28th Winter Universiade is open! Polish contestants won their first medals.

28th Winter Universiade is open! Polish contestants won their first medals.

The first days of the Universiade in Kazakhstan have already brought medals to Polish contestants! In snowboard, Aleksandra Król won the first place and Karolina Sztokfisz was ranked 3. Polpharma, the official sponsor of the Polish squad, funded additional prizes for all medal winners.

The 28^th Winter Universiade was officially open with a ceremony held in the ultra modern Almaty Arena ice hall! Jakub Kot, a ski jumper, was the Polish squad’s flag bearer. “It is a great honour for me to bear the flag. I’m very glad that I can compete in my fourth universiade”, said Kot.

The ceremony was attended by President of Kazakhstan,Nursultan Nazarbayev. The glamorous event matched opening ceremonies of other great sports tournaments including the Olympics. 55 different countries have sent their national squads to Almaty.

The big Polish squad joined the parade of athletes. From the stands, they were cheered on by, among others, Jarosław Stawiarski, secretary of state at the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, Andrzej Skrzydło, acting Polish ambassador to Kazakhstan, and Radosław Gruk, consul of the Republic of Poland in Almaty.

On Friday, 27 January, the traditional oath and farewell ceremony for the Polish Academic Squad was held in Warsaw. On behalf of the athletes, ski jumper Jakub Kot read the oath. He was accompanied by Adam Cieślar, a universiade multi-medalist in Nordic Combined, who brought four gold medals and one silver medal from previous universiades. Members of the squad present at the meeting included also Ewelina Marcisz, a cross-country skier, and alpine skiers Michał Kłusak and Paweł Babicki, who will leave Kazakhstan straight for the World Championships. [RM1] 

The 28^th Winter Universiade was started on Sunday, 29 January, and will continue to 8 February. More than 2,000 athletes from 64 countries will participate in the tournament. The Polish squad includes 60 contestants from 18 Polish and one international universities and colleges.The Academic Sports Association from the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice and the Academic Sports Association from Zakopane have the strongest representations in the squad in terms of the number of athletes. Polish athletes will compete in nine disciplines. Poland has a strong team of ski jumpers, including Stanisław Biela and Krzysztof Miętus. There will be also one female ski jumper, Magdalena Pałasz.

The Academic Sports Association (AZS) that represents Poland in the International University Sports Federation (FISU)[RM2]  is responsible for the participation of the Polish academic squad in the Universiade. To this end, AZS has partnered both with Polish sports associations and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism that has included the Universiade into its agenda and budget. Urszula Włodarczyk, director of the Competitive Sports Department  speaking on behalf of the Minister of Sports and Tourism, Altay Abibullayev, ambassador of Kazakhstan to Poland, Marek Matuszewski from the Parliamentary Committee for Physical Culture and Sports, Marzenna Koszewska, Head of the Polish Olympic Mission, as well as partners and media representatives bid farewell to athletes leaving for Kazakhstan.

Polpharma – a leader of the Polish pharmaceutical market and key Polish investor in Kazakhstan – is the official sponsor of the Polish academic squad. The partners include Dare2b – a sports apparel brand. Dare2b provides clothing for the Polish academic squad. Onet.pl and Przegląd Sportowy are media patrons of the squad.

POLAND’s ACADEMIC SQUAD FOR THE 28^th WINTER UNIVERSIADE ALMATY 2017

• BIATHLON (coaches: Grzegorz Bril, Jerzy Szyda)

1. Dominika Bielecka (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; SKI TEAM Wodzisław Śląski Sports Club)
2. Bartłomiej Filip (Wrocław University of Science and Technology; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Wrocław)
3. Tomasz Jurczak (Karkonosze College, Jelenia Góra; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Wrocław)
4. Marcin Piasecki (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
5. Karolina Trzaska (Karkonosze College, Jelenia Góra; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Wrocław)
6. Klaudia Cichoń (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; “Górnik” Iwonicz Ski Club, Iwonicz Zdrój)
7. Łukasz Sidorowicz (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice), reserve contestant
8. Mariusz Wtorek (Karkonosze College, Jelenia Góra; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Wrocław), reserve contestant

• CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING (coach: Marek Marcisz)

1. Jan Antolec (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
2. Dawid Bril (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
3. Martyna Galewicz (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
4. Ewelina Marcisz (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Halicz Inter-school Sports Club, Ustrzyki Dolne)
5. Andrzej Pradziad (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Regle Kościelisko Students’ Sports Club)
6. Bartłomiej Rucki (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Ski Sports Club, Trójwieś Beskidzka)
7. Katarzyna Stokfisz (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
8. Magdalena Czusz (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)

