The most famous scandal in the Polish national team at the Olympics. The truth came to light

Without a doubt, it was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, upsets in the context of the participation of the Polish national team in the 2026 Winter Olympics. After her performance over a distance of 500 meters, speed skater Andżelika Wójcik decided to shock public opinion.

The Pole stated that she could not count on optimal conditions for preparations for Winter Olympics 2026. On the contrary, the representative was to be deprived of even a coach during the pre-Olympic season.

Kaja Ziomek-Nogal about the scandal with Andżelika Wójcik. There were honest words about the scandal

We didn’t have to wait long for a reaction from the Polish Speed ​​Skating Association. The president himself, as well as the director and head of the Polish Olympic mission, responded. On the other hand, Wójcik’s perspective on the problems was completely different.

However, there is a lot of uproar around the Polish national team at Winter Olympics 2026. More than about the results, there was talk in the country about where to look for the truth in the confrontation between the words of the Panchenist and the Panchen union.

Her colleague from the national team spoke out about this loud scandal, caused by Wójcik’s words. Moreover, Kaja Ziomek-Nogal, riding the same distance at Winter Olympics 2026.

Could this be the truth of all this Olympic fuss?

– I was completely shocked by her statement. Honestly, I’m just embarrassed by what she said. I have known Andżelika all my life, we trained together in many groups, with various trainers. Starting with the coach of the sprint group, Finn Tuomas Nieminen, it’s an oasis of peace… and yet Andżelika conflicted even with him. She regularly separated herself from the group and tried to do things her own way, differently from what the coach ordered. Later she had a conflict with coach Wasio. She has always been a great individualist, she never wanted to be on the same wavelength as us, spend time with the group, or hang out with us outside of training. We were in text messages together, and she wasn’t able to establish relationships with a larger group of people there either. Nobody removed Andżelika from the team, she did it herself. I have the impression that she planned her manifesto on TV before the start. At that point, we should focus on starts and results. I’m sorry because her statement overshadowed the successes we achieved at these games – admitted Ziomek-Nogal in an interview with Mateusz Skwierawski from WP/SportoweFakty.

Ziomek-Nogal took 6th place in the 500 meters, improving her best Olympic result in her career. The speed skater was 0.12 seconds short of the podium.

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, speed skating finally brought Poland one silver medal.

Winter Winter 2026: Four Olympic medals for the Polish team

The Games on the Apennine Peninsula were quite successful for the Polish team. Looking at the medal achievements, this is the best performance of the Olympic team in red and white colors in over 12 years.

Medals for the Polish national team during the 2026 Winter Olympics were won mainly by ski jumpers. One of them, a 19-year-old Olympic debutant – Kacper Tomasiak – won three of them. The leader of coach Maciej Maciusiak’s team was silver on the normal hill, bronze on the large hill in Predazzo and again the Olympic vice-champion in the duet competition. In the latter case, Paweł Wąsek formed a two-person team with Tomasiak.

We also cannot forget about the first medal for Polish men at the Winter Olympics since 2014. Vladimir Semirunniy reached for it. “Władek” became the Olympic vice-champion in the 10 km distance.

In its history of participation in the Winter Olympics, the Polish team has won a total of 27 medals – seven gold, ten silver and ten bronze, respectively. Interestingly, the first bronze medal for Poland was won by Franciszek Gąsienica-Groń (Nordic combined) almost exactly 70 years ago, during the Olympic Games in… Cortina d’Ampezzo. This year, history has come full circle in a beautiful Italian-Polish Olympic circle.

Speaking of history, another special story happened during Winter Olympics 2026. Namely, Klaudia Adamek was the first in the history of Polish Olympism to take part in both the summer and winter games. A former athlete and participant of the Olympic Games in Tokyo (2021) in the 4×100 meters relay, she completed the Olympic set by starting in Italy (2026) in the bobsled doubles.