Paweł Baraszkiewicz (born May 20, 1977, in

Działdowo Działdowo (; , ) is a town in northern Poland with 20,935 inhabitants as of December 2021, the capital of Działdowo County. As part of Masuria, it is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (since 1999), Działdowo belonged previously to Cie ...

) is a Polish

sprint canoeist Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...

who has competed since the mid-1990s. He has been

world champion 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 ...

four times in the

Canadian canoe Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of No ...

C-2 event with partner

Daniel Jędraszko Daniel Jędraszko (born April 6, 1976, in Szczecin) is a Polish sprint canoeist who has competed since the late 1990s. He has been world champion four times in the canoe double (C2) event with partner Paweł Baraszkiewic ...

. Baraszkiewicz debuted at the

1996 Summer Olympics 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, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, where, paired with

Marcin Kobierski Marcin Kobierski (born April 13, 1977) is a Polish sprint canoer who competed from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. He won two gold medals in the C-2 1000 m event at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, earning them in 2001 and 2 ...

, he was eliminated in the first semifinal of the C-2 500 m event. They also won a silver medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in the C-2 500 m event. That same year Baraskiewicz also won two C-2 gold medals at the European championships (in the 500 m with Jedrasko and also in the 1000 m with

Michał Gajownik Michał Gajownik (15 December 1981 – 13 November 2009) was a Polish sprint canoer who competed from 2000 to 2006. He won three medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with two golds (C-4 1000 m: 2002, 2005) and a bro ...

). At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Baraszkiewicz and Jedrasko disappointingly failed to win a medal. Baraszkiewicz publicly voiced his suspicion that some of their rivals were guilty of doping. In 2005 Baraszkiewicz switched to the individual C-1 event, winning silver at the

2005 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2005 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Zagreb, Croatia, in August 2005. Men race as individuals, pairs and quads over 200m, 500m and 1000m in both Canoe (Canadian) (C) and Kayak (K) events, giving a total of 18 gold medals. W ...

over 500 m. 2006 proved a frustrating season, with three fourth-place finishes in major C-1 finals (European 200 m & 500 m and World Championship 500 m). He did however pick up a

world championship 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 ...

silver medal with Poland's four-man C-4 500 m crew. At the end of the season he again became Polish national C-1 champion over all three race distances. Baraszkiewicz is a member of the

Posnania Poznań RC Posnania () is a Polish rugby union club based in Poznań, Poland. It was founded in 1906 as a sport club. In 1956 the rugby union team was created. Honours * Rugby Ekstraliga ** Runners-up: 1962 * Polish Cup: ** Winner:(1): 1974 See also *R ...

club. He is tall and weighs . All told, he has earned as of 2010 a total of fourteen medals at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two top-tier Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). They ...

Awards

For hts sport achievements, he received:
Golden Cross of Merit in 2000;
Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) 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 alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(5th Class) in 2007.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baraszkiewicz, Pawel 1977 births Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Living people Olympic canoeists for Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Polish male canoeists Olympic medalists in canoeing People from Działdowo ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Canoeists from Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics 20th-century Polish sportsmen