Zbigniew Bródka

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.

Zbigniew Bródka
Personal information
Born (1984-10-08) 8 October 1984
Głowno, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
Country 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
2014 Sochi1500 m
2014 SochiTeam pursuit
World Championships
2013 SochiTeam pursuit
European Championships
2018 KolomnaTeam pursuit

Personal life

Bródka was born in Głowno, Poland, on 8 October 1984.[1] Since 2009 he works 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 a number of Polish and European championships, placing well and winning several competitions (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.

Personal records
Zbigniew Bródka won gold in the 1500 at the Sochi Olympics
Personal records[10]
Men's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 m35.8016 February 2013Vikingskipet, Hamar
1000 m1:07.8719 January 2013Olympic Oval, CalgaryCurrent Polish record[11]
1500 m1:42.8915 November 2013Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake CityCurrent Polish record[11]
3000 m3:50.4213 October 2012Eisstadion Inzell, Inzell
5000 m6:34.1811 January 2014Vikingskipet, Hamar
10000 m14:09.2917 February 2013Vikingskipet, Hamar

References
  1. "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. p.mal. "Zbigniew Bródka – złoty strażak z Domaniewic". Rzeczpospolita. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. "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. "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. "Zbigniew Bródka". speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  11. "National Records – Poland (POL)". speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Dawid Kupczyk		 Flagbearer for  Poland
Pyeongchang 2018		 Succeeded by
incumbent
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