Andrzej Duda’s words came at an annual ceremony dubbed the New Year’s Meeting of the Olympic Family, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The president attended the event accompanied by First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, according to news outlets.
Duda told the gathering: “2022 was a good year for Polish sport.”
He noted that ski jumper Dawid Kubacki had claimed bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics, Iga Świątek rose to the top of women’s tennis, winning two Grand Slam titles, while hammer-thrower Paweł Fajdek scooped his fifth consecutive world championship title.
The president praised the men’s volleyball team for finishing second at the World Championships, the men’s basketball team for reaching the last four of the EuroBasket and the men’s football team for progressing to the knockout stages of the Word Cup for the first time since 1986.
Duda also noted the successes of Poland’s male and female kayakers, male and female rowers, and female swimmers in 2022.
The president said he was confident that 2023 would be “a happy year for Polish sport and Polish athletes.”
“My wish for you is that you win medals, achieve success, derive satisfaction and immense joy from your accomplishments and beautifully represent our country,” the head of state told the gathering.
Support for Ukraine
Duda went on to say: “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Polish sports community, from athletes to coaches and club officials, for the extraordinary support extended to our neighbours from Ukraine. For helping them prepare for events, for enabling them to train in Poland, to use Polish facilities, for providing them with accommodation, and for many other forms of assistance.”
The president praised Poland’s sports community for showing “simple human solidarity” and helping Ukrainians in accordance with “profound principles of humanism.”
Great Honorary Sporting Awards
During Tuesday’s event, Poland’s best athletes and coaches of the year received the 2022 Great Honorary Sporting Awards, with a special prize going to Iga Świątek, the PAP news agency reported.
Wednesday is day 322 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, prezydent.pl
Interview: Polish athletes opened their homes to Ukrainians
Click on the audio player above to hear an interview with Robert Korzeniowski, a former four-time Olympic champion who is now coach of Poland's national racewalking team.
Robert Korzeniowskii. Photo: Leszek Szymański/PAP
Korzeniowski told reporter Danuta Isler at the Warsaw event that "2022 was very successful in sports but it was also a very specific year because of the war."
He added: "Polish athletes opened the doors of their homes to Ukrainian friends and the world of sport survived and did it with dignity."