Saleta about health problems: Spine surgery, COVID, stroke. Sports got me out of it

I want to encourage young people especially to take responsibility for their lives. Of course, you can sit and complain that you can’t do this, you can’t do that. Coming from a small town where there were no martial arts and entering the training room only at the age of 19, I had theoretically zero chance of achieving success. But I put a lot into it, first on my own, and then during real training sessions, and success came quite quickly – says Przemysław Saleta.

Przemysław Saleta – one of the most recognizable Polish boxers and kickboxers, European heavyweight champion, an athlete who went from the professional ring to the role of a media personality. He started his career in kickboxing, winning world champion titles, and then successfully fought in professional boxing. Privately, the father of two daughters. His gesture, donating a kidney to his sick daughter, became one of the loudest and most moving in Polish media life. Today, he engages in charity activities and inspires others to – as he says – “live in harmony with yourself, not with the expectations of others.”

Andrzej Kwaśniewski: A book and a great interview with Przemysław Saleta are on the market. Isn’t it too early for such summaries?

Przemysław Saleta: This is not a summary. That’s why, when Aldona Sosnowska-Szczuka asked me to write a book, I was initially reluctant to agree. I am a person who focuses on the present. I don’t think too far into the future, and the past is behind me, I’ve already thought about it. That’s why I didn’t really want to agree to writing a biographical book. Especially since I don’t think I particularly deserve it.

However, after reflection, I decided that, even for the sake of my children, it would be worth writing a book that would have some motivational value, because I am happy with what I have done, where I am, what I am like and that I live my life according to my own script. I thought I could tell such a story.

So what is this book about?

The conversation revolves around my professional and private life, but more in the context of how I dealt with various problems, and I coped to a large extent thanks to what sport taught me. Summa summarum, the main theme is what practicing sports has taught me, how it is useful to me not only in my professional life, but also in my private life.

Is this related in your case?

I’m such a traditionalist in this respect, old-school. For me, sport is, of course, sports competition, but it is also about many other values, such as respect for the opponent and the ability to acknowledge defeat. This is a sport, someone has to win, someone has to lose, it’s hard to blame someone for beating you when you have the same chance to win.

Sport taught me that it’s not about winning, but that both in sport and in life it’s about having dreams, having a goal and doing your best to achieve it. I think it’s worth having this awareness, no matter what we do. There will always be someone in the world who is better at this particular thing than you.