Marek says:
- Of course, we have difficult moments with coach Tomek, but it's probably normal. We need to exchange observations and suggestions to work better. And so it goes, we flow in the same stream, you can say. I trust him, that's the most important thing. I don't have an idol, I've never had one, but coach Tomek is definitely a model of commitment to work for me. He devotes a lot of time to us, our whole group, at the expense of family life.
Marek is a student at the V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Zbigniew Herbert in Słupsk. - Previously, I went to the Uniformed School Complex, also in Słupsk, but it's not for me. Favorite items? I'm most interested in social studies, I don't know, maybe I'll study political science or law? We'll see how my running develops. Will I be able to train and study, for example, law. I don't have time now, I'm always on the road, at competitions or camps, parties or meetings are usually out of the question. Fortunately, Magda, my girlfriend, trains with me and goes to the same school, so there is no problem here, we see each other very often.
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Marek Zakrzewski
Photo: Getty Images
"Not mission impossible, but mission possible"
In 2022, in Jerusalem, Marek ran in the 100-metre race for gold at the European Junior Championships. In 2023 - recently, in August, also in Jerusalem - the gold of the European Junior Championships under the age of 20 (as a reminder, he is still a 17-year-old himself) won two, at distances of 100 and 200 m. He did not give his rivals a chance, crossing the finish line in time - respectively - 10.25 s and 20.63.
Czubak was not surprised by the gold medals or the results. - Before departure, we talked that it was not mission impossible, but mission possible. He had a difficult task, because he was probably the busiest guy in this championship, these eliminations, semi-finals and finals of 100 and 200 m gave him a bit of a hard time. During the warm-up before the relay race, he felt pain in the biceps muscle, fortunately, the ultrasound showed nothing except the overload state - he explains.
After returning to Poland, Marek had no free time - he was called up to the national team, the most important, senior one, for the world championships that will be hosted in Budapest. He will become a representative colleague of such stars as Anita Włodarczyk, Wojciech Nowicki, Paweł Fajdek and Piotr Lisek. He will be one of them. He kept fit before leaving for the camp in Karpacz.
Tomasz Majewski, a two-time Olympic shot put champion in the 2008 and 2012 seasons, and today the vice-president of the Polish Athletics Association, explained that Marek will be a reserve 4 x 400 m relay in Budapest. Whether he will start is unknown. "He's had a very tiring event, so we'll see how he's in shape and how he's going to feel after a lot of running in the junior championships." It is important for him to see what such great competitions look like, in the future it will certainly pay off - explained Majewski.
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Marek Zakrzewski during the European U-20 Championships
MSN