Natalia Kaczmarek

Natalia Kaczmarek
	Kaczmarek at the Polish Athletics Championships in 2021
Personal information
Born	17 January 1998 (age 26); Drezdenko, Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Sport
Country	Poland
Sport	Track and field
Event	Sprints
Club	KS Podlasie Białystok
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	400 m: 48.90 NR (2024); Outdoors; 400 m: 50.83 NR (2023);
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Poland
Olympic Games
World Championships
World Indoor Championships
World Relays
European Championships
European Indoor Championships
European Games
European U23 Championships

Natalia Kaczmarek (born 17 January 1998)^[3] is a Polish sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She is the 2024 European champion as well as the European silver medalist from 2022. She also won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Kaczmarek earned several global medals as part of 4 x 400 m relays, including gold in the mixed event and silver in the women's event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

She was the 400 m 2019 European under-23 champion.

Career

Running in the heats as part of the women's 4 × 400 metres relays, Natalia Kaczmarek won the silver medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships and a gold at the 2018 European Championships.

In the same relay event, she earned the bronze medal at the 2021 European Indoor Championships. In May, she took two gold medals at the European Team Championships, whose Super League events took place in Chorzów, Poland. Besides women's 4x400 metres relay victory she won the individual 400 metres event.

Kaczmarek won two medals at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, a gold with Poland's mixed 4x400 relay team (alongside Karol Zalewski, Justyna Święty-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszyński), and a silver as a member of women's 4×400m relay with Iga Baumgart-Witan, Małgorzata Hołub-Kowalik and Święty-Ersetic.^[4]^[5] Kaczmarek went out of the individual 400m event in the third semi-final in a time of 50.79 seconds.

In May 2022, she won 400m race at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, smashing her previous personal best with a time of 50.16 seconds, the second-fastest mark on the Polish all-time list.^[6]

On 6 August 2022, she improved her personal best to 49.86 seconds at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzów, becoming only the second Polish woman after Irena Szewińska to run 400 metres under 50 seconds.^[7]

On 15 February 2023, Kaczmarek became the first Polish woman to break the 51-second barrier in the indoor 400 m with a time of 50.90 seconds, finishing second behind only Femke Bol at the prestigious Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin, France.^[8]

On 23 August 2023, she competed in the Women's 400 metres event at the 2023 World Athletics Championships achieving 49.57 seconds and winning the silver medal.^[9] She became the first Polish athlete to win a medal in this event since Irena Szewińska.^[10]

On 10 June 2024, Kaczmarek won the European title in the 400 metres in a time of 48.98 seconds at the European Athletics Championships in Rome. This time broke the long-standing Polish national record of Irena Szewińska, which had stood since 1976.^[11]

Personal bests

Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.^[3]

Individual events

100 metres – 11.73 (+1.8 m/s, Jelenia Góra 2022)
200 metres – 22.70 (Golęcin Stadion, Poznan (POL) 23 JUN 2024)
- 200 metres indoor – 23.30 (Toruń 2023)
300 metres – 35.52 (Potchefstroom 2024) NR
- 300 metres indoor – 36.20 (Spała 2022) NR
400 metres – 48.90 (London 2024) NR
- 400 metres indoor – 50.83 (Toruń 2023) NR

Team events

4 × 400 metres relay – 3:20.53 (Tokyo 2021) NR
- 4 × 400 metres relay indoor – 3:28.59 (Belgrade 2022)
4 × 400 metres relay mixed – 3:09.87 (Tokyo 2021) European record

Competition results

Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.^[3]

International competitions

Representing Poland
Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time	Notes
2015	World Youth Championships	Cali, Colombia	9th (sf)	400 m	54.25
2015	World Youth Championships	Cali, Colombia	5th	4 × 400 m mixed	3:24.64
2016	World U20 Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	18th (sf)	400 m	54.32
2016	World U20 Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	6th	4 × 400 m relay	3:36.95
2017	European U20 Championships	Grosseto, Italy	7th	400 m	54.27
2017	European U20 Championships	Grosseto, Italy	4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:34.48
2018	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	2nd (heats)	4 × 400 m relay i	3:32.07	^{[n 1]}
2018	European Championships	Berlin, Germany	1st (heats)	4 × 400 m relay	3:28.52	^{[n 1]}
2019	European U23 Championships	Gävle, Sweden	1st	400 m	52.34
2019	European U23 Championships	Gävle, Sweden	1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:32.56
2021	European Indoor Championships	Toruń, Poland	3rd	4 × 400 m relay i	3:29.94
	World Relays	Chorzów, Poland	2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:28.81
	European Team Championships Super League	Chorzów, Poland	1st	400 m	51.36
	European Team Championships Super League	Chorzów, Poland	1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:26.37	EL
	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	12th (sf)	400 m	50.79
			2nd	4×400 m relay	3:20.53	NR
			1st	4 × 400 m mixed	3:09.87	OR AR
2022	World Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	7th (sf)	400 m i	51.87
	World Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	3rd	4 x 400 m relay i	3:28.59	SB
	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	15th (sf)	400 m	51.34
	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	4th	4 × 400 m mixed	3:12.31	SB
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	2nd	400 m	49.94
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:21.68	SB
2023	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	400 m	49.57
2023	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	6th	4 × 400 m relay	3:24.93
2024	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	6th (h)	4 x 400 m mixed	3:13.53	^{[n 2]}
	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	2nd	4 x 400 m relay	3:24.71
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	1st	400 m	48.98	NR
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	6th	4 x 400 m relay	3:23.91
	Olympic Games	Paris, France	3rd	400 m	48.98

