How do you define greatness? A mind-bending feat that surpasses expectation and rationality? A moment of authentic surprise that inverts the weight of pressing odds? Or perhaps an incision in the linear unfurling of your heart?
In sport, we are quick to anoint greatness upon each other. A performance that impresses us is often bestowed the virtue of greatness before it can even truly be understood. It is easy to attach brilliance onto bravery and boldness but sometimes the two should not be conflated. True greatness should combine mastery, magnanimity and more than a hint of magic.
The Olympic Games is our ultimate magic show. A procession of truly elite talent, operating at the pinnacle of their sport and thrust forward into a limelight fostered by four years of relative translucency. These two weeks are stitched into the very fabric of competition, dating back to the lore of Ancient Greece, and have transcended the politics of modern society to become the ultimate marker in sporting excellence. To win Olympic Gold gives you immortality of a rare and timeless specification – your story will be perpetuated forevermore, carried forward by the whispers of generations to come, who too aim to climb those sacred steps and join this club of champions. Emerging over the horizon, this time in the blue and red hue of palatial Paris, we are ready for the very fastest in rowing to be crowned.
Step forward, my friends – The Olympic Games have come.
The Stats
Country
Poland
Crew Names
Dominik Czaja
Mateusz Biskup
Mirolsaw Zietarski
Fabian Baranski
Average Age
29 years
Olympic Record
Fourth in the M4x at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Czaja, Baranski)
Sixth in the M2x at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Biskup, Zietarski)
Fourth in the M4x at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Biskup, Zietarski)
2024 Competitive Record
World Rowing Cup 1: N/A
World Rowing Cup 2: 2nd (M4x)
World Rowing Cup 3: 1st (M4x)
European Championships: 3rd (M4x)
The Profile
Poland are one of the most well-established and highly experienced crews in the event, featuring Dominik Czaja, Mateusz Biskup, Miroslaw Zietarski and Fabian Baranski. This quartet won gold at the final World Rowing Cup (where the Dutch were absent) and were second in Lucerne and earlier in the season took bronze at the Europeans. They were bronze medallists in 2023 and in 2022 won both the world and European titles. Czaja and Baranski were in the quad that finished fourth in Tokyo and Biskup and Zietarski were the double in Tokyo, placing sixth. This duo were also in the quad that just missed out on a medal at the Rio Olympics. The Poles are the only crew to have gotten the better of the Dutch in the last two years.
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