Natalia Kaczmarek

Natalia Kaczmarek
Kaczmarek at the Polish Athletics Championships in 2021
Kaczmarek at the Polish Athletics Championships in 2021
Personal information
Born (1998-01-17) 17 January 1998 (age 26)
Drezdenko, Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland[1]
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Sport
CountryPoland
SportTrack and field
EventSprints
ClubKS Podlasie Białystok
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Poland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 4×400 m mixed
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 4×400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris 400 m
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Budapest 400 m
World Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Birmingham 4×400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Belgrade 4×400 m relay
World Relays
Silver medal – second place 2021 Chorzów 4×400 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2024 Nassau 4×400 m relay
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Berlin 4×400 m relay
Gold medal – first place 2024 Rome 400 m
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich 400 m
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich 4×400 m relay
European Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Toruń 4×400 m relay
European Games
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kraków-Małopolska 400 m
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kraków-Małopolska 4×400 m mixed
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Gävle 400 m
Gold medal – first place 2019 Gävle 4×400 m relay

Natalia Kaczmarek (born 17 January 1998)[3] is a Polish sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She is the 2024 European champion as well as the European silver medalist from 2022. She also won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Kaczmarek earned several global medals as part of 4 x 400 m relays, including gold in the mixed event and silver in the women's event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

She was the 400 m 2019 European under-23 champion.

Career

Running in the heats as part of the women's 4 × 400 metres relays, Natalia Kaczmarek won the silver medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships and a gold at the 2018 European Championships.

In the same relay event, she earned the bronze medal at the 2021 European Indoor Championships. In May, she took two gold medals at the European Team Championships, whose Super League events took place in Chorzów, Poland. Besides women's 4x400 metres relay victory she won the individual 400 metres event.

Kaczmarek won two medals at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, a gold with Poland's mixed 4x400 relay team (alongside Karol Zalewski, Justyna Święty-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszyński), and a silver as a member of women's 4×400m relay with Iga Baumgart-Witan, Małgorzata Hołub-Kowalik and Święty-Ersetic.[4][5] Kaczmarek went out of the individual 400m event in the third semi-final in a time of 50.79 seconds.

In May 2022, she won 400m race at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, smashing her previous personal best with a time of 50.16 seconds, the second-fastest mark on the Polish all-time list.[6]

On 6 August 2022, she improved her personal best to 49.86 seconds at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzów, becoming only the second Polish woman after Irena Szewińska to run 400 metres under 50 seconds.[7]

On 15 February 2023, Kaczmarek became the first Polish woman to break the 51-second barrier in the indoor 400 m with a time of 50.90 seconds, finishing second behind only Femke Bol at the prestigious Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin, France.[8]

On 23 August 2023, she competed in the Women's 400 metres event at the 2023 World Athletics Championships achieving 49.57 seconds and winning the silver medal.[9] She became the first Polish athlete to win a medal in this event since Irena Szewińska.[10]

On 10 June 2024, Kaczmarek won the European title in the 400 metres in a time of 48.98 seconds at the European Athletics Championships in Rome. This time broke the long-standing Polish national record of Irena Szewińska, which had stood since 1976.[11]

Personal bests

Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[3]

Individual events

Team events

Competition results

Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[3]

International competitions

Representing  Poland
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time Notes
2015 World Youth Championships Cali, Colombia 9th (sf) 400 m 54.25
5th 4 × 400 m mixed 3:24.64
2016 World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 18th (sf) 400 m 54.32
6th 4 × 400 m relay 3:36.95
2017 European U20 Championships Grosseto, Italy 7th 400 m 54.27
4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:34.48
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 2nd (heats) 4 × 400 m relay i 3:32.07 [n 1]
European Championships Berlin, Germany 1st (heats) 4 × 400 m relay 3:28.52 [n 1]
2019 European U23 Championships Gävle, Sweden 1st 400 m 52.34
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:32.56
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 3rd 4 × 400 m relay i 3:29.94
World Relays Chorzów, Poland 2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:28.81
European Team Championships Super League Chorzów, Poland 1st 400 m 51.36
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:26.37 EL
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 12th (sf) 400 m 50.79
2nd 4×400 m relay 3:20.53 NR
1st 4 × 400 m mixed 3:09.87 OR AR
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 7th (sf) 400 m i 51.87
3rd 4 x 400 m relay i 3:28.59 SB
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 15th (sf) 400 m 51.34
4th 4 × 400 m mixed 3:12.31 SB
European Championships Munich, Germany 2nd 400 m 49.94
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:21.68 SB
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 400 m 49.57
6th 4 × 400 m relay 3:24.93
2024 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 6th (h) 4 x 400 m mixed 3:13.53 [n 2]
2nd 4 x 400 m relay 3:24.71
European Championships Rome, Italy 1st 400 m 48.98 NR
6th 4 x 400 m relay 3:23.91
Olympic Games Paris, France 3rd 400 m 48.98

Notes

  1. ^ a b Time from the heats; Kaczmarek was replaced in the final.
  2. ^ Time from the heats; The Polish team did not start in the final.

References

  1. ^ "Skarb kibica. Igrzyska Olimpijskie Tokio 2020". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). Ringier Axel Springer Poland. 22 July 2021.
  2. ^ "KACZMAREK Natalia". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Natalia KACZMAREK – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. ^ Tennery, Amy (31 July 2021). "Athletics-Poland win first 4x400m mixed relay gold". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  5. ^ Phillips, Mitch (7 August 2021). "Athletics-Eleven medals for Felix as stellar U.S. team take 4x400m glory". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  6. ^ Jess Whittington (31 May 2022). "Bol and Girma break barriers in Ostrava". World Athletics. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Skrzyszowska smashes long-standing European U23 100m hurdles record in Silesia". European Athletics. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. ^ Osiak, Przemysław (15 February 2023). "Historyczny wynik i rekord Polski Natalii Kaczmarek! Znakomite zawody, padł stary rekord świata!". Przegląd Sportowy with Onet (in Polish). Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Athletics: Poland's Kaczmarek wins world silver in women's 400m". polskieradio.pl. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  10. ^ Tomasz Skrzypczyński (24 August 2023). "To on stoi za sukcesem Natalii Kaczmarek. "Gdy ruszyły, stres był ogromny"". wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  11. ^ Jason Henderson (11 June 2024). "Kaczmarek and Adeleke enjoy record-breaking 400m battle". athleticsweekly.com. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
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