Hubert Troscianka runs a world U20 400m decathlon best in Tampere (© Getty Images)
TV commentators twisted themselves into knots trying to pronounce the name of the Polish decathlete who stormed to gold at the European U20 Championships. “Trossyanka, Troshianka, Troshinska, Troshanker, Troyanka…”
By October’s Golden Tracks gala – European Athletics’ annual awards evening – more people were aware of his name as Hubert Troscianka accepted the Rising Star award, after he shattered the world U20 decathlon record, despite a medical diagnosis that left him in tears just 10 months earlier.
“Big galas aren’t my cup of tea,” says the 19-year-old from Szprotawa. “Too prestigious, luxurious. I prefer it quiet. But lately, it hasn’t been.”
No wonder. In Tampere in August 2025, he won the European U20 decathlon title after a gripping two-day battle. He set PBs in the 100m and pole vault, a championship record in the javelin, and ended with a world U20 record of 8514 – surpassing Niklas Kaul’s legendary 8435. He became the first teenage decathlete to break 8500 points, and only the second (after Kaul) to win the European Athletics Rising Star award.
Hubert Trościanka after winning the decathlon at the European U20 Championships (© Getty Images)
“I don’t feel like a star,” he said. “I train for pleasure; achievements come along the way. If it were up to me, I’d give the Rising Star to Bozhidar Saraboyukov (winner of the European indoor long jump title at age 20). A senior European indoor gold is worth more than a world U20 record.”
He appreciates the honour, but says 2024 might have been even more appropriate. His early aim that year – with coach Marek Rzepka – was simply to qualify for the World U20 Championships in Lima. He comfortably surpassed that goal, adding more than a thousand points to his PB and claiming the silver medal behind experienced Czech Tomas Jaervinen.
“Initially, it felt like a huge blow,” he says. “I was used to winning. I thought: second place is the first loser. Now I see success in combined events requires maturity. Sometimes you need to fail.”
More lessons followed. In September 2024, during an easy post-season warm-up, he planted his left leg on a high-jump mat; the other leg got stuck and his knee twisted. The first diagnosis – torn ACL, a year out – devastated him. “Tears started flowing. I don’t know how to do anything else but train.”
A second opinion changed everything: just a meniscus repair. On 5 October he underwent arthroscopy in Warsaw.
“I couldn’t wait. I wanted to rehab and get back.”
Hubert Troscianka at the European U20 Championships (© Getty Images)
The plan: three months to full training. He didn’t wait, doing core work from Rzepka immediately – but his nervous system reacted as if severely injured. “I struggled with my thoughts. When the group went to camp in Zakopane without me, it made me extremely sad.”
Three months later he still felt a twinge, making him fearful in the high jump. Then came micro-tears in his achilles and elbow, requiring collagen injections. “I gave coach Rzepka a tough time. He didn’t know what he could do with me, but he made good decisions and found alternate exercises.”
It took six months before his ligaments were strong enough for full speed. Despite the disrupted preparation – “experiments”, he calls them – he flew to Tampere hopeful, knowing the cameras would never show the behind-the-scenes struggle.
After day one’s five events he led with 4361 points, just 67 ahead of Luuk Pelkmans. “After the 400m I was dead, but at night I couldn’t sleep. I snoozed maybe an hour and woke up nauseous. Maybe a hot bath or sleeping pills would’ve helped. Instead, waking up was very unpleasant.”
During warm-up he told Rzepka he wanted to go back to bed and couldn’t imagine “flying full-throttle over the hurdles.” The hurdles and discus were solid but not spectacular, but the pole vault revived him. He cleared 4.80m for a PB, then celebrated wildly.
“Coach Rzepka is someone very close to me,” he says. “When I have a major problem, my emergency number is the coach’s.”
He then broke the championship decathlon record in the javelin (68.87m) and controlled the 1500m to secure the world U20 record. His grandfather Ryszard and uncle Mariusz were watching in the stands. “Everyone else supported me with kind words. It made me very happy.”
“Everyone else” is a crowd: in Szprotawa, the Lewkowicz and Troscianka families are institutionally athletic. His father Daniel’s parents, Roman and Grazyna, were canoe and basketball athletes and longtime PE teachers; his mother’s family has supplied local club Uczniak Szprotawa with talent since 1998.
Hubert Troscianka at the European U20 Championships (© Getty Images)
“My mother trained in the discus and shot until she injured her wrist. Tomek, her brother, was the most successful – he threw the discus farther than Konrad Bukowiecki.” Now the next generation continues: Wojciech and Bartosz (Paweł’s sons), and Hubert.
All trained under legendary throws coach Zygmunt Szwarc – the ‘Master’. Hubert joined at age 10. At first he wanted to play football, but after realising his technical limits and dwindling teammates, he landed at Uczniak. Assigned to the javelin group full of older athletes, “I was scared… and never went again.”
Instead he spent two years with Zdzisław Zygmunt in general development training. Eventually he questioned whether running laps “to the left” was enough and returned to throws. In 2017 he entered the Nestle Cup, winning the children’s quadrathlon unexpectedly.
Until 2022 he trained only javelin and discus, becoming Polish U16 discus champion. He debuted in the combined events in 2023, winning silver at the National U18 Indoor Championships. When he learned that the National U18 Championships that summer would be at the Silesian Stadium, he refused to limit himself to one event. To compete in the decathlon, he had to learn the pole vault; his grandfather drove him an hour to Zielona Góra for sessions with Justyna and Grzegorz Hudyma.
He won gold in Chorzów, then in Maribor at the European Youth Olympic Festival. The rest – Lima, Tampere, Batumi – is history.
In Georgia, at the Golden Tracks Gala, he finally heard his name pronounced correctly. “The host looked at me, asking if it was okay. I nodded. It sounded better.”
People in Poland may know it now, but the world has until 2028 – when his star could shine brightest in Los Angeles.
“I don’t like medals handed out before a competition,” he says. “Our goal is like before Lima: qualifying. Then we might raise the bar higher.”
Tomek Moczerniuk for World Athletics
