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Natalia Partyka
Natalia Partyka
Personal information
Full name	Natalia Dorota Partyka
Nationality	Poland
Born	27 July 1989 (age 35); Gdańsk, Poland
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Highest ranking	1 (November 2018; Para); 48 (May 2010; Able-bodied)
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing Poland ;
Paralympic Games
World Para Table Tennis Championships
European Para Table Tennis Championships
European Championships
European Games

Natalia Dorota Partyka (born 27 July 1989)^[3] is a Polish para table tennis player. Born without a right hand and forearm, she participates in competitions for able-bodied athletes^[4] as well as in competitions for athletes with disabilities. Partyka reached the last 32 of the London 2012 Olympic women's table tennis.

Early life

Partyka began playing table tennis at the age of one to seven years. She won her first international table tennis medal in 1999 at the disabled World Championships. At the age of 11, when she competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, she became the world's youngest ever Paralympian. In 2004, she won a gold medal in the singles event and silver in the team event at the Athens Paralympics. Also in 2004, she won two gold medals at the International Table Tennis Federation's European Championships for Cadets, which was open to able-bodied competitors. In 2006, Partyka won three gold medals at the European Paralympic Championships, one gold and two silvers 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 also won two silver medals and one bronze at the 2007 edition of that competition. Also in 2007, Partyka won three gold medals at the European Paralympic Championships, and a bronze at the ITTF World Junior Teams Championships.^[5]

Olympics and Paralympics performance

Partyka competed for Poland 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

In 2008, she won a gold medal in the singles event and a silver in the team event at the Beijing Paralympics, repeating her Athens Paralympics result.

She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. In the Olympics, she competed in women's singles table tennis.^[7] On 3 September 2012 Partyka defeated China's Qiang Yang 3–2 in the gold medal match to become Paralympic champion. On 8 September 2012 she won bronze in the women's team class 6–10, after defeating France 3–2.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics she competed in the women's team event and later won her fourth consecutive Paralympic singles gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.^[8]^[9]

Awards and recognitions

For her sport achievements, Partyka received:
Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (5th class) in 2008
Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (4th class) in 2013

References

^ ^a ^b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Natalia Partyka". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ "Partyka Natalia". Table Tennis Guide. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
^ "Athens 2004 Paralympic Games - Table Tennis - Official Results Book". ipc-services.org. International Paralympic Committee. 19 September 2004.
^ "PARTYKA Natalia (POL)". International Table Tennis Federation.
^ ^a ^b "Natalia: Paralympic AND Olympic athlete". London 2012. 18 June 2008. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
^ "Natalia Partyka: Pole apart". China Daily. 11 September 2008.
^ "The disabled Olympians ... not Paralympians". BBC Blogs. 2 August 2012.
^ "Natalia Partyka". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Natalia Partyka". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 26 July 2021.