Mateusz Michalski (sprinter)

Mateusz Michalski

Michalski at the 2012 Paralympics
Personal information
Nationality	Polish
Born	29 August 1987 Września, Poland
Sport
Sport	Paralympic athletics
Disability	Visual impairment
Disability class	T12
Coached by	Adam Kaczor
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals	2008 2012
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Paralympic Games 1 1 0 World Championships 4 0 1 European Championships 3 1 0 Representing  Poland Paralympic Games 2012 London 200 m T12 2012 London 100 m T12 IPC World Championships 2011 Christchurch 100 m T12 2011 Christchurch 200 m T12 2013 Lyon 100 m T12 2013 Lyon 200 m T12 2015 Doha 200 m T13 IPC European Championships 2012 Stadskanaal 100 m T12 2016 Grosseto 100 m T13 2016 Grosseto 200 m T13 2014 Swansea 100 m T12

Mateusz Michalski (born 29 August 1987) is a visually impaired sprinter from Poland.^[1] He competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and won a gold in the 200 metres and a silver in the 100 metres in 2012. His time of 21.56 s in the 200 m set a new world record.^[2]

Career history

Michalski was born in Września, Poland in 1987. He is visually impaired, and describes his vision as being about ten percent.^[3] He took up athletics at the age of 16, after a coach at his school introduced him to the sport.^[3]

In 2008, Michalski travelled to Beijing as part of the Polish team to compete in the Summer Paralympics. At the games he competed in both 100m and 200m sprint events. In the 100m Michalski progressed through the first round, but finished 9th in the semifinal, failing to reach the finals. In the 200m he reached the finals, finishing eighth in a time of 22.75 seconds.

Michalski's first major international success came at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. There he won both the 100m and 200m gold in the T12 category.^[3] The next year he competed in the 2012 IPC Athletics European Championships in Stadskanaal, racing in the 100m – T12. In the final he beat Russia's Fedor Trikolich to take the European title. Two months later he competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. In the 100m Michalski progressed through to the finals, but was beaten into second place by Trikoli.^[4] In the 200m he was placed into qualifier Heat 3 alongside Trikoli. In the heat he recorded a season's best of 22.13 to go through to the semi-finals in first place.^[5] Trikoli also qualified after recording a personal best, going through to the semis as one of the fastest losers. The two rivals met again in the semifinals in heat 2. Michalski recorded another season's beat with an improved time of 22.09, but this was not enough to beat Trikoli who produced another personal best to finish in 21.94. Michalski's time saw him qualify through to the final in the only fastest loser's position at the expense of Yang Yuqing of China, who recorded a time of 22.30 in the first heat. The final, held on 8 September, saw Michalski run the 200m in a time of 21.56 setting a new world record, leaving Trikoli with the silver.^[6]

His achievements in London saw Michalski named Disabled Athlete of the year at the 2013 Polish Sportspersonality of the Year on 11 January.^[7]

References

1. Mateusz Michalski. rio2016.com
2. Morgan, Brad (9 September 2012). "Oscar stars as Team SA ends on a high". southafrica.info. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
3. "Michalski, Mateusz". ipc.infostradasports.com. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
4. "Poles win 36 medals at Paralympic Games in London". The Warsaw Voice. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
5. "Handcycling takes centre stage at Brands Hatch". paralympic.org. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
6. "World Records Broken at London 2012 Paralympics". guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
7. "Michalski sportowcem roku" (in Polish). wrzesnia.powiat.pl. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.