Boxing camps, tournaments, matches – via Nowy Targ to Paris. Intensive preparations by the boxers

The coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams are agreed that a tough preparation period lies ahead of the athletes. The aim is to reap the rewards of training first at the European Games, and then perhaps at the Olympic Games.

And there is something to fight for, because during the event in Małopolska as many as 44 Olympic nominations in boxing will be awarded. Nowy Targ will host the largest qualification event in Europe. It is therefore no surprise that the red-and-white team is diligently preparing for the Games.

Tomasz Dylak, the women’s national team boxing coach, announced that on 1 April the 12-week preparations typically for the European Games will begin. On that day the women’s national team will arrive at the Central Sports Centre – Olympic Preparation Centre in Zakopane and will train until 16 April. – All the athletes preparing for a fierce fight for their appearance in next year’s Olympic Games in Paris have confirmed their participation, said coach Dylak.

The COS in Zakopane during the European Games will be the base for all boxers. They will train there, while the competition for medals and nominations is planned in Nowy Targ, 25 km away, in the Ice Arena.

For the next training camp (22 April – 2 May) the Polish women will move to the other end of the country to a similar centre, but by the sea in Cetniewo near Władysławowo. From there they will go for their first serious test – the Grand Prix competition in Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic. – After returning, we will continue preparations at a training camp from 13 to 20 May again in Cetniewo. The next stop before the Olympics is the participation in the Feliks Stamm Memorial (20-27 May),” adds the national team coach.

After this interlude, the athletes will return to the seaside again. This time they will spend three weeks there as part of their direct competition preparation. On 20 June, the boxing tournament in Nowy Targ will begin.

The men will have an equally busy schedule. – We have imposed a hard pace, the players are working really hard in training camps, and there are still international tournaments ahead of them. All this in order to enter the Olympic qualification for the European Games in high shape,” says coach Wojciech Bartnik, Olympic bronze medallist.

Less than a fortnight ago, the Poles played inter-state matches in Poland and Ireland. In Łomża, as part of Suzuki Boxing Night 20, they beat the Czechs 12:6. It went worse in Ireland. There, the red-and-whites minimally lost to the hosts 8:10.

On Monday, the representatives appeared at another training camp in COS OPO in Giżycko. From there, they will travel to Lithuania to take part in the Algirdas Socikas tournament in Kaunas. – I would like to take a large group of 12 very valuable and also young players there,” emphasises coach Bartnik.

In the week before Easter, the Poles will train in Cetniewo, and after the holidays they will undergo tests in the Central Centre of Sports Medicine in Warsaw and again a test in the ring – Suzuki Boxing Night 21 in Rypin (14 April).

The next training camp is scheduled in Berlin, where the fighters will pair up with rivals from the United States, Germany and other countries. Then the team will move to the Czech Republic. – First we will train with the local team, and then we will fight in a tournament in Usti nad Labem. There is still a lot of time left before the Olympic qualification for the European Games,” believes the manager of our national team.

During the European Games in the boxing tournament, men will compete in seven weight categories, and ladies in six. In total, around 350 male and female boxers will appear in the ring.