Sport in Poland
They say that there are two types of people - those who love all kinds of sports and those who only enjoy watching them on TV. It doesn’t matter if you belong to either of these two categories, or maybe, just like myself, aren’t a big sports fan, today we’re going to talk a little bit about… sports!
In every country I’ve ever been to, sports seem a very important part of the culture and give everyone a very strong sense of belonging to the community. I must admit, it was very difficult to find any resources regarding the history of sports in Poland. Two things are certain, however: in the past equestrian sports were the most popular - something that probably dates back to the Middle Ages, and that the sports culture started developing quickly in the 20th century.
We can divide sports into two groups: sporty indywidualne (‘individual sports’) and sporty zespołowe (‘group sports’), the latter being the most popular in Poland. I’m sure you won’t be surprised if I tell you that the most popular sport in Poland is… piłka nożna, yes… football. While many enjoy it passively – in front of TV, it is still a common choice for extracurricular activities. Polish national team (reprezentacja Polski) was particularly successful in the 80s. Even when I travelled to Malaysia and I told the locals I was from Poland some of them remembered the name of Zbigniew Boniek who, for a long time, remained the icon of Polish football. After a period of unremarkable results, the Polish national team seems to be getting back on track with many names of football players being recognisable worldwide. Moreover, in recent years women’s football is growing in popularity too.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Another sport that might not be as commonly practised by amateurs is siatkówka (volleyball). While I recall that many students didn’t like to play it during WF (wychowanie fizyczne - “physical education” class), it’s one of the sports in which the Polish national team consistently performed very well, achieving high positions in various mistrzostwa (championships). When I see the enthusiasm of people watching volleyball championships I see that one of my P.E. teachers was right when he said that siatkówka łączy pokolenia (volleyball unites different generations) more than other sports. Not strictly team sports include tenis (tennis) where the representatives of Poland such as Iga Świątek and Hubert Hurkacz enjoyed great success.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
As for individual sports, Poland’s representatives were very successful in many disciplines, not only in the past. Even those who are too young to remember know the names of such champions as Irena Szewińska (bieg - running), Robert Korzeniowski (chód - race walking), Agata Wróbel (podnoszenie ciężarów - weightlifting), Otylia Jędrzejczak (pływanie - swimming) and Adam Małysz - the absolute champion of skoki narciarskie (ski jumping). They all received much affection from the public and united everybody more than anyone else before.
In the Olympic games (both summer and winter) Poland has always performed very well – Polish athletes have won a total of 321 medals, out of which 79 were gold, in 24 different categories, which makes it the second most successful country out of those who haven’t hosted the games!
Source: Wikimedia Commons
David, OLS Community Manager - Polish