Bartosz Kurek
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Bartosz Kamil Kurek (born 29 August 1988) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as an opposite spiker for ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle and the Poland national team.[1] Kurek took part in 4 Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024) winning silver medal in Paris. He also won the 2018 World Champion title as well as the 2009 and the 2023 European Championship titles. In 2019, he became the first ever volleyball player to be voted the Polish Sports Personality of the Year.
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Personal life
[edit]Bartosz Kurek was born in Wałbrzych, but raised in Nysa. His father, Adam Kurek, was also a volleyball player. Kurek played basketball in his early youth, but later decided to choose volleyball. He has a younger brother – Jakub. Kurek is married to Anna Grejman, former volleyball player.[2]
Career
[edit]Club
[edit]Kurek began his career in a team from Nysa (2004–2005), where he played alongside his father. He spent the next 3 years playing for a PlusLiga club, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle (2005–2008).
In 2008, he moved to PGE Skra Bełchatów, one of the most successful teams in PlusLiga, where he quickly became a key player. With Skra, he won the Polish Championship three times: in 2009, 2010 and 2011. On the international stage, he won two Club World Championship silver medals, in 2009 and 2010, and a bronze medal of the CEV Champions League in 2010. On 18 March 2012, they won a silver medal of the CEV Champions League after losing to Zenit Kazan in the final held in Łódź, Poland.[3] Kurek received an individual award for the Best spiker of the tournament.
After the 2011–12 PlusLiga season, Kurek left PGE Skra Bełchatów, and signed a contract with the Russian team, Dynamo Moscow, however, due to injury, he was unable to play for his new team for a large part of the season.[4]
After one season in Russia, Kurek moved to Italian club Lube Banca Macerata. In 2014, they won the Italian Championship, beating Sir Safety Perugia in the final. On 15 October 2014, Lube, including Kurek, won the Italian Super Cup, beating Copra Elior Piacenza (3–2).[5]
On 4 May 2015, Kurek signed a contract with Asseco Resovia.[6] After winning a silver medal of the Polish Championship in 2016, he left Resovia and signed a contract with Japanese club JT Thunders.
On 2 October 2016, he announced suspending his sports career due to physical and mental fatigue. At the same time, he terminated the contract with JT Thunders.[7] In September, he moved back to his former club – PGE Skra Bełchatów.
In 2018, Kurek joined Polish club Stocznia Szczecin. On 29 November 2018, due to club's financial problems, Kurek terminated his contract with Stocznia.[8] On 6 December 2018, he joined Onico Warsaw after leaving Stocznia Szczecin a few days earlier.[9]
National team
[edit]Kurek was a part of the Poland national team which won a gold medal at the 2009 European Championship held in Turkey. On 14 September 2009, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta.[10] The Order was conferred on the following day by the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk.
On 10 July 2011, Kurek, alongside his national team, won Poland's first medal of the World League. They won a bronze medal after defeating Argentina. Kurek received an individual award for the Best scorer of the final tournament. In the same year, Poland took part in the European Championship, where they were the defending champions. Kurek was his team's key player throughout the whole tournament in which the Polish national team won a second medal in 2011 after winning the match for third place against Russia. At the same tournament, Kurek was awarded with his second individual award in 2011, for the Best server of the tournament.[11] In November 2011, despite a back injury, Kurek went to Japan to participate at the World Cup, and helped his team win a silver medal and therefore qualify for the Olympic Games.
On 8 July 2012, the Polish team won a gold medal of the World League. Kurek received an award for the Most valuable player.[12] Kurek was one of the key players of the Polish team at the Olympic Games (London 2012), but nonetheless Poland lost in the quarterfinal to Russia, and was eliminated from the tournament.
In 2014, he was a member of the Polish national team during the 2015 European Championship qualification. He was not included in the Polish national team for the World Championship held in Poland.[13]
After a one year break, he came back to the national team on 28 May 2015 during the first match of intercontinental round of the World League against Russia (3–0).[14] He was a top scorer of the match (15 points).
