Mateusz Michalski (born 29 August 1987) is a visually impaired sprinter from
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 populou ...
.
[Mateusz Michalski]
. rio2016.com He competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and won a gold in the 200 metres and a silver in the 100 metres in 2012. His time of 21.56 s in the 200 m set a new world record.
Career history
Michalski was born in
Września
Września (german: Wreschen) is a town in west-central Poland with 28,600 inhabitants (1995). It is situated in the Września County, Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Poznań Voivodeship (1975–1998), on the Wrześnica R ...
, Poland in 1987. He is visually impaired, and describes his vision as being about ten percent.
He took up athletics at the age of 16, after a coach at his school introduced him to the sport.
In 2008, Michalski travelled to Beijing as part of the Polish team to compete in the
Summer Paralympics. At the games he competed in both
100m
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
200m sprint events. In the 100m Michalski progressed through the first round, but finished 9th in the semifinal, failing to reach the finals. In the 200m he reached the finals, finishing eighth in a time of 22.75 seconds.
Michalski's first major international success came at the
2011 IPC Athletics World Championships
The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Ove1000 athlet ...
in Christchurch, New Zealand. There he won both the 100m and 200m gold in the T12 category.
The next year he competed in the
2012 IPC Athletics European Championships
The 2012 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe. It was held in Stadskanaal, Netherlands and lasted ...
in Stadskanaal, racing in the
100m
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 ...
– T12. In the final he beat Russia's
Fedor Trikolich to take the European title. Two months later he competed at the
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
in London. In the
100m
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 ...
Michalski progressed through to the finals, but was beaten into second place by Trikoli. In the
200m he was placed into qualifier Heat 3 alongside Trikoli. In the heat he recorded a season's best of 22.13 to go through to the semi-finals in first place. Trikoli also qualified after recording a personal best, going through to the semis as one of the fastest losers. The two rivals met again in the semifinals in heat 2. Michalski recorded another season's beat with an improved time of 22.09, but this was not enough to beat Trikoli who produced another personal best to finish in 21.94. Michalski's time saw him qualify through to the final in the only fastest loser's position at the expense of
Yang Yuqing of China, who recorded a time of 22.30 in the first heat. The final, held on 8 September, saw Michalski run the 200m in a time of 21.56 setting a new world record, leaving Trikoli with the silver.
His achievements in London saw Michalski named Disabled Athlete of the year at the 2013
Polish Sportspersonality 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 oldes ...
on 11 January.
Awards and honours
He received the
Cross of Merit from the president of Poland in 2013.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michalski, Mateusz
1987 births
Living people
People from Września
Polish male sprinters
Paralympic athletes for Poland
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Paralympic gold medalists for Poland
Paralympic silver medalists for Poland
World record holders in para-athletics
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Athletes from Greater Poland Voivodeship
Recipients of the Cross of Merit (Poland)
Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships
Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships
Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
Paralympic sprinters
Visually impaired sprinters