Sport is very important in the lives of the Poles. Probably each country treats sport events as a kind of challenge. Winning the championship seems like winning a war (although I would strongly avoid this comparison) or like showing the power.

What can make a sport fan more proud, than his country anthem played at the end of the sport event?

People that I wanted to tell you about in this article died at the young age but they managed to make their country fellows proud. Some of them had already finished their sport career, while others were in the middle of it.

MALGORZATA DYDEK

Poland might not be good at basketball – but it had its female great basketball player. She was born in 1974 and played in Polish and American league – she was actually the tallest female player in the history of WNBA (being 2.18 meters / 7 ft 2 in tall). She played at center position. At first she played in Polish teams to start her international career in 1996. She gave up professional sport in 2008 (still being active as a trainer) and settled down in Australia. In 2008, being pregnant with her third child, she got heart attack. She died a week later.

KAMILA SKOLIMOWSKA

She was born in 1982 in Warsaw. Already at the age of 15 she became famous for winning hammer throw event during European Junior championships. But the biggest fame came when Kamila won gold medal during Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000 – being the youngest Olympic hammer champion. She died unexpectedly in February 2009, during the national training session in Portugal. She fainted – however, after 1 hour lasting reanimation there was no success in keeping her alive. The autopsy showed that the cause of death was the blockage of the main artery of the lung, that has not been detected by the doctors earlier.
ARKADIUSZ GOLAS
He was a young volleyball player. Born in 1981, he started playing volleyball at the age of 10. He represented Poland during 2001-2005. At the same time, in season 2004/2005 he played for an Italian team (he was supposed to continue to work in that country). At the end of July 2005 Golas got married. His happiness, however, did not last long. Arkadiusz died in mid September same year in car accident. His car, driven by his wife, has unexpectedly drove unexpectedly on the right side and hit the wall. He died at once at the age of 24.

AGATA MROZ

Her death was probably one of the most talked-about event of 2008. She did not pass away unexpectedly or quickly (though much quicker than anybody wished). She was born in 1982 and became soon popular Polish female volleyball player. She won 2 gold medals during European Championships. It was a lot – especially for a person who needed to fight with the sickness such as leukemia. She got married in 2007 and at the beginning of 2008 announced happily that she would become a mom. After Agata gave birth to her daughter, she had unsuccessful marrow bone transplant.
The Poles will surely remember those names for a long time. These are just simple facts that will allow you to get to know their names. More stories from their lives will be surely covered with separate articles.