Majewski – The Silent Giant Speaks

Known by some back home as the Silent Giant, because he is perceived as being a man of few words, Tomasz Majewski let his actions speak for him as the first gold medal of the Olympic Games was decided here last night. It is perhaps just as well that he has changed his mind about becoming a journalist.

The 26-year-old Majewski, though clearly delighted to have become Poland’s first senior global championships winner in the men’s Shot Put for a quarter of a century, was measured in his response to what winning here would mean to him. “The Shot Put is not a very popular sport in Poland,” Majewski said. “I think it will change my life but not very much. It’s a big deal but only now.”

For Majewski, there were two especially satisfying elements of his victory. One was that he follows Wladyslaw Komar, winner in 1972, as Poland’s second Olympic champion in his event. The other was that it put to rest the nightmare of his Olympic debut in Athens four years ago.

After Komar’s triumph in Munich, Edward Sarul became Poland’s only World champion so far with his victory in Helsinki in 1983. “We have a great tradition in Shot Put,” Majewski said, adding with sense of pride: “We have the Olympic champion from ‘72, and the first World champion, so I am the third one.” And all three achieved their victories as underdogs.

In 1972, it was expected to be a duel for gold between the US and the GDR. George Woods, Al Feuerbach, Hartmut Briesenick and Hans-Peter Gies were the big names of the day but Komar let rip with an Olympic record in the first round. It stood unbeaten to the end.

In 1983, it was again the GDR and the US – with Udo Beyer and Dave Laut especially fancied – who expected to dominate. But Sarul stole victory from another East German, Ulf Timmermann, with his last throw. There was no such drama here as Majewski took a first round lead (20.80), lost it in the second, regained it in the third (21.21) and extended it in the fourth with a winning 21.51.

Having never previously reached 21 metres, he now accomplished it twice in the biggest competition of his life. He had first made his presence known on the international stage at the 2004 World Indoor Championships, in Budapest, finishing fourth, but five months later the story was very different at the Athens Olympics.

Competing at the ancient Olympic site of Olympia, two days before the start of the main programme, Majewski failed to reach the final. “Athens for me was terrible,” he reflected last night. “It’s taken lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of training.” At least he started out with the basics – size and strength.

Majewski was brought up in a small village near Ciechanów (Mazovia), one of the most important Polish cities in the Middle Ages. There is a long tradition of strong men in this region. Many Olympic medallists, World champions in weightlifting, and outstanding throwers come from there.

An exceptionally strong boy, young Tomasz would lend a helping hand on his father’s farm. In an era of modern agricultural machines, they were still using horses for transportation. After a family member introduced him to athletics, he found fascination with the Shot but, as there were no facilities in Ciechanów to develop his talent, he moved to Warsaw, to the Physical Culture Academy, and started training under coach Henryk Olszewski.

Debut appearances in the European U23 Championships, European Indoor Championships World University Games, World Indoor Championships and Olympics yielded him not one medal – until he took gold at the 2005 World University Games in Izmir, Turkey.

Appearing in subsequent World and European Championships, Majewski again missed out on a medal but finally came good at the 2008 World Indoor Championships, in Valencia, where he placed third. Even then he hardly made an impact because, as Christian Cantwell, the silver medallist here from the United States, observed: “At the press conference, he got only one question asked.”

Here the questions came thick and fast. As an underdog winner, and with little international media profile before last night, we needed to get to know him. Will there be big celebrations in Poland and will his victory make the Shot Put more popular? “I don’t think so,” he said. Why did he take up the Shot? “I love it, what can I say?”

Was he surprised to win? “I wanted to beat my PB, go to the last eight, and fight for a good position. It was a good fight. I won so I am very glad, what can I say?” And the inevitable one about the yellow head scarf. “I started to use it about five years ago for luck. It’s worked so I think I will be using it all the time now.”

And, finally, the shot putter with a Masters degree from the Stefan Wyszynski Catholic Academy had said some time ago that he wanted to be a journalist. “Not now,” he told reporters last night. “That’s your job. I changed my mind a couple of years ago. I won’t be a regular guy anymore.” Especially now.

David Powell for the IAAF