Zodzik: ‘I had no interest in finishing fourth’

At the recent World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, high jumper Maria Zodzik soared to silver to earn Poland’s only medal. It was the culmination of a journey that began far from the stadium lights, in the Belarusian town of Baranowicze.

Zodzik, 28, grew up surrounded by sport. Her mother had been a high jumper, while her father was a distance runner in his youth. But it was her grandmother who set Zodzik first on a path, taking her to the local pool when she was eight.

“I was good in the water and started winning competitions,” Zodzik recalls. “Then, at school, an athletics coach noticed how tall I was and invited me to try athletics. She let me test everything – high jump, long jump, hurdles. The long jump was too sandy. The hurdles were too crowded and I ended up breaking my arm because of it. But the high jump suited me; I liked being alone on the runway with no one bumping into me and landing on a nice soft mattress.”

Soon she was hooked, watching high jump videos late into the night, dreaming of the Olympics after watching the 2008 Beijing final. She cleared 1.77m by age 16, but then disaster struck. A chronic hamstring and sciatic injury sidelined her for almost three years.

“I couldn’t even sit for an hour,” she says. “I thought it was over, so I went to university.”

But her love of competition refused to die. Through relentless rehab and strength work, she returned to action. She represented Belarus in international age-group competitions and often competed in Poland.

“I always felt a connection with Poland because my grandparents were born there,” explains Zodzik. “Their home town is about 20 kilometres from Bronowicze, but back then it was Poland.”

In 2021, Zodzik jumped a PB and Olympic qualifier of 1.96m but wasn’t selected for the Games. When war later broke out in Ukraine and the Belarusian federation were suspended, Zodzik faced a choice: stay put, or take a leap of faith.

“I told myself: either I make the Polish team or my career ends. I put everything on the line. No turning back.”

She moved to Białystok with her boyfriend in 2022. They knew no one. She trained alone on an empty track, unable to compete without papers. Hope returned when she met coach Robert Nazarkiewicz and joined Podlasie Białystok club. A year later, in March 2024, she was granted Polish citizenship.

“I got the call during a bus ride,” recalls Zodzik, who had cleared a lifetime best of 1.97m just one month prior. “I was thrilled because I finally knew I would be able to represent Poland at my first ever World Championships and the Olympics. Knowing that I had just booked my ticket to Paris made me overjoyed that day.”

That summer she won her first Polish outdoor title and lived her Olympic dream. But it didn’t go to plan.

“Before the Olympics, I broke my training PB at the pre-Games camp, so I headed to Paris with the goal of reaching the final 12. But something – and I don’t know what – went wrong. It was a combination of a poor run-ups and jumps that were technically far from ideal. The result – 28th place in qualifying with 1.83m – is not something I could identify with.”

After the Olympics, she switched coaches, teaming up with Paweł Wyszyński to rebuild her jump – and her confidence. The results came fast: victory at the World Indoor Tour Bronze meeting in Gorzów with a PB of 1.98m. Then, the old hamstring pain crept back, forcing her to miss both the European Indoor Championships and World Indoor Championships.

The season became a battle against her own body, and she’d need 10-14 days off after each competition. Still, she retained her Polish title, won the Diamond League in Lausanne, and finished second at the European Team Championships in Madrid. But she skipped some other key competitions to save herself for Tokyo. “I was sad to withdraw from the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial,” she admits, “but I couldn’t risk my health before Tokyo. I knew it would demand everything.”

And it did.

The final was long, wet, and tense. At one point Zodzik sat in fourth. “Fourth place is the same as fifth or 10th,” she says. “It doesn't give you a medal. I wasn't interested in it at all. So I thought, ‘I'm 28. I don’t have a lot of time left. When, if not now?’”

Then came the perfect jump. A clean 2.00m clearance, earning her silver behind eventual winner Nicola Olyslagers of Australia.

“The outcome – Nicola finishing first and me second – truly made me happy because she's a wonderful person and deserves everything she gets,” says Zodzik. “She's always so positive and happy. We met earlier this year at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm. She came up to me and greeted me with a smile. Ever since then I have been her fan.”

Zodzik’s family, watching back home in Belarus, were ecstatic. “They were very happy, and my mom cried. I don’t know if I can safely go back, but they can visit me in Poland. When they come, I’ll show them the medal.”

Her silver medal doubled her Instagram followers overnight, but fame hasn’t brought stability. “In athletics, financial security is rare,” Zodzik says. “Unless you’re consistently at the top, you live season to season. Most athletes create content just to stay afloat.”

For now, she’s grateful for support from sportswear brand 4F and the city of Białystok. And she’s preparing a plan B. In April 2026, she’ll graduate with a master’s degree in management from the Eastern European Academy of Applied Sciences.

“I’d like a job where I can stand rather than sit,” she jokes. “Something that won’t strain my hamstrings!”

Yet her heart remains on the runway. Zodzik dreams of competing at the European Championships, the World Indoors, and – most of all – the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. There’s one more mountain in sight: the Polish national record of 2.02m, set by Kamila Lićwinko in 2015.

“Of course I’d love to hold the record,” she smiles. “It won’t be easy – but I’m not saying no.”

Tomasz Moczerniuk for World Athletics