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Polish Para-Olympians
By Kasia Maciorowska
Natalia Partyka
Natalia Partyka (born June 27, 1989) is a Polish
table tennis player. Born without a right hand and
forearm, she participates in competitions for able-
bodied athletes as well as in competitions for
athletes with disabilities.
Partyka won her first international table tennis
medal in 1999, at the disabled World
Championships. She competed at the 2000
Summer Paralympics in Sydney. In 2004, she won
a gold medal in the singles event and a silver in
the team event at the Athens Paralympics. She
also won two gold medals that year at the
European Championships for Cadets, organised
by the International Table Tennis Federation
(ITTF). The latter competition was intended for
able-bodied competitors.
In 2006, Partyka won three gold medals at the European Paralympic
Championships, one gold and two silver at the International Paralympic
Committee's Table Tennis World Championships for Disabled, and a silver in the
team event at the ITTF European Junior Championship. She won two silver
medals and one bronze at the 2007 edition of the latter competition. Also in 2007,
Partyka won three gold medals at the European Paralympic Championships, and a
bronze at the ITTF World Junior Teams Championships.
She competed in both the
2008 Summer Olympics and
the 2008 Summer
Paralympics in Beijing - one
of only two athletes to do so,
the other being Natalie du
Toit in swimming. They
were her third Paralympic
Games, and her first
Olympics. Competing in
class 10 at the Beijing
Paralympics, she won gold
by defeating China's Fan Lei
by three sets to nil.
Malgorzata Olejnik
Małgorzata Olejnik (born June 3, 1966 in Kielce)
is a Polish politician. She was elected to Sejm on
September 25, 2005 getting 12398 votes in 33
Kielce district, candidating from Samoobrona
Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej list.
Olejnik, who uses a wheelchair, is also an
accomplished archer and has represented Poland
at the Paralympic Games. She won a gold medal
at the 1996 games in Atlanta, a silver in 2000 in
Sydney, and a bronze in 2004 in Athens. At the
2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, she
competed in the women's individual recurve
standing event. She won her first two matches and
lost her third in the semifinal. She advanced to the
bronze medal match but lost to Lindsey
Carmichael of the United States and finished in
fourth place.
Miroslaw Pych
Miroslaw Pych is a Paralympian athlete from Poland competing mainly in
category P12 pentathlon events.
He competed in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain. There he
won a gold medal in the men's Pentathlon - B2 event, a bronze medal in the men's
100 metres - B2 event and finished
fourth in the men's Javelin throw -
B2 event. He also competed at the
1996 Summer Paralympics in
Atlanta, United States. There he
won a gold medal in the men's
Pentathlon - P11 event, a gold
medal in the men's Javelin throw -
F11 event, a silver medal in the
men's 100 metres - T11 event and
finished eighth in the men's Long
jump - F11 event.
He also competed at the 2000
Summer Paralympics in
Sydney, Australia. There he
won a gold medal in the
men's Pentathlon - P12 event
and a gold medal in the
men's Javelin throw - F12
event. He also competed in
the 2004 Summer
Paralympics in Athens,
Greece. There he won a
silver medal in the men's
Javelin throw - F12 event
and did not finish in the
men's Pentathlon - P13 event.
He also competed at the 2008
Summer Paralympics in
Beijing, China. There he won
a bronze medal in the men's
Javelin throw - F11-12 event.
Alicja Fiodorow
Alicja Fiodorow is a Paralympian athlete from Poland competing mainly in
category T46 sprint events.
She competed in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. There she
won a bronze medal in the women's 400 metres - T46 event, finished fourth in the
women's 100 metres - T46 event and finished fourth in the women's 200 metres -
T46 event There she won a silver medal in the women's 200 metres - T46 event
and a bronze medal in the women's 100 metres - T46 event
Katarzyna Rogowiec
Katarzyna Rogowiec (born 14 October
1977) is a Polish Paralympian. She won
two gold medals at the 2006 Winter
Paralympics in Turin in cross-country
skiing, and also competes at the highest
levels in biathlon (current World
Champion).
Rogowiec hails from the Polish mountain
folk (Polish: górale). She was born in
Rabka-Zdrój, Poland. She is an economist
by training, and lives in Kraków, while
training in Nowy Sącz.
She has won three silver medals at the
2003 World Championships, and is the
reigning World Champion in biathlon in
12,5 km Individual from the 2005 World
Championships.
When she was a three-year-old child, she suffered a debilitating accident at
harvest, when a harvesting machine cut off both of her hands. She says that she
does not remember any of that, except for hearing it through her parents' tales.
She grew up and learned to eat and drink without the use of hands.
For her sport achievements, she received Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia
Restituta (5th Class) in 2006.
. ‘
Marcin Awizen
Marcin Awiżeń is a
Paralympian athlete
from Poland competing
mainly in category T46
middle distance events.
He competed in the
2008 Summer
Paralympics in Beijing,
China. There he won a
gold medal in the men's
800 metres - T46 event
and finished fourth in
the men's 1500 metres -
T46 event
