Bartosz Kamil Kurek (born 29 August 1988) is a Polish professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. He is a member of the Poland national team, a participant in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

(

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

Tokyo 2020 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

), 2018 World Champion, 2009 European Champion, and the 2012 World League winner. In 2019, he became the first ever volleyball player to be voted the

Polish Sports Personality of the Year The Polish Sports Personality of the Year ( Polish: ''Plebiscyt Przeglądu Sportowego na najlepszego polskiego sportowca roku'') is chosen annually since 1926 by the readers of the newspaper ''Przegląd Sportowy'', which makes it the second oldest ...

. At the professional club level, he plays for Wolfdogs Nagoya. Bartosz Kurek (6203589096)

Personal life

Bartosz Kurek was born in

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of W ...

, but raised in

Nysa Nysa may refer to: Greek Mythology * Nysa (mythology) or Nyseion, the mountainous region or mount (various traditional locations), where nymphs raised the young god Dionysus * Nysiads, nymphs of Mount Nysa who cared for and taught the infant ...

. His father, Adam Kurek, was also a

player. Kurek played basketball in his early youth, but later decided to choose volleyball. He has a younger brother – Jakub. Kurek is married to Anna Grejman.

Career

Clubs

Kurek began his career in a team from

(2004–2005), where he played alongside his father. He spent the next 3 years playing for a PlusLiga club,

ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, officially known for sponsorship reasons as Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, is a professional men's volleyball club based in Kędzierzyn-Koźle in southern Poland, founded in 1994. They compete in the Polish PlusL ...

(2005–2008). In 2008, he moved to PGE Skra Bełchatów, one of the most successful teams in PlusLiga, where he quickly became a key player. With Skra, he won the Polish Championship three times: in 2009, 2010 and 2011. On the international stage, he won two Club World Championship silver medals, in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, and a bronze medal of the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

in 2010. On 18 March 2012, they won a silver medal of the

after losing to

Zenit Kazan VC Zenit-Kazan (russian: Зенит-Казань), until 2008 known as Dinamo Tattransgaz Kazan (russian: Динамо-Таттрансгаз), is a professional men's volleyball team based in Kazan, Russia. It plays in the Russian Volleyball Sup ...

in the final held in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Kurek received an individual award for the ''Best Spiker'' of the tournament. After the

2011–12 PlusLiga The 2011–12 PlusLiga was the 76th season of the PlusLiga, Polish Volleyball Championship, the 12th season as a professional league organized by the Professional Volleyball League SA ( pl, Profesjonalna Liga Piłki Siatkowej SA) under the superv ...

season, Kurek left PGE Skra Bełchatów, and signed a contract with the Russian team,

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

, however, due to injury, he was unable to play for his new team for a large part of the season. After one season in Russia, Kurek moved to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

club Lube Banca Macerata. In 2014, they won the Italian Championship, beating

Sir Safety Perugia Sir Safety Umbria Volley is a professional Italian volleyball club based in Perugia. It plays in the highest level of the Italian Volleyball League. In the Italian Volleyball League, the team is known as Sir Safety Susa Perugia, while in the inter ...

in the final. On 15 October 2014, Lube, including Kurek, won the Italian Super Cup, beating Copra Elior Piacenza (3–2). On 4 May 2015, Kurek signed a contract with

Asseco Resovia Resovia, officially known for sponsorship reasons as Asseco Resovia, is a professional men's volleyball club based in Rzeszów in southeastern Poland, founded in 1937. They compete in the Polish PlusLiga. The club has won seven PlusLiga, Polish ...

. After winning a silver medal of the Polish Championship in 2016, he left Resovia and signed a contract with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese club

JT Thunders is a men's volleyball team based in Hiroshima city, Hiroshima, Japan. It plays in V.Premier League. The owner of the club is Japan Tobacco. History The club was founded in 1931 as a club of the Ministry of Finance Japan Hiroshima Monopoly ...

. On 2 October 2016, he announced suspending his sports career due to physical and mental fatigue. At the same time, he terminated the contract with

. In September, he moved back to his former club – PGE Skra Bełchatów. In 2018, Kurek joined Polish club Stocznia Szczecin. On 29 November 2018, due to club's financial problems, Kurek terminated his contract with Stocznia. On 6 December 2018, he joined ONICO Warszawa after leaving Stocznia Szczecin a few days earlier.

