Tomasz Majewski

Tomasz Majewski

Majewski in 2008
Personal information
Nickname(s) The Silent Giant
Nationality Polish
Born (1981-08-30) August 30, 1981
Nasielsk, Poland
Education Political science
Alma mater Stefan Wyszyński University
Height 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)
Weight 142 kg (313 lb; 22.4 st)
Website tomasz-majewski.pl
Sport
Country Poland
Sport Track and field
Event(s) Shot put
Club AZS AWF Warszawa
Turned pro 1999-
Coached by Henryk Olszewski
Achievements and titles
World finals  Silver in 2009
Olympic finals

 Gold in 2008

 Gold in 2012
Personal best(s) 21.95 in outdoor (NR)
21.72 in indoor (NR)

Tomasz Majewski (born 30 August 1981) is a Polish shot putter and a double Olympic gold medalist. He is the third shot putter to successfully defend the Olympic title, first European to do so, and the first since Parry O'Brien in 1956.

Biography

Majewski stands at 204 cm (6' 8½") tall and weighs 140 kg (300 lb).

During the Olympic final in Beijing on 15 August 2008, he threw 21.51 meters for the gold medal, Poland's first Olympic medal in shot put since 1972 when the late Władysław Komar took the gold.[1] Majewski was also the first Pole to win gold at the 2008 Olympics.

On 25 July 2009 in Barcelona he threw a personal best of 21.64 m and few days later in DN Galan in Stockholm, Sweden he improved upon this with a throw of 21.95 m, a new Polish record.[2]

At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships he threw a personal best and Polish indoor record of 21.20 m. However, the level of competition was so high that this was only enough for fifth place behind a Canadian record-breaking Dylan Armstrong. It was the first time in championships history that five men had gone beyond the 21 m mark.[3]

In the outdoor season, Majewski competed at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and won the shot put silver medal. His 21-metre throw was beaten by a single centimetre as Andrei Mikhnevich took the title. He had shoulder surgery in the latter half of the year. Focusing on the 2011 season, he said that the strong form of his opponents was more of an inspiration than an obstacle: "Christian Cantwell and Reese Hoffa [both] went over 22 metres last year, the good performances of my rivals doesn’t make me angry or worried, instead it acts as the best sort of motivation to get up to their level".[4]

At the 2011 European Team Championships he was the silver medallist behind David Storl and while his young German rival went on to win at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Majewski managed only ninth place with a best throw of 20.18 m. At the start of 2012 he broke his own Polish indoor record at the BW-Bank Meeting in Karlsruhe with a winning mark of 21.27 m.[5] In London 2012 he won the gold medal with a mark of 21.89 m and he became the first male shot-put thrower to defend his Olympic title since Parry O'Brien achieved that in Melbourne 1956.

Hobbies

His hobbies include basketball and playing video games.[6]

National honours

For his sport achievements, he received:
Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (5th Class) in 2008.[7]
Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (4th Class) in 2009.[8]

Personal bests

His best attempt was in Sweden DN Galan (21.65 m, 21.95 m, 21.44 m, x, x, 21.83 m).

Achievements

Majewski took gold in Turin in 2009
Putting at the 2010 Bislett Games
Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Poland
2003 European U23 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 4th 19.92 m
Universiade Daegu, South Korea 5th 19.90 m
2004 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 4th 20.83 m
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 18th (q) 19.55 m
2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 10th (q) 19.57 m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 7th 20.23 m
Universiade İzmir, Turkey 1st 20.60 m
2006 World Indoor Championships Moscow, Russia 6th 20.07 m
European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 6th 19.85 m
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 7th 20.13 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 4th 20.87 m
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 3rd 20.93 m
Olympic Games Beijing, China 1st 21.51 m
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 1st 20.88 m
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 1st 21.02 m
European Team Championships Leiria, Portugal 1st 20.81 m
World Championships Berlin, Germany 2nd 21.91 m
World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 2nd 21.21 m
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 4th 21.20 m (iNR)
European Championships Barcelona, Spain 1st [9] 21.00 m
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 8th 20.18 m
2012 World Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 3rd 21.72 m (iNR)
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 1st 21.89 m
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 6th 20.98 m
Jeux de la Francophonie Nice, France 1st 20.18 m
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 4th 21.04 m
European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 3rd 20.83 m
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 6th 20.82 m
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th 20.72 m

References

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