Poles prepared for the start of the Games. They are already waiting at COS-OPO Zakopane

In a little more than a week, boxers will begin competing for medals at the III European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023 in Nowy Targ. Participants in this year’s boxing competition will be accommodated largely at the facilities of the Central Sports Centre in Zakopane. Among the guests of the centre will be the Polish boxers, whose coaches have already selected the representatives for IE 2023.

The III European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023 is this year’s biggest sports event in Poland, which will soon excite fans. At the Central Sports Centre – Olympic Preparation Centre in Zakopane, they are preparing to provide the athletes with the best possible training and accommodation conditions. One of the groups of athletes that will visit the capital of the Polish Tatra Mountains will be boxers. For the purposes of proper training at COS-OPO Zakopane, among other things, the infrastructure of the facilities has been improved.

“As part of the tender, a company was selected to provide new rings. Of course, they are certified, meeting the requirements of the International Boxing Federation (IBA).  The rings will be used for training or coaching purposes during the III European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023,” says Sebastian Danikiewicz, director of COS OPO Zakopane.

In April, Poland’s women’s national boxing team stayed at the Zakopane’s facility. The best Polish female boxers (only the injured Barbara Marcinkowska was missing from the training camp) trained under the guidance of the training staff headed by coach Tomasz Dylak.

“What impresses us about COS-OPO Zakopane is that the facilities are being renovated all the time, a lot of changes are being made. We like to come here for the first or last training camps. Then we use, for example, the cryo-capsule or the climbing walls, which have recently come to our liking,” says Jakub Sawicki, coach of motor preparation and manager of the Polish women’s national boxing team.

The white-red female boxers, like their national teammates, recently competed in the Feliks Stamm International Tournament in Pultusk. The prestigious competition held in honor of the outstanding Polish coach allowed to dispel the last doubts about the shape of our team for the III European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023. And so it is known that in June in COS-OPO Zakopane and Arena Nowy Targ we will see Natalia Rok (weight category up to 50 kg), Sandra Drabik (-54 kg), Julia Szeremeta (-57 kg), Sandra Kruk (-60 kg), Aneta Rygielska (-66 kg) and Elżbieta Wójcik (-75 kg). On the other hand, in the men’s national team we will see Jakub Slominski (-51 kg), Jaroslaw Ivanov (-57 kg), Bartlomiej Roszkowicz (-63.5 kg), Damian Durkacz (-71 kg), Klemens Szczepaniak (-80 kg), Mateusz Bereźnicki (-92 kg) and Radoslaw Kawczak (+ 92 kg).

“We hope that in several categories we will join the fight for medals IE 2023, although it will not be easy, especially since among the rivals are medalists of the Olympic Games, the European championships and the the World Boxing Championships. The draw will be important for us,” argues Wojciech Bartnik, coach of the Polish men’s national boxing team, which will visit COS OPO Zakopane on June 15.

At the Zakopane resort, they are already prepared for the presence of boxing teams at the Third European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023.      

“As organisers, we have increased the seating capacity in our canteens, adding 80 seats in the indoor patio. In total, we have more than 300 seats. As for accommodation, we will demonstrate our readiness to host the national team from June 10. We will prepare nearly 270 beds for our guests,” Danikiewicz points out.

The boxing rivalry at the Third European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023 will not only be a fight for medals of the Old Continent championships, but also a continental Olympic qualification for 44 places (22 each for men and women) for next year’s Games in Paris. The competition is scheduled to take place in the Arena Nowy Targ, where 350 athletes and competitors will fight for 13 sets of medals over nine days. More than 3,000 spectators can watch the fist fights there from the stands. The fights will begin on Friday June 23 and will last until July 2 with a day off (June 29). The finals are scheduled for the last two days of the competition.