Zbigniew Marcin Bródka (; born 8 October 1984) is a Polish speed skater and a 2014 Olympic champion in 1500 metres. He also works as a firefighter in the State Fire Service station in

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a ma ...

Personal life

Bródka was born in Głowno, Poland, on 8 October 1984. Since 2009, he has worked as a firefighter in the State Fire Service ( pl, Państwowa Straż Pożarna) station in

. He represents a local sports club, UKS Błyskawica Domaniewice. He is married to Agnieszka and has two daughters - Gabriela and Amelia.

Competitive career

Before becoming a long track speed skater, Bródka competed in middle-distance running and short track. He often trains in Germany, as Poland lacks appropriate facilities for long track speed skating. When he trains in Poland, Bródka is forced to improvise, including using

roller skates Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad sk ...

to imitate

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

movements. In 2006, an accident prevented him from participating in the 2006 Winter Olympics. In 2010, he made his Olympic debut in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, finishing 27th in the men's 1500 metres. In the following years, he took part in several Polish and European championships, placing well and winning several competitions (a total of five gold medals until 2014) in Poland. At the 2013 World Single Distance Championships, Bródka helped Poland capture the bronze medal in the men's team pursuit with teammates Jan Szymański and

Konrad Niedźwiedzki Konrad Łukasz Niedźwiedzki (born 2 January 1985, Polish pronunciation: �kɔnɾat ɲɛd͡ʑˈvʲjɛt͡ski is a Polish long track speed skater who participates in international competitions. Personal life Konrad Niedźwiedzki was born in War ...

. It was the first victory for Poland's male speed skaters in that discipline. In the 2012–13 season he also won the men's 1500 metres World Cup, the first Polish speed skater to do so. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

in Sochi, he became the 2014 Olympic champion in 1500 metres, winning by only 0.003 sec. He is the first Pole to receive a gold medal in this discipline. He won the bronze medal at the

2018 European Speed Skating Championships The 2018 European Speed Skating Championships were held between 5 and 7 January 2018 at the Kolomna Speed Skating Center in Kolomna, Russia. Events For the first time the European Championship is a single distance championship, with the followin ...

in the Team pursuit event in

Kolomna Kolomna ( rus, Колóмна, p=kɐˈlomnə) is a historical city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Population: History Mentioned for the first time in 1177, Kol ...

with his teammates Jan Szymański and Adrian Wielgat. He was chosen to be the flagbearer of the Polish team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of S ...

, same as at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Bei ...

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 ...

Personal records

Men's 1500m, 2014 Winter Olympics, Podium

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brodka, Zbigniew 1984 births Living people Polish male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters of Poland Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic gold medalists for Poland Olympic bronze medalists for Poland Polish firefighters Sportspeople from Łódź Voivodeship People from Głowno World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists