Monika Zofia Pyrek-Rokita (born 11 August 1980) is a retired Polish

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er. Born in

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

, competing at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, she placed fourth with 4.55 metres, just behind another Polish pole vaulter born in Gdynia,

Anna Rogowska Anna Rogowska (born 21 May 1981) is a retired Polish athlete who specialised in the pole vault. She became the World Champion in 2009 in Berlin. Career Born in Gdynia, she won the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, narrowly beating Monika Pyrek ...

. Monika Pyrek won a silver medal in the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

with the result 4.60 m. She also won the silver medal at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

. Monika Pyrek's personal best is 4.82 metres. She has won the Polish Championship several times, most recently at the 2007 Polish Athletics Championships in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

Medical Condition

In the interview with Sportowe Fakty, Pyrek revealed that in 2003, she was diagnosed with

Hashimoto's thyroiditis Hashimoto's thyroiditis, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis and Hashimoto's disease, is an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is gradually destroyed. Early on, symptoms may not be noticed. Over time, the thyroid may enlarg ...

. She wondered if she was diagnosed sooner, she might have won more medals. For her sport achievements, she received:
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. She officially retired on 11 January 2013. A day later she married Norbert Rokita, her longtime agent and life partner.

Major competitions record

Taniec z Gwiazdami

Monika Pyrek won the 12th season of Polish

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

Taniec z Gwiazdami ''Dancing with the Stars: Taniec z gwiazdami'' (previously: ''Taniec z gwiazdami'' ) is a Polish light entertainment reality television series broadcast by Polsat. It is the Polish version of the United Kingdom's popular ''Dancing with the Stars ...

References

External links

*
Official web site of Monika Pyrek
(requires

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...

for navigation) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyrek, Monika 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Gdynia Polish female pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Poland Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Dancing with the Stars winners World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Lechia Gdańsk athletes Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games