Korzeniowski ‘fights’ to reach Torun for MOWA Exhibition opening

The Polish athletics community came out in force in the city of Torun, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to support the Museum of World Athletics’ (MOWA) latest public exhibition which opened last night for a one-month run at the Torun Plaza shopping mall.

Led by Sebastian Chmara, President of the Polish Athletics Association and the first Pole in history to win a world indoor title when taking heptathlon gold in 1999, six athletes who between them had won seven Olympic gold medals, four world and three world indoor titles came on stage to celebrate the opening of the MOWA Indoor Athletics Exhibition Kujawy Pomorze 26.

‘Long distance fighter’

Sadly, severe weather in central Europe early on Friday (20) caused havoc with the travel of two guests. Patrizia Van der Weken, the world indoor and European indoor 60m bronze medallist, who was to participate in the ceremony, saw her flights from Luxembourg delayed and repeatedly diverted, so she missed the ceremony altogether.

Thankfully, four-time Olympic champion Robert Korzeniowski did make it on time but only after an unplanned six-hour taxi drive to Torun. Travelling from the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games via Vienna, Korzeniowski faced hours of delays after his flight was diverted to Brno in Czechia when Vienna airport temporarily closed, leaving him without onward connections to Poland.

Asked why he persisted in his journey, Korzeniowski, whose 2003 World Championships 50km world record race walking shoes are housed in MOWA, said, reflecting the grit that defined his endurance career: “I am a long distance fighter, I would not give up.”

New donors welcomed by established supporters

Korzeniowski made it to Torun with 30 minutes to spare and, once he quickly changed clothes, came on stage with another great friend of MOWA, 2004 Olympic 4x100m champion Jason Gardener.

The British sprinter, who won the world indoor 60m title that same year, was also a four-time European indoor champion and helped launch the World Athletics Heritage programme in 2018 by donating his winning spikes from the 2004 World Indoors.

On Friday, he, like Korzeniowski, was in Torun to welcome two new athletes into the MOWA family: Poland’s 2014 world indoor high jump champion Kamila Licwinko and two-time Olympic shot put gold medallist Tomasz Majewski.

Licwinko: ‘never give up’

Licwinko, who donated her Olympic uniform, name bib and spikes from the Olympic high jump final in 2021, her last major competition before retirement later that year, was asked what advice she would give young girls hoping to succeed in sport.

“Never give up and always chase your dreams,” said Licwinko. “In my sporting career, there were many ups and downs. I suspect more downs than ups. Many medals slipped through my fingers for different reasons.

“I met the right people; people who believed in me and they made me start to believe in myself. If someone had not told me I would jump two metres, I would have never believed it myself,” said the Polish high jump record-holder.

‘Where our biggest dreams lie’

Like Licwinko, Majewski donated his competition shoes from the Rio 2016 Olympics, where he finished sixth, his last major competition before retirement. Also, he generously gave the MOWA collection his uniform and bib from the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot, where he had placed fourth.

Majewski – who had a consistent record at the World Indoor Championships with two bronze medals, three fourth places and a sixth-place finish – was asked what made the difference for him at the Olympic Games.

“When I think about this event – its atmosphere, its history, its magnitude – all of it makes the Olympic Games something you dream about,” replied Majewski. “You may compete in many other sporting events but in truth, you dream only of the Olympics, of taking part in them and winning there. That is where our biggest dreams lie.”

Heritage trophy for Chmara

Piotr Calbecki, Marshal of the Kujawy Pomorze region, received Licwinko’s donation on behalf of MOWA. Krzysztof Wolsztynski, CEO of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 LOC, accepted Majewski’s gifts on behalf of the museum.

Also attending the ceremony was the Deputy Mayor of Torun Adam Szponka and two of the LOC’s athlete ambassadors, 2011 world pole vault champion Pawel Wojciechowski and Anna Matuszewicz, the new holder of the Polish indoor long jump record (6.77m), which she set in January.

Just prior to the cutting of the ribbon which officially opened the exhibition, a moment in which all the above-mentioned guests participated, a special commemorative award was made to the President of the Polish Athletics Association.

Chmara, in his capacity as the head of the host Member Federation and Poland’s first winner of a world indoor gold medal, was presented with a commemorative World Athletics Heritage Trophy.

The MOWA Indoor Athletics Exhibition Kujawy Pomorze 26 is open daily until the last day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 (20-22 March 2026).

World Athletics Heritage gratefully acknowledges the support of MOWA Founding Patron Michael H Burke for his generous support which made yesterday’s opening ceremony possible.

Chris Turner for World Athletics Heritage