The Polish Paralympic Committee invites everyone to visit its website and cast an online vote for their favorite candidate for the 2026 Guttmann Awards - in the Paraathlete of the Year category.
A selection committee has nominated 20 paraathletes for the prize. The shortlist includes the duo of Michał Gołaś and his guide, Kacper Walas - silver (slalom) and bronze (giant slalom) medalists at this year’s 14th Winter Paralympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. These were Poland’s first medals at the Winter Paralympics in eight years. A number of Polish non-medal heroes from Milan and Cortina also feature among the top twenty.
The nominees list also includes Rita Malinkiewicz, who became a world champion in para-road cycling this year. Daria Bujnicka is also among the nominees - she and her partner, Oliwia Szmigiel, won a bronze medal in doubles at the Para-Badminton World Championships.
Another contender for the 2026 Guttmann Award is Emilia Babska, who secured a bronze medal in an individual event and a gold medal as part of a team at the World Para-Shooting Championships. Her teammates included Emilia Trześniowska and Marek Dobrowolski - the latter also being a 2026 Guttmann candidate, with an individual bronze he added to his team gold. At the same world championships, Szymon Sowiński - who is also among the 20 nominees - won three bronze medals (one individual and two in team events) in para-shooting pistol disciplines.
Team Poland secured an impressive total of 16 medals at the European Para-Table Tennis Championships, taking third place in the overall standings. which took place late last year - so it was only fitting that its leaders should be featured in the poll as well. Natalia Partyka emerged as a triple European champion, winning titles in singles, mixed doubles, and doubles. In the latter event, she triumphed alongside Karolina Pęk - another contender for the 2026 Paraathlete of the Year title - who also claimed gold in mixed doubles (partnering with Piotr Grudzień) and silver in the singles competition.
At the European Para-Table Tennis Championships, Patryk Chojnowski also secured three European Championship medals for Poland: golds in singles and mixed doubles (partnering with Natalia Partyka), as well as a silver in the doubles (alongside Piotr Grudzień). Consequently, Piotr Grudzień - who won gold in the mixed doubles (with Karolina Pęk) and silver in the doubles (with Patryk Chojnowski) - was also named among the twenty 2026 Guttmann Award nominees. Rounding out the group of nominated para-table tennis players is Igor Misztal, who claimed two bronze medals: one in the singles and another in the doubles (partnering with Maksym Chudzicki).
Polish para-fencers brought home a total of nine medals from the European Championships, so it is no surprise that three of them were also included among the twenty nominees. Kinga Dróżdż earned four gold medals - winning the individual sabre event and serving as a key member of the women’s sabre and épée teams, as well as the mixed sabre team. Karolina Strawińska, however, claimed the highest number of medals, securing five in total: three golds (in the women’s sabre and épée team events, and the mixed sabre team event) and two silvers (in the individual épée and the mixed épée team event). Adrian Castro also earned three medals: gold with the mixed sabre team, silver in the individual sabre, and bronze with the men’s sabre team.
The European Para-Swimming Championships also took place in 2026. Oliwia Jabłońska, another nominee in the poll, demonstrated excellent form by winning three gold medals (in the 100m and 400m freestyle and the 200m individual medley) as well as a bronze medal (in the 100m butterfly). In a different discipline - para powerlifting - Justyna Kozdryk became the European vice-champion, and she also made the Guttmann Award shortlist this year.
The poll’s selection committee also recognized two other Polish para-athletes for their non-medal achievements. Róża Kozakowska earned a spot among the top twenty nominees for breaking the world record in the club throw (F32 class) at the Polish Championships in Zamość this June. Meanwhile, although his team finished 11th, Marcin Czerwiński managed to snatch the top scorer's crown at the Goalball World Championships, netting 34 goals.
The final ranking in the Paraathlete of the Year category will be determined by combining the points from the public online vote with those awarded by the Jury. The winners of this vote - and in many other categories - will be announced during the final gala of the awards on December 5.
The Polish Paralympic Committee’s Guttmann Awards have been handed out since 2019. The initiative aims to identify Poland's best and most popular paraathlete of the year. The winner will receive a bronze statuette named after Sir Ludwig Guttmann - the founder of the Paralympic Games - designed by Polish sculptor Andrzej Renes. In the Paraathlete of the Year category, the winners since the inception of the awards have been, in chronological order: Jacek Czech, Kinga Dróżdż, Róża Kozakowska, Szymon Sowiński, Maciej Lepiato, Patryk Chojnowski, and Faustyna Kotłowska.
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Source: Paralympic.org.pl