Three years ago in Tokyo, the Polish mixed 4×400 metres relay team consisting of Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczmarek, Justyna Święty-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszyński surprised everyone by winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Even before the Paris Games, we knew that repeating this success would be extremely difficult. Our best athlete in this distance, Natalia Kaczmarek, withdrew from the mixed relay.
In Friday’s eliminations, the Poles fielded the following line-up: Maksymilian Szwed, Marika Popowicz-Drapała, Karol Zalewski and Justyna Święty-Ersetic. The White and Reds finished in fifth place, and it later turned out that they had advanced to Saturday’s final.
In Saturday’s final, Poland made one change and fielded the following lineup: Szwed, Święty-Ersetic, Zalewski and Alicja Wrona-Kutrzepa (replacing Popowicz-Drapała, who was injured).
The weakened Polish national team was unable to threaten the leading teams and get involved in the fight for a high position. The Swede passed the baton to Święty-Ersetic in the penultimate place. For a moment it seemed that Zalewski would be able to “pull up”, because the Poles even advanced to fifth place. But only for a moment. The Polish national team ultimately took the last, eighth place in the final (time 3:12.39 s).
The Dutch team took gold, thanks to a phenomenal finish by Femke Bol. Silver for the US, bronze for Great Britain.
Read also: Freedom could not stand it. Tears were shed
WATCH VIDEO: “Straight from the Games”. Is Świątek’s bronze a success or a disappointment? “We need to change the narrative”