Notes

^ ^a ^b Time from the heats; Kaczmarek was replaced in the final.
^ Time from the heats; The Polish team did not start in the final.

References

^ "Skarb kibica. Igrzyska Olimpijskie Tokio 2020". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). Ringier Axel Springer Poland. 22 July 2021.
^ "KACZMAREK Natalia". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Natalia KACZMAREK – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ Tennery, Amy (31 July 2021). "Athletics-Poland win first 4x400m mixed relay gold". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^ Phillips, Mitch (7 August 2021). "Athletics-Eleven medals for Felix as stellar U.S. team take 4x400m glory". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^ Jess Whittington (31 May 2022). "Bol and Girma break barriers in Ostrava". World Athletics. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
^ "Skrzyszowska smashes long-standing European U23 100m hurdles record in Silesia". European Athletics. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
^ Osiak, Przemysław (15 February 2023). "Historyczny wynik i rekord Polski Natalii Kaczmarek! Znakomite zawody, padł stary rekord świata!". Przegląd Sportowy with Onet (in Polish). Retrieved 15 February 2023.
^ "Athletics: Poland's Kaczmarek wins world silver in women's 400m". polskieradio.pl. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
^ Tomasz Skrzypczyński (24 August 2023). "To on stoi za sukcesem Natalii Kaczmarek. "Gdy ruszyły, stres był ogromny"". wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 24 August 2023.
^ Jason Henderson (11 June 2024). "Kaczmarek and Adeleke enjoy record-breaking 400m battle". athleticsweekly.com. Retrieved 11 June 2024.

External links

Natalia Kaczmarek at World Athletics
Natalia Kaczmarek at Olympedia
Natalia Kaczmarek at Olympics.com
Natalia Kaczmarek at the Polski Komitet Olimpijski (in Polish)
Natalia Kaczmarek at the Polski Związek Lekkiej Atletyki (in Polish)

[heats-12] Time from the heats; Kaczmarek was replaced in the final.

[replaced-13] Time from the heats; The Polish team did not start in the final.

[1] "Skarb kibica. Igrzyska Olimpijskie Tokio 2020". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). Ringier Axel Springer Poland. 22 July 2021.

[2] "KACZMAREK Natalia". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 4 August 2024.

[WAprofile-3] "Natalia KACZMAREK – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

[4] Tennery, Amy (31 July 2021). "Athletics-Poland win first 4x400m mixed relay gold". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2022.

[5] Phillips, Mitch (7 August 2021). "Athletics-Eleven medals for Felix as stellar U.S. team take 4x400m glory". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2022.

[6] Jess Whittington (31 May 2022). "Bol and Girma break barriers in Ostrava". World Athletics. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[7] "Skrzyszowska smashes long-standing European U23 100m hurdles record in Silesia". European Athletics. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.

[8] Osiak, Przemysław (15 February 2023). "Historyczny wynik i rekord Polski Natalii Kaczmarek! Znakomite zawody, padł stary rekord świata!". Przegląd Sportowy with Onet (in Polish). Retrieved 15 February 2023.

[9] "Athletics: Poland's Kaczmarek wins world silver in women's 400m". polskieradio.pl. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.

[10] Tomasz Skrzypczyński (24 August 2023). "To on stoi za sukcesem Natalii Kaczmarek. "Gdy ruszyły, stres był ogromny"". wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 24 August 2023.

[11] Jason Henderson (11 June 2024). "Kaczmarek and Adeleke enjoy record-breaking 400m battle". athleticsweekly.com. Retrieved 11 June 2024.

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