Sylwester Bednarek ( ; born 28 April 1989) is a Polish high jumper. He won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships and gold at the 2017 European Indoor Championships.

Life and career

Bednarek was born in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

. He finished fourth at the 2005 World Youth Championships and the 2006 World Junior Championships, finished sixth at the 2007 European Junior Championships and won the silver medal at the 2008 World Junior Championships. He also competed at the

2009 European Indoor Championships The 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Turin, Italy, from Friday, 6 March to Sunday, 8 March 2009. The championships took place at the Oval Lingotto indoor arena

without reaching the final. He underwent knee surgery due to an injury in 2010 and returned to competition. He was tenth at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

but pain persisted in his knee into the 2011 season and he decided to undergo further surgery with an eye on being in his best shape for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Unfortunately, at the national championships soon before the Games, he ruptured the Achilles tendon in his other leg and only returned to competition in 2013. In 2017, he won the gold medal at the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade. His personal best jump is 2.32 metres, achieved in August 2009 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. He has achieved 2.33 metres indoors, a mark set in February 2017 in

Banska Bystrica The Banska ( bg, Банска) is a river in Haskovo Province, southeastern Bulgaria. The river is long. The Banska springs out from Sofidzhik Peak in the Eastern Rhodopes. It passes through the villages of Tatarevo, Garvanovo, Klokotnitsa ...

. For his sport achievements, he received:
Golden Cross of Merit in 2009.Prezydent.pl

Competition record

Personal bests

*Outdoor: 2.32 m (2009) *Indoor: 2.33 m (2017)

References

1989 births Living people Polish male high jumpers Sportspeople from Łódź World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Poland {{Poland-athletics-bio-stub