Marek Plawgo (born 25 February 1981 in
Ruda Śląska
Ruda Śląska (formerly ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica River (t ...
) is a Polish athlete. He mainly competes in the
400 meters hurdles
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...
, but he also starts in the
400 meters
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...
and the
4 x 400 meters relay.
Although Plawgo lives in
Bytom
Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital ...
, he represents KS Warszawianka Warszawa. His most important event is the 400 meters hurdles. He is the holder of the national record of Poland with 48.12s. gained during the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. Plawgo also holds the Polish indoor record in the flat 400 meters with his time of 45.39, which was achieved during the 2002 European Indoor Championships in Vienna. He's a multiple-time champion of Poland in the 400 meters hurdles. In this event, the KS Warszawianka athlete finished the national championships first in 2001, 2003 and in the years 2005–2009.
Introduction to the career
Before starting the professional career, in 2000, Plawgo won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Santiago de Chile and finished third with his colleagues from the 4x400 meters relay. Several months later in Osaka, the 19-year-old Pole gained a great time of 48.16s and broke the national record of
Paweł Januszewski (48.17s.). The achievement was repeated by Plawgo in the semi-final of the 2004
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
in Athens.
Career as a senior athlete
At the 2002 European Indoor Championships in Vienna, the Pole was first in the 400 meters and won another gold in the 4x400 meters relay. The line-up of the Polish relay was Plawgo, Piotr Rysiukiewicz, Artur Gąsiewski and
Robert Maćkowiak. One year later, at the European U-23 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Plawgo finished first with a good result of 48.45s.
Quite disappointing for Plawgo could be the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. The sportsman from Bytom was one of the Polish medal hopes. However, the best he could achieve was the 6th place in the Olympic Final. Plawgo was also a member of the Polish 4x400 meters relay (
Piotr Klimczak
Piotr Klimczak (born 18 January 1980, in Nowy Sącz) is a Polish former sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. He represented his country in the 4 × 400 metres relay
The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletic ...
,
Marcin Marciniszyn
Marcin Marciniszyn (born 7 September 1982, in Bystrzyca Kłodzka) is a Polish sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres.
Competition record
Personal bests
Outdoor
* 100 metres – 10.76 s (2012)
* 200 metres – 21.07 s (2011)
* 400 metres – ...
, Plawgo and Rysiukiewicz) which didn't manage to qualify to the final and was classified on the 10th position.
During the 2006 European Championships in Goeteborg, Plawgo won a silver medal in the 400 meters hurdles. His result in the final was 48.71s. One year later, in June, the Pole finished second at the Super League in Munich. Originally, the winner,
Periklís Iakovákis, was disqualified by the judges but later the decision was altered and the Greek remained first.
The World Championships in Osaka
The biggest success of Plawgo in the professional career was achieved in 2007, during the World Championships in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
. The Japanese city, in which he set the national record in 2000, remained lucky for the hurdler and he finished the competitions with two bronze medals. First of them was won, obviously, in the 400 meters hurdles. The Pole was outpaced only by the Dominican legend
Felix Sanchez (silver medal – 48.01s.) and magnificent
Kerron Clement
Kerron Stephon Clement (born October 31, 1985) is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Jo ...
who finished first with 47.61s., establishing the best 2007 result in this event. Plawgo broke his own record of Poland with 48.12s. The Polish 4x400 meters relay was third in the final with 3:00:05, losing to the USA (2:55:56) and Bahamas (2:59:18). The final line-up was Plawgo, Daniel Dąbrowski, Marciniszyn and Kacper Kozłowski.
After the successful 2007
After the championships in Osaka, Plawgo won three meetings. The most valuable victory was the first position at the Golden League meeting in Berlin, with 49.01s. The most successful year in the '81 born sportsman's career was crowned by winning the IAAF World Final in Stuttgart with satisfying 48.36s. Plawgo was granted the prize of the best athlete of September 2007 by the European Association of Athletics. He was classified on the second position by "Track and Fields News" magazine in their ranking of the best 400 meters hurdles runners in 2007 and on the third place in the IAAF world ranking. What's more, Plawgo came 7th in the contest of "
Przegląd Sportowy
''Przegląd Sportowy'' (, ''Sports Review'') is the oldest and now the only Polish sports daily, founded in 1921 in Kraków. In 1926 it initiated an annual, popular plebiscite for the Polish Sportspersonality of the Year. Its current editor-in-chie ...
" (the only sport daily newspaper in Poland) and was the winner of "Złote Kolce" contest in 2007.
Before the
2008 Summer Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...
in Beijing, Plawgo became a medal hope of Polish fans again. Unfortunately, several weeks before the Olympic Games beginning, the Polish athlete caught an injury of his foot, which complicated his preparations to the most significant competitions of the season. Nevertheless, Plawgo made a good impression in Beijing. He repeated his '2004 performance and finished 6th with 48.52s.
Competition record
See also
*
Polish records in athletics
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plawgo, Marek
1981 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Ruda Śląska
Athletes from Silesian Voivodeship
Polish male hurdlers
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for Poland
World Athletics Championships athletes for Poland
World Athletics Championships medalists
European Athletics Championships medalists
World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists
21st-century Polish people