Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Mrocza, POL |
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
Zawisza Bydgoszcz: Poland |
Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
Sports Management - Bydgoszcz School of Economy: Poland |
General Interest |
Hobbies |
Speedway, wrestling, cars. (wypracujmysukces.pl, 24 Mar 2016; Facebook profile, 08 Apr 2014) |
Most influential person in career |
Coach Ireneusz Chelmowski. (tvp.pl, 01 Nov 2012) |
Sport Specific Information |
Name of coach |
Piotr Wysocki [club], POL; Ryszard Socko [national], POL |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
He began training in the gym at age seven and decided to take weightlifting seriously at age 16. |
General Interest |
Other information |
LOSS OF COACH In July 2011 his coach Ireneusz Chelmowski died at age 38. "He was my mentor, my coach and my friend. He treated me like a son." (tvp.pl, 01 Nov 2012)
HOUSTON 2015 He originally came fifth in the -94kg total category at the 2015 World Championships in Houston, United States of America, however, silver and bronze medallists from Kazakhstan, Almas Uteshov and Zhassulan Kydyrbayev, as well as fourth placed Aleksandr Venskel from Belarus, were all later disqualified due to anti-doping violations. (sport.pl, 26 Dec 2015; przegladsportowy.pl, 25 Dec 2015)
WORK FOR SUCCESS He has launched a project called 'Work For Success' ['wypracujMysukces'] where any company that supports him on his way to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will also get him to work for them for one day after he returns from Rio de Janeiro. He will visit every company and work there for a day, and record and publish pictures and notes of the occasion on social media and on his personal website. "It will be interesting experience. I have never had a main sponsor, and I've always worked hard for all my successes. That's why I really appreciate support from each company. To be honest, I'm very curious how I get by with new roles." (wypracujmysukces.pl, 24 Mar 2016) |
Injuries |
In December 2015 he underwent a surgery for a patellar ligament injury. (sport.interia.pl, 06 Dec 2015)
In January 2013 he tore a tendon in his left quadriceps and was forced to undergo surgery. He returned to training in May 2013. (gwizdek24.se.pl, 22 May 2013) |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Winning gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and at the 2010 World Championships in Antalya, Turkey. (sport.tvp.pl, 19 Oct 2013) |
Famous relatives |
His brother Tomasz has represented Poland in weightlifting and his fiancee Iwona Kepa has also competed internationally for Poland in weightlifting. (tvp.pl, 13 Apr 2014; Facebook profile, 12 Oct 2015; sportowy-ciechanow.pl, 23 Jun 2015) |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
"There are only two sports in my town, weightlifting and football. I've never been interested in football." |
General Interest |
Awards and honours |
In 2013 he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. (thenews.pl, 10 Jun 2013) |
Further Personal Information |
Languages |
Polish |
General Interest |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"Go hard or go home." (Facebook page, 02 Mar 2016) |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete |
Family |
Engaged to Iwona Kepa |