Zbigniew Bródka

Zbigniew Bródka
Bródka in 2013
Personal information
Born (1984-10-08) 8 October 1984 (age 40)
Głowno, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
CountryPoland Poland
SportSpeed skating
ClubUKS Błyskawica Domaniewice
Coached byKrzysztof Niedźwiedzki
Medal record
Men's speed skating
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 1
World Championships 0 0 1
European Championships 0 0 1
Total 1 0 3
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi 1500 m
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Sochi Team pursuit
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Sochi Team pursuit
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Kolomna Team pursuit

Zbigniew Marcin Bródka[2] (Polish pronunciation: [ˈzbiɡɲɛv ˈbrutka]; born 8 October 1984) is a Polish speed skater and a 2014 Olympic champion in 1500 metres. He also works as a firefighter in the State Fire Service station in Łowicz.

Personal life

Bródka was born in Głowno, Poland, on 8 October 1984.[1] Since 2009, he has worked as a firefighter in the State Fire Service (Polish: Państwowa Straż Pożarna) station in Łowicz.[3] He represents a local sports club, UKS Błyskawica Domaniewice.[4] He is married to Agnieszka and has two daughters - Gabriela and Amelia.[5]

Competitive career

Before becoming a long track speed skater, Bródka competed in middle-distance running and short track.[3] He often trains in Germany, as Poland lacks appropriate facilities for long track speed skating.[3][6] When he trains in Poland, Bródka is forced to improvise, including using roller skates to imitate ice skating movements.[3][6] In 2006, an accident prevented him from participating in the 2006 Winter Olympics.[3] In 2010, he made his Olympic debut in Vancouver, finishing 27th in the men's 1500 metres.[3] In the following years, he took part in several Polish and European championships, placing well and winning several competitions (a total of five gold medals until 2014) in Poland.[3][4]

At the 2013 World Single Distance Championships, Bródka helped Poland capture the bronze medal in the men's team pursuit with teammates Jan Szymański and Konrad Niedźwiedzki.[7] It was the first victory for Poland's male speed skaters in that discipline.[8] In the 2012–13 season, he also won the men's 1500 metres World Cup, the first Polish speed skater to do so.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, he became the 2014 Olympic champion in 1500 metres, winning by only 0.003 sec.[3] He is the first Pole to receive a gold medal in this discipline.[3]

He won the bronze medal at the 2018 European Speed Skating Championships in the Team pursuit event in Kolomna with his teammates Jan Szymański and Adrian Wielgat.[9]

He was chosen to be the flagbearer of the Polish team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, same as at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.[10]

Personal records

Zbigniew Bródka won gold in the 1500 at the Sochi Olympics.
Personal records[11]
Men's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 m 35.75 28 February 2015 Olympic Oval, Calgary
1000 m 1:07.87 19 January 2013 Olympic Oval, Calgary
1500 m 1:42.89 15 November 2013 Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City Current Polish record[12]
3000 m 3:50.42 13 October 2012 Eisstadion Inzell, Inzell
5000 m 6:27.79 7 March 2015 Olympic Oval, Calgary
10000 m 14:07.99 31 October 2021 Tomaszów Mazowiecki

References

  1. ^ a b "Zbigniew Bródka". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  2. ^ "ALE Wspiera uczestników DOZ Maraton Łódź 2019". ALE (in Polish). Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i p.mal. "Zbigniew Bródka – złoty strażak z Domaniewic". Rzeczpospolita. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Bródka, czyli błyskawica z Polski. Mistrz, prywatnie strażak – Sport w TVN24". Sport.tvn24.pl. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. ^ "Bródka: cieszę się, że dołączyłem do ikon polskiego sportu". Eurosport.onet.pl. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  6. ^ a b "W Polsce ćwiczy na desce, jeździ w Niemczech. Tak trenuje Bródka – Sport w TVN24". Sport.tvn24.pl. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Canadian speed skaters capture silver in team pursuit". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Canadian Press. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  8. ^ "MŚ w łyżwiarstwie szybkim: historyczny medal Biało-Czerwonych". Eurosport.onet.pl. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  9. ^ "ISU European Championships 2018". International Skating Union.
  10. ^ "Pekin 2022: Natalia Czerwonka i Zbigniew Bródka chorążymi reprezentacji Polski" [Beijing 2022: Natalia Czerwonka and Zbigniew Bródka become flagbearers of the Polish national team]. www.polsatsport.pl (in Polish). Polsat Sport. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Zbigniew Bródka". speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  12. ^ "National Records – Poland (POL)". speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Poland
Pyeongchang 2018 & Beijing 2022 		Succeeded by
incumbent