National team

Kurek was a part of the Polish national volleyball team which won a gold medal at the 2009 European Championship held in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. On 14 September 2009, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta. The Order was conferred on the following day by the Prime Minister of Poland,

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic Pla ...

. On 10 July 2011, Kurek, alongside his national team, won the Poland's first medal of the World League. They won a bronze medal after defeating

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Kurek received an individual award for the ''Best Scorer'' of the final tournament. In the same year, Poland took part in the European Championship, where they were the defending champions. Kurek was his team's key player throughout the whole tournament in which the Polish national team won a second medal in 2011 after winning the match for third place against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. At the same tournament, Kurek was awarded with his second individual award in 2011, for the ''Best Server'' of the tournament. In November 2011, despite a back injury, Kurek went to Japan to participate at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, and helped his team win a silver medal and therefore qualify for the

. On 8 July 2012, the Polish team won a gold medal of the World League. Kurek received an award for the ''Most Valuable Player''. Kurek was one of the key players of the Polish team at the

(

), but nonetheless Poland lost in the quarterfinal to

, and was eliminated from the tournament. In 2014, he was a member of the Polish national team during the 2015 European Championship qualification. He was not included in the Polish national team for the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in

. After a one year break, he came back to the national team on 28 May 2015 during the first match of intercontinental round of the World League against

(3–0). He was a top scorer of the match (15 points). On 30 September 2018, Poland achieved its third title of the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Poland beat Brazil in the final (3–0), and defended the title from 2014. Kurek received an individual award for the ''Most Valuable Player'' of the tournament.

Honours

Clubs

2011/2012 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów * FIVB Club World Championship ** Silver medal world centered-2

Doha 2009 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** Silver medal world centered-2

Doha 2010 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów *

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 it was renamed CE ...

2017/2018 – with Ziraat Bankası Ankara * National championships ** 2008/2009 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2008/2009 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2009/2010 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010/2011 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010/2011 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2011/2012 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2013/2014 Gold medal with cup

Italian Championship, with Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata ** 2014/2015 Simple gold cup

Italian SuperCup, with Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia ** 2021/2022 Simple gold cup

Emperor's Cup, with Wolfdogs Nagoya

Youth national team

* 2005

CEV U19 European Championship

Individual awards

* 2005: CEV U19 European Championship – Best Spiker * 2009: FIVB Club World Championship – Best Scorer * 2011: Polish Cup – Best Spiker * 2011:

FIVB World League The FIVB Volleyball World League was an annual international men's volleyball competition. Created in 1990, it was the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The wom ...

– Best Scorer * 2011: CEV European Championship – Best Server * 2012:

– Best Spiker * 2012:

– Most Valuable Player * 2018: FIVB World Championship – Most Valuable Player * 2018: CEV Male Volleyball Player of the Year * 2019: Polish Sports Personality of the Year 2018 * 2021: FIVB Nations League – Most Valuable Player (shared with

Wallace de Souza Wallace Leandro de Souza (born 26 June 1987), known by the mononym Wallace, is a Brazilian volleyball player, member of the Brazil men's national volleyball team, 2016 Olympic Champion, silver medallist of the Olympic Games (London 2012), 201 ...

) * 2021: FIVB Nations League – Best Opposite Spiker * 2021: Emperor's Cup – Most Valuable Player * 2022: FIVB World Championship – Best Opposite Spiker

State awards

* 2009:

Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta * 2018: POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR

Officer's Cross of Polonia Restituta

References

External links

* * *
Player profile
at ''LegaVolley.it''
Player profile
at ''PlusLiga.pl''
Player profile
at ''Volleybox.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurek, Bartosz 1988 births Living people People from Wałbrzych Polish men's volleyball players Polish Champions of men's volleyball Italian Champions of men's volleyball Olympic volleyball players of Poland Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate volleyball players in Russia Polish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate volleyball players in Italy Polish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate volleyball players in Turkey Polish expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate volleyball players in Japan Stal Nysa players ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle players Skra Bełchatów players Volley Lube players Resovia (volleyball) players Ziraat Bankası volleyball players Projekt Warsaw players Outside hitters Opposite hitters