Ewa Swoboda clinched the first-ever gold medal for Poland in athletics at the European Games. With a remarkable time of 11.09 seconds, Swoboda also set a new record for the European Team Championships, which are held as part of the Games at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów.
Natalia Kaczmarek secured the silver medal in the 400m race, narrowly missing out to the Dutch athlete Femke Bol. Piotr Lisek, the pole vaulter, and Dominik Kopeć, the 100m specialist, finished just outside the podium places.
After the first day of the European Team Championships, the defending champions, Team Poland, accumulated a total of 127 points, securing the third position. Italy currently leads the standings with 141 points, followed closely by Great Britain with 131.5 points. The competitions at Śląski Stadium will continue until Sunday.
The Polish team has already claimed an impressive tally of 12 medals, including six gold, two silver, and four bronze. Interestingly, all of the gold medals have been won by female athletes thus far.
In the overall medal standings, Poland currently occupies third place. Spain leads with nine gold, five silver, and four bronze medals, while Italy sits in second place with eight gold, eight silver, and nine bronze medals.
The European Games serve as the largest multidisciplinary sporting event of the year. Over 7,000 athletes from 48 countries will compete in 29 different disciplines to vie for a total of 253 medals until July 2nd. Some of the events hold the status of European Championships and serve as qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics.