Sport in Poland

Poland has made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob, Jaroslaw Hampel, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Maciej Janowski and Rune Holta.

Baltic beaches and resorts are popular locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking and a broad-range of other water-themed sports.

Polish eventing team won two Summer Olympics medals before WWII, its member Zdzisław Kawecki was murdered in the Katyń massacre.

[2][3] Many Polish champions died during WWII, many of them was murdered by the Nazis: Bronisław Czech, Helena Marusarzówna, Janusz Kusociński, Józef Noji, Dawid Przepiórka.

Football matches were organized in many Nazi camps including Auschwitz, generally between prisoners but allegedly at least once the Sonderkommandos fought against the SS wardens.

[5] Closely related to equestrianism are the mixed pairs sled horse races (kumoterki) organized in the south by the Gorals.

[7] Jewish sport club Hasmonea Lwów played in the Polish Football League and had excellent table tennis players, including Alojzy Ehrlich.

Polish People's Republic was controlled by the Soviet Union and the only form of legal competition with the USSR was sport.

Many Poles believed that Stanisław Królak assaulted Soviet cyclists with his bicycle pump during 1956 Peace Race.

Hubert Jerzy Wagner known as a "Kat" Executioner was a successful coach, his team won Gold medal the 1976 Olympics.

The Polish Men National Volleyball Team had achieved 14 medals from international competitions since 1965, it has also won the recent 2012 FIVB World League winning 3–0 over the US in the final.

[22][23][24] In the 1960s, the national team belonged to the world elite as it won silver at the 1963 European Basketball Championship and bronze at the 1965 and 1967 event.

Poland returned to the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2019 which will be held in China their first match in the event will face off against Venezuela on opening day on 31 August 2019 in Beijing at the Cadillac Arena.

Since 2000, basketball in Poland went through a revival and has been home to several NBA players, including Marcin Gortat, Maciej Lampe, Cezary Trybański and Jeremy Sochan.

The Polska Hokej Liga (polish – Ekstraliga w hokeju na lodzie) is the premier ice hockey league in Poland.

Poland has managed to produce some NHL calibre talent including Mariusz Czerkawski with the New York Islanders, Peter Sidorkiewicz for both the Hartford Whalers and the Ottawa Senators, and Krzysztof Oliwa for the New Jersey Devils where he won a Stanley Cup in 1999–2000.

For a poor turnout Polski Związek Motorowy (PZM) rallies have lost rank, but they are still popular in Poland.

Poland ranks fifth all-time in modern pentathlon, seventh in athletics, and has also been successful in weightlifting, martial arts and Nordic skiing.

Justyna Kowalczyk (born 19 January 1983 in Limanowa, Poland) is a Polish cross country skier who has been competing since 2000.

Adam Małysz, ski jumper (born 3 December 1977 in Wisła, Poland) – Małysz won four Olympic medals (3 silver, 1 bronze) at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and has won the World Championships for 4 times, and got 1 silver and bronze medal.

He has also won an incredible 39 World Cup competitions, which gives him third place on the all-time list, behind Austria's Gregor Schlierenzauer (52) and Finland's Matti Nykänen (46).

He is one of the three men that won the World's Strongest Man title (in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2008) near Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Magnus Ver Magnusson.

During his stay with Feyenoord he also received the league's highest goalkeeping honors, winning the Dutch Keeper of the Year Award twice (1998–99, 1999–2000.

Throughout his 14-year NHL career, Czerkawski played for the Boston Bruins (1993–96, 2005–06), Edmonton Oilers (1996–97), New York Islanders (1997–2002, 2003–04) Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (2005–06).

Oliwa has also played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames.

Robert Kubica scored his first victory in Formula 1 at 2008 Canadian Grand Prix (it was also the first win for the BMW Sauber team).

[29] The year after he was promoted up to the main seat, with a full time contract with Williams for the 2019 season,[30] unfortunately the car was the slowest of the field and he was not renewed for 2020.

He has finished in the top ten of the Speedway Grand Prix 15 times, including his best performance in 2010 when he captured first place.

Alan Kulwicki (14 December 1954 – 1 April 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Joanna Jędrzejczyk (born 18 August 1987), is a mixed martial artist who competes in the women's strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.