two years in Chorzów!
The Polish athletics team has been participating in the Old Continent championship since its first edition. That is, since 1934, when the competition was held at the Mussolini stadium in Turin.
Only men took part in the competition held in 1934. However, the first championship for women was held in 1938 in Vienna, and both sexes have been competing together since the event in Oslo in 1946.
How have Polish women and men presented themselves over the years? The most medals, as many as 10, were won by the late legend – Irena Szewińska – in sprinting and long jump. Second in this respect is Anita Włodarczyk (hammer throw), with five medals (four gold and one bronze).
Interestingly, the two best performances (in terms of medals won) in the history of athletics were recorded by ME Poland… exactly 60 years ago – during the event in Budapest (1966) and just four years ago, at the event in Munich (2022). There were 15 medals won on Hungarian soil, and in the capital of Bavaria the Polish national team had a total of 14 medals.
And in just two years, the European Athletics Championships will be held in Chorzów, at the legendary Silesian Stadium.
The European Athletics Championship 2026 will last until Sunday (i.e. August 16) inclusive. Broadcasts from the event can be followed on TVP1, TVP2 and TVP Sport.