• NORDIC COMBINED (coaches: Mateusz Wantulok, Jan Szturc)

1. Adam Cieślar (Academy of Sport Education, Warsaw; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
2. Wojciech Marusarz (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
3. Paweł Słowiok (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)

• SPEED SKATING (coach: Ryszard Białkowski)

1. Marcin Bachanek (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Stoczniowiec Gdańsk Sports Club)
2. Angelika Fudalej (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
3. Aleksandra Kapruziak (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
4. Michał Ostaszewski (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
5. Szymon Palka (University of Physical Education, Kraków; Stoczniowiec Gdańsk Sports Club)
6. Wojciech Sut (University of Computer Sciences and Skills, Łódź; Błyskawica Students’ Sports Club, Domaniewice)
7. Daniel Tylka (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
8. Urszula Włodarczyk (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
9. Andżelika Wójcik (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)

• ALPINE/FREESTYLE SKIING (coach: Mariusz Kłusak)

1. Michał Kłusak (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
2. Jakub Kłusak (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)

• ALPINE SKIING (coach: Kasper Leonowicz)

1. Paweł Babicki (University of Physical Education, Warsaw; DeSki Warsaw Sports Association)
2. Dominik Białobrzycki (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
3. Andrzej Dziedzic (Kozminski University, Warsaw; Warsaw Ski Club)
4. Magdalena Kłusak (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
5. Iwona Kohut (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; “Szusujmy Razem” Integrated Sports Association)
6. Anna Kolasa (Jagiellonian University, Krakow; FIRN Sports Club, Zakopane)
7. Aleksandra Malinowska (Jagiellonian University, Krakow; FIRN Sports Club, Zakopane)
8. Hanna Miśniakiewicz (University of Wroclaw; Yeti Sports Club)

• SKI JUMPING (coaches: Daniel Bachleda, Krystian Długopolski)

1. Stanisław Biela (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; “Sołtysianie” Students’ Sports Club, Stare Bystre)
2. Jakub Kot (Podhale State Vocational College, Nowy Targ; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
3. Artur Kukuła (Academy of Sport Education, Bielsko-Biała; Wisła Sports Association, Wisła)
4. Krzysztof Leja (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
5. Krzysztof Miętus (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
6. Magdalena Pałasz (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice)
7. Przemysław Kantyka (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Klimczok People’s Sports Club, Bystra)

• SNOWBOARD (coaches: Piotr Skowroński, Bartosz Rusin)

1. Weronika Biela (Jagiellonian University, Krakow; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
2. Tomasz Kowalczyk (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
3. Aleksandra Król (University of Physical Education, Krakow; F2 Dawidek Team)
4. Oskar Kwiatkowski (University of Physical Education, Krakow; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
5. Michał Nowaczyk (Academy of Physical Education, Katowice; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
6. Katarzyna Rusin (ISTITUTO EUROPEO DI DESIGN Barcelona; Ski Test Sports Club, Krakow)
7. Karolina Sztokfisz (University of Warsaw; Academic Sports Association, Zakopane)
8. Dominika Wolska (University of Physical Education, Krakow; Ski Test Sports Club, Krakow)
9. Oskar Bom (University of Physical Education, Krakow; F2 Dawidek Team)
10. Dawid Wal (University of Science and Technology, Krakow; Ski Test Sports Club, Krakow)
11. Piotr Bodziony (University of Physical Education, Krakow; Ski Test Sports Club, Krakow)

• SHORT TRACK (coach: Łukasz Fabjański)

1. Michał Domański (University of Physical Education and Tourism, Białystok; Orzeł Sports Club, Elbląg)
2. Oliwia Gawlica (Opole University of Technology; Academic Sports Association, Opole University of Technology)
3. Monika Grządkowska (Medical University of Gdańsk; Stoczniowiec Gdańsk)
4. Sebastian Hydzik (Opole University of Technology; Academic Sports Association, Opole University of Technology)
5. Katarzyna Iwach (Opole University of Technology; Academic Sports Association, Opole University of Technology)
6. Magdalena Warakomska (Opole University of Technology; Academic Sports Association, Opole University of Technology)

Mission Management: Tomasz Szponder – Mission Head, Teresa Socha – Deputy Head for Sports, Bartłomiej Korpak – Deputy Head for Administration and Finance

Mission Office: Marek Rojewski, Marek Szlachta, Andrzej Burzyński, Artur Gąsiewski – Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Poland

Medical services: Renata Komisarska

Press Office: Paweł Hochstim, Paweł Skraba

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