Marika Popowicz-Drapała (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 April 1988) is a Polish

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

sprinter. She won bronze medals in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

at the 2009 European Under-23 Championships. Popowicz-Drapała earned several major medals as part of Poland's women's relays (mostly

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

s). She earned 15 individual Polish national titles.

Personal life

Marika Popowicz-Drapała was born 28 April 1988 in Gniezno, Poland. She is married to a former sprinter, Radosław Drapała.

Career

2005 to 2008

Popowicz-Drapała made her first major appearances in 2005, finishing in sixth place in the

at the

2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics were held in Marrakesh, Morocco on July 13–July 17. The host stadium was Stade Sidi Youssef Ben Ali. The boy's 400 metres hurdles event was initially won by Sudan's Abdulagadir Idriss in a time ...

and helping the Polish women's 4×100 metres relay team to a gold medal at the

2005 European Athletics Junior Championships The 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships was the 18th edition of the biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition for European under-20 athletes, which was held in Kaunas, Lithuania on 21–24 July. Medal summary Men Women Medal ...

. She became the Polish junior champion in the

and 200 m in 2006 and went on to reach the semi-finals of both events at the

2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2006 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held from 15 August to 20 August at the Chaoyang Sports Centre in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China. ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She attended the

2007 European Athletics Junior Championships The 19th European Athletics Junior Championships were held between 19 and 22 July 2007 at the FBK-Stadium in Hengelo, in the eastern Netherlands. Medal summary Men Women Medal table See also *2007 in athletics (track and field) ...

and formed part of the relay team which won the bronze medal. She was selected as a back-up runner for the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

, but ultimately did not compete.

2009

Popowicz-Drapała won senior medals for the first time in 2009 at an International Military Sports Council competition: she won the bronze in the 100 m and silver in the 200 m behind Marta Jeschke at the 2009 World Military Track and Field Championship . Representing Poland at the

2009 European Team Championships The first European Athletics Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2009. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008. The Ch ...

, she finished fifth overall in the 100 m. She won a relay silver medal with the Polish team at the

2009 Summer Universiade The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Provin ...

and repeated the feat at the

2009 European Athletics U23 Championships The 7th European Athletics U23 Championships were held between 16 and 19 July 2009 in the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas, Lithuania. Complete results and medal winners were published. Men's results Women's results Medal ta ...

(where she also won bronze medals in the 100 and 200 m events). She was selected for the

at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, but did not start.

2010

At the start of 2010, Popowicz-Drapała took part in the women's 60 metres at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

but was eliminated in the heats stage. She helped promote the

2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw i ...

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

by taking part in a pre-championship

cross country race A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

. She won the bronze medal with the Polish 4 x 100 metres relay at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

, breaking the Polish national record.

Olympic career

She was part of Poland's 4 x 100 m relay teams at the 2012 London,

2016 Rio ) , 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 ...

and

2020 Tokyo Olympics 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 1 ...

. At the 2016 Games, she also competed in the individual 100 metres.

Statistics

International competitions

Personal bests

50 metres 50 metres, or 50-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a relatively uncommon non-championship event for indoor track and field, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor athletics competitions it is ...

indoor – 6.33+ (

Spała Spała is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Inowłódz, within Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies on the Pilica River, approximately west of Inowłódz, east of Tomaszów Mazowiecki, and ...

2011) :* 60 metres indoor – 7.20 (

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

2016) *

– 11.28 (

2015) ** 100 metres indoor – 11.91 (

Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is No ...

2015) *

– 23.15 (

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

2009) ** 200 metres indoor – 23.54 (

2023)

National titles

Polish Athletics Championships The Polish Athletics Championships ( pl, Mistrzostwa Polski seniorów w lekkoatletyce) is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Polish Athletic Association (PZLA), which serves as the Polish national championship for the sp ...

: 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 **

: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 **

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

: 2019, 2022 *

Polish Indoor Athletics Championships The Polish Indoor Athletics Championships ( pl, Halowe mistrzostwa Polski seniorów w lekkoatletyce) is an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Polish Athletic Association, which serves as the national championship for the spo ...

** 60 metres: 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2020 ** 200 metres: 2010, 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popowicz-Drapała, Marika 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Gniezno Polish female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Poland European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes from Greater Poland Voivodeship Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Zawisza Bydgoszcz athletes FISU World University Games silver medalists for Poland FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Poland Olympic female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games European Games silver medalists for Poland European Games medalists in athletics 21st-century Polish sportswomen