Michał Pietrzak (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 April 1989) is a retired Polish athlete who specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

and

400 metres 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 a ...

. He won two medals in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

Personal life

Pietrzak was born on 3 April 1989 in

Łęczyca Łęczyca (; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, pl, Królewskie Miasto Łęczyca; german: Lentschitza; he, לונטשיץ) is a town of 13,786 inhabitants () in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the ...

. His parents, Waldemar and Jolanta, are both physical education teachers. He attended the Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

. In 2016, he completed his MA thesis in physical education.

Career

Pietrzak competed in the 4 × 400 m relay event at the

2012 Summer Olympics 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. At the 2013 Indoor European Championships in Gothenburg, his team lost the relay bronze medal due to disqualification; it was judged that one of his teammates had pushed British athlete Richard Buck. Competing in the 4 × 400 m relay, Pietrzak placed fourth at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...

and took the bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. They won silver at the 2016 European Championships in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. In 2016 Pietrzak ran the 400 m in 45.96. He and his teammates qualified to the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

final at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, finishing in 7th place.http://www.olimpijski.pl/Media/files/Sklad_RIO_2016_v_zatwierdzona.pdf

Competition record

References

External links

* *
Michał Pietrzak
at the ''Polski Związek Lekkiej Atletyki'' * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pietrzak, Michal People from Łęczyca Polish male sprinters 1989 births Living people Olympic athletes for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes from Łódź Voivodeship World Athletics Championships athletes for Poland European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Poland Competitors at the 2017 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade 21st-century Polish people