On 30 September 2018, Poland achieved its third title of the World Champion.[15] Poland beat Brazil in the final (3–0), and defended the title from 2014. Kurek received an individual award for the Most valuable player of the tournament.[16]
On 10 August 2024, he won the silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.[17]
Honours
[edit]Club
[edit]- CEV Champions League
2011–12 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów
- FIVB Club World Championship
- CEV Cup
2017–18 – with Ziraat Bankası Ankara
- Domestic
- 2008–09
Polish Cup, with PGE Skra Bełchatów - 2008–09
Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów - 2009–10 Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
- 2010–11 Polish Cup, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
- 2010–11 Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
- 2011–12 Polish Cup, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
- 2013–14 Italian Championship, with Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
- 2014–15 Italian SuperCup, with Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia
- 2021–22 Emperor's Cup, with Wolfdogs Nagoya
- 2022–23 Japanese Championship, with Wolfdogs Nagoya
- 2008–09
Youth national team
[edit]
Individual awards
[edit]- 2005: CEV U19 European Championship – Best spiker
- 2009: FIVB Club World Championship – Best scorer
- 2011: Polish Cup – Best spiker
- 2011: FIVB World League – Best scorer
- 2011: CEV European Championship – Best server
- 2012: CEV Champions League – Best spiker
- 2012: FIVB World League – Most valuable player
- 2018: FIVB World Championship – Most valuable player
- 2018: CEV – Male volleyball player of the year[18]
- 2019: Polish Sports Personality of the Year 2018
- 2021: FIVB Nations League – Most valuable player (shared with Wallace de Souza)
- 2021: FIVB Nations League – Best opposite spiker
- 2021: Emperor's Cup – Most valuable player
- 2022: FIVB World Championship – Best opposite spiker
- 2023: Japan V.League – Most valuable player & Best SIX
- 2023: Kurowashiki tournament – Most valuable player & Best SIX
State awards
[edit]- 2009:
Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta - 2018:
Officer's Cross of Polonia Restituta[19] - 2024:
Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta[20]
Statistics
[edit]- 2015–16 PlusLiga – Best scorer (510 points)
- 2015–16 PlusLiga – Best spiker (430 points)
References
[edit]- ^ "Hity transferowe! Bartosz Kurek kapitanem, Andrea Giani trenerem". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Bartosz Kurek i Anna Grejman już po ślubie! Siatkarz pochwalił się zdjęciem z małżonką". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). 29 August 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Zenit KAZAN shatters PGE Skra dreams of home glory". CEV. 18 March 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "Bartosz Kurek w Dynamie Moskwa". PlusLiga (in Polish). 6 May 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "Bartosz Kurek z Superpucharem Włoch!". Polsat Sport (in Polish). 15 October 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "Megahit stał się faktem. Bartosz Kurek w Asseco Resovii Rzeszów!". SportoweFakty (in Polish). 4 May 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "Bartosz Kurek wydał oświadczenie! Polak rozwiązał kontrakt z japońskim klubem". Polsat Sport (in Polish). 2 October 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "OFICJALNIE: Bartosz Kurek nie jest zawodnikiem Stoczni Szczecin". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). 29 November 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "Bartosz Kurek zawodnikiem ONICO Warszawa". PZPS (in Polish). 7 December 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "Reprezentacja siatkarzy odznaczona przez prezydenta". prezydent.pl (in Polish). 15 September 2009. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Rosja pokonana! Polacy mają medal ME!". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). 18 September 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "WL M: Poland beat USA to claim first World League title". WorldofVolley. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "MŚ siatkarzy 2014: Stephane Antiga powołał kadrę, Bartosz Kurek nie jedzie na mundial". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). 17 August 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Opening victory for reigning world champions Poland". FIVB. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Poland triumph over Brazil to retain world title for four more years". FIVB. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Kurek MVP mistrzostw świata! Nagrody indywidualne dla Kubiaka, Nowakowskiego i Zatorskiego!". sport.dziennik.pl (in Polish). 30 September 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Poland claim Olympic silver in men's volleyball". polskieradio.pl. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "The best volleyball player in Europe". PZPS. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Odznaczenia dla Mistrzów Świata w Piłce Siatkowej Mężczyzn 2018". prezydent.pl (in Polish). 2 October 2018. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Uroczystość wręczenia odznaczeń medalistom oraz trenerom Igrzysk XXXIII Olimpiady Paryż 2024". prezydent.pl (in Polish). 9 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
External links
[edit]
- Player profile at the European Volleyball Confederation
- Player profile at Olympics.com
- Player profile at Olympedia (archive)
- Player profile at LegaVolley.it (in Italian)
- Player profile at PlusLiga.pl (in Polish)
- Player profile at Volleybox.net
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| Sportspersonality of The Year |
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| Team of The Year |
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| Coach of The Year |
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| International | |
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| National | |
- 1988 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Wałbrzych
- Volleyball players from Lower Silesian Voivodeship
- Polish men's volleyball players
- Polish Champions of men's volleyball
- Italian Champions of men's volleyball
- Olympic volleyball players for Poland
- Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta
- Polish expatriate volleyball players in Russia
- Polish expatriate volleyball players in Italy
- Polish expatriate volleyball players in Turkey
- Polish expatriate sportspeople in Japan
- Expatriate volleyball players in Japan
- Stal Nysa players
- ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle players
- Skra Bełchatów players
- Volley Lube players
- Resovia (volleyball) players
- Ziraat Bankası volleyball players
- Projekt Warsaw players
- Outside hitters
- Opposite hitters
- Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for Poland
- Olympic medalists in volleyball
- 21st-century Polish sportsmen