Natalia Kaczmarek (born 17 January 1998) is a Polish

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

sprinter who specialises 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 ...

. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2022 European Championships. Kaczmarek earned several global medals as part of 4 x 400 m relays, including gold in the mixed event and silver in the women's event at the

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 ...

. She was the 400 m 2019 European under-23 champion.

Career

Running in the heats as part of the women's 4 × 400 metres relays, Natalia Kaczmarek won the silver medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships and a gold at the 2018 European Championships. In the same relay event, she earned the bronze medal at the 2021 European Indoor Championships. In May, she took two gold medals at the European Team Championships, whose Super League events took place in

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

, Poland. Besides women's 4x400 metres relay victory she won the individual 400 metres event. Kaczmarek won two medals at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, a gold with Poland's mixed 4x400 relay team (alongside

Karol Zalewski Karol Zalewski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 7 August 1993) is a Polish athlete who specialises in the sprinting events. He reached the semifinals of the 2013 World Championships in the 200 metres. He is also the 2013 European U23 champion over ...

Justyna Święty-Ersetic Justyna Święty-Ersetic (; born 3 December 1992) is a Polish sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. She was the 2018 European champion and a two-time European Indoor Championship medallist in this event. Święty-Ersetic won many medals ...

and Kajetan Duszyński), and a silver as a member of women's 4×400m relay with Iga Baumgart-Witan, Małgorzata Hołub-Kowalik and Święty-Ersetic. Kaczmarek went out of the individual 400m event in the third semi-final in a time of 50.79 seconds. In May 2022, she won 400m race at the

Golden Spike The golden spike (also known as The Last Spike) is the ceremonial 17.6-karat gold final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific Railroad ...

meet in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rive ...

, smashing her previous personal best with a time of 50.16 seconds, the second-fastest mark on the Polish all-time list. On 6 August 2022, she improved her personal best to 49.86 seconds at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in

, becoming only the second Polish woman after

Irena Szewińska Irena Szewińska (née Kirszenstein; Polish pronunciation: ; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polish sprinter who was one of the world's foremost athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events. She is the only athlete in history, m ...

to run 400 metres under 50 seconds. On 15 February 2023, Kaczmarek became the first Polish woman to break the 51-second barrier in the indoor 400 m with a time of 50.90 seconds, finishing second behind only

Femke Bol Femke Bol (; born 23 February 2000) is a Dutch track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres. In the 400 metres hurdles, Bol's personal best is 51.45 seconds, which is a European record and ma ...

at the prestigious

Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais The Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais (formerly Meeting Pas de Calais) also called Meeting International de Liévin (''International Meeting of Liévin'') is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in February in Liévin ...

Liévin Liévin (; pcd, Lévin; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The inhabitants are called ''Liévinois''. Overview The town of Liévin is an old mining area of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this town is of modest size but ...

, France.

Achievements

International competitions

Personal bests

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 ...

– 11.73 (+1.8 m/s,

Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (pron. ; Polish: ; german: Hirschberg im Riesengebirge; Exonym: ''Deer Mountain''; szl, Jelyniŏ Gōra) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Low ...

2022) *

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 ...

– 23.31 (-0.7 m/s,

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

2022) ** 200 metres indoor – 23.30 (

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 ...

2023) *

– 49.86 (

2022) ** 400 metres indoor – 50.83 (

2023) ;Relays * 4 × 400 metres relay – 3:20.53 (

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

2021) ** 4 × 400 metres relay indoor – 3:28.59 (

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

2022) * 4 × 400 metres relay mixed – 3:09.87 (

2021) European record

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaczmarek, Natalia 1998 births Living people Polish female sprinters Place of birth missing (living people) World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Olympic athletes of Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters 20th-century Polish women 21st-century Polish women European Athletics Championships winners