Piotr Małachowski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 7 June 1983) is a Polish retired

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

er, two-time silver medalist at the

2008 Summer Olympics 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 Na ...

and

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 ...

. His personal best throw is 71.84 metres, ranks him fifth in all-time longest discus throw distances, achieved on 8 June 2013 at

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Career

Małachowski's throwing distances are seen as even more remarkable as he is not as tall as most discus throwers. Małachowski is one inch shorter than Beijing Olympic champion

Gerd Kanter Gerd Kanter (born 6 May 1979) is a retired Estonian discus thrower. He was the 2007 World Champion in the event and won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and bronze in London 2012. His personal best throw of 73.38 m is the Estonian ...

and three inches shorter than world champion

Robert Harting Robert Harting (; born 18 October 1984) is a retired German discus thrower. He represents the sports club SCC Berlin, his coach is Torsten Schmidt (athlete), Torsten Schmidt. He is a former Olympic, World, and European champion in the men's dis ...

and discus great Virgillius Alekna. The typical height of a discus thrower is between . Despite his height disadvantage, Małachowski makes up for it with his incredible ring speed. Malachowski is seen as one of the quickest discus throwers in the ring of all time, closely followed by

Róbert Fazekas Róbert Fazekas (born 18 August 1975 in Szombathely) is a Hungarian discus thrower, who won gold in the 2002 European Championships and silver in the 2003 World Championship. He finished first in the 2004 Summer Olympics, but was later disqua ...

. On 19 August 2008, he won an Olympic silver medal in discus throw (67.82 m) placing behind

(68.82 m). On 23 May 2009, in

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

he threw 68.75 m with a new PB and NR. On 14 July 2009, he was second in

IAAF Golden League The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes who won specific events at all of the series meetings were awarded a jackpot prize, ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

(67.70 m) to be only beaten by

(67.88 m). With an injured finger, Małachowski took a silver medal (69.15 m - NR) at 2009 World Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 2010, he took victory in

Golden Gala Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pie ...

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

(68.78 m), beating second-placed

(67.69 m), and another win in

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

(69.83 m - NR). Polish discus thrower Piotr Malachowski in 2020

On 13 August 2016, Małachowski won his second Olympic silver (67.55 m), being surprisingly beaten by German

Christoph Harting Christoph Harting (born 10 April 1990) is a German athlete specialising in the discus throw. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He competed at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, reaching the final on the ...

(68.37 m - PB). He announced shortly afterwards that he would sell his Olympic silver medal to raise funds for a 3-year-old boy with a rare form of cancer. The medal was sold at an auction a few days later.

Achievements

For his sport achievements, he received:
Golden Cross of Merit in 2008.
Golden Medal for Merit for Country Defence in 2009.
Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

(5th Class) in 2009.

References

External links

* *
Piotr Małachowski
at the ''Polski Związek Lekkiej Atletyki'' * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malachowski, Piotr 1983 births Living people Polish male discus throwers Olympic athletes for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Poland People from Żuromin County World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes from Masovian Voivodeship World Athletics Championships athletes for Poland Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Śląsk Wrocław athletes Skra Warszawa athletes Diamond League winners Polish Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Polish sportsmen

Career

Achievements

See also

References

External links