Piotr Łukasz Gruszka (born 8 March 1977) is a Polish professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

coach and former player. He was a member of the Poland national team from 1995 to 2011. A participant in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

(

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta ...

Athens 2004 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), ...

Beijing 2008 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 Nat ...

), and the 2009 European Champion.

Personal life

Piotr Gruszka was born in

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; german: Auschwitz ; yi, אָשפּיצין, Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland ( pl, Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła riv ...

, but raised in

Kęty Kęty is a town in Oświęcim County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland with 18,955 inhabitants (2012). The town located in Silesian Foothills dates its earliest document from 1277 when Polish prince of Opole Władysław Opolski, Władysław c ...

. He is married to Aleksandra (née Szettel). They have two children: daughter Maria Aleksandra (born 26 August 2005) and son named Julian (born 1 March 2010). In 2014, he took part in the 14th season of Polish version of

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 form ...

. His pro dancer was Nina Tyrka. They were eliminated as 8th couple and took 5th place.

Career

National team

Piotr Gruszka was a member of the Polish national team that won a silver medal at the 2006 World Championship. In 2009, Gruszka won a gold medal of the European Championship, where he was named the ''Most Valuable Player''. On 14 September 2009, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta. The Order was conferred on the following day by the Prime Minister of Poland,

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...

. With his national team, he won two bronze medals in 2011: of the 2011 World League and 2011 European Championship.

Honours

Clubs

CEV Challenge Cup The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. It started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed CEV Challenge Cup. History * CEV Cup (1980– ...

2008/2009 – with Arkas İzmir * National championships ** 1994/1995 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with AZS Częstochowa ** 1996/1997 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with AZS Częstochowa ** 1997/1998 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup, with AZS Częstochowa ** 2004/2005 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2004/2005 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2006/2007 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2006/2007 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2007/2008 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2008/2009 Simple gold cup

Turkish Cup, with Arkas İzmir

Youth national team

* 1996

CEV U20 European Championship * 1997 Gold medal world centered-2

FIVB U21 World Championship

Individual awards

* 2003: CEV European Championship – Best Spiker * 2009: CEV European Championship – Most Valuable Player

State awards

* 2006:

Gold Cross of Merit The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state. History At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was awa ...

* 2009:

Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta

References

External links

* *
Player profile
at ''LegaVolley.it''
Player profile
at ''PlusLiga.pl'' * *
Coach/Player profile
at ''Volleybox.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruszka, Piotr 1977 births Living people People from Oświęcim Polish men's volleyball players Polish volleyball coaches Volleyball coaches of international teams Olympic volleyball players of Poland Volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate volleyball players in Italy Polish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate volleyball players in France Polish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate volleyball players in Turkey BBTS Bielsko-Biała players AZS Częstochowa players Skra Bełchatów players AZS Olsztyn players Arkas Spor volleyball players Łuczniczka Bydgoszcz players Halkbank volleyball players BBTS Bielsko-Biała coaches GKS Katowice (volleyball) coaches Resovia (volleyball) coaches Outside hitters Opposite hitters