Ewa Swoboda

Ewa Swoboda in a file photo (Image Credits - Instagram/@litttlerunner)

Ewa Nikola Swoboda is a sprinter from Poland who specializes in short sprints. She has two European indoor championship medals in the 60 metres, one gold in 2019 and one silver in 2017. She made her senior debut in the 60m at the European Indoor Championships in 2015, when she was only 17 years old. She made it to the competition's finals, where she came in eighth. Swoboda now owns the 60-meter world junior record with a timing of 7.07 seconds and the Polish national record, when she clocked 6.99 seconds.

Junior Athletic Career

From an early age, Swoboda competed in athletics, and after joining the UKS Czwórka Ory athletics club. She started working out with Iwona Krupa as her coach. In 2011 and 2012, she won the 100-meter Youth Championships for Poland. She claimed the 200-meter junior national indoor championship the following year. At the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where she made her international debut, she finished fourth in the girls’ 100 m with a time of 11.61 seconds, besting all European competitors. Following that, she did a sprint double at the Polish Youth Olympic Days, finishing the 100 m in 11.54 seconds, a personal best and a Polish junior record.

She won the 60-meter junior indoor Polish title at the beginning of 2014. Outdoors, she finished seventh in the 100 m and failed to finish in the 200 m at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. She took first place in the 100 m and second place in the 200 m at the European Youth Olympic Trials in Baku. This elevated her to one of the favorites for the 2014 Youth Olympics, where she set a new personal best of 11.30 seconds in her first race, ranking her as the second-fastest junior athlete that year. Her triumph in that competition, however, was for a very short period because she was eliminated in the 100-meter final for a false start during the loud audience cheers.

Senior Professional Career

Swoboda earned her first senior national gold in the 2015 Polish Indoor Championships, where she also established a 60-meter European junior record of 7.21 seconds, a world record for a seventeen-year-old. She was chosen for the 2015 European Indoor Athletics Championships, marking her first senior debut for Poland. She qualified for the 60-meter final while still just seventeen years old and ran another personal best of 7.20 seconds, breaking the European junior record by 0.01 seconds. This was the joint quickest time by a Polish woman in the history of the competition. She then tied with Irena Szewiska and Daria Korczyska, both of them were medalists.

Following Ukraine’s Olesya Povh’s disqualification for using illegal substances, it was declared in March 2018 that Swoboda will be elevated to silver medallist at the 2017 European Indoor Championship. She tested positive for COVID-19 just before the commencement of the competitions, preventing her from competing at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Toru. Injuries prevented Swoboda from competing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

At the Orlen Cup meeting in Łódź on 11 February 2022, she smashed the Polish national record in the 60 metres twice and established a new record by achieving 7.00 seconds. With a mark of 6.99 seconds at the Polish Indoor Championships in Toru on March 5, she once again broke the record, placing tenth overall in the competition’s history. She finished in fourth place with a time of 7.04 seconds at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Swoboda missed out on the bronze by 0.002 seconds.

 

Medals at Major Competitions

Event Total Gold Silver Bronze
European Championships 1 0 1 0
European Indoor Championships 2 1 1 0
European Team Championships 2 0 0 2
European U23 Championships 3 2 0 1
World Junior Championships 1 0 1 0

Coach

Iwona Krupa is her coach since the time Ewa got into Athletics. In addition, she is the manager of the Polish athlete. She was also a PE Teacher. According to Krupa, despite Swoboda’s success, some people still doubt her ability to teach elite sprinters, and they frequently criticize her.

Records at Major Events

Competition Best Result Event Timing Position
World Championships Eugene 2022 100 m 11.08 12th (sf)
World Championships Eugene 2022 4×100 m relay 43.19 11th (h)
World Indoor Championships Belgrade 2022 60 m 7.04 Fourth
European Championships Munich 2022 4×100 m relay 42.61 Silver
European Championships Munich 2022 100 m 11.18 Fourth

Personal Life

Ewa Swoboda was born on July 26, 1997, in Żory, Poland to Grzegorz Swoboda and Beata Swoboda. Swoboda’s highly tattooed appearance sets her apart on the track. She has dogs, cats, and gecko lizards as pets. The animal enthusiast has a tattoo of a cat on her chest and a gun on her right bicep. Her first tattoo was a rose on her right thigh, which she had inked in 2015. She has subsequently added inscriptions and more roses to her body. Her bold manicures, which feature plenty of black nail lacquer, are equally striking.

Gallery

Ewa Swoboda at the World Athletics Championships 2022 (Image Credits - Instagram/ @litttlerunner)

Ewa Swoboda at the World Athletics Championships 2022 (Image Credits - Instagram/ @litttlerunner)

Athletics in a file photo (Image Credits - Twitter)

Athletics in a file photo (Image Credits - Twitter) Athletics in a file photo (Image Credits - Twitter)

Ewa Swoboda, the local favorite, will be taking part in the ORLEN Copernicus Cup 2023 in Torun (Image Credits - World Athletics)

Ewa Swoboda, the local favorite, will be taking part in the ORLEN Copernicus Cup 2023 in Torun (Image Credits - World Athletics) Ewa Swoboda, the local favorite, will be taking part in the ORLEN Copernicus Cup 2023 in Torun (Image Credits - World Athletics)

Ewa Swoboda in action in the 4 X 100 m relay in European Championships 2022 (Image Credits - European Athletics)