I’m Going to the Games to Fight for Medals

Paweł Kuwik talks with Michał Niewiński, a Polish speed skater specializing in short track, a Beijing 2022 Olympian, junior world champion, and a medalist at World and European Championships.

Photography: Bartosz Maciejewski
Styling: Ireneusz Korzeniewski @styleman, Berg official, Klasyczne buty

Always smiling, cheerful, incredibly likable — I probably didn’t miss the mark describing your personality, did I? Where does your constant optimism come from?
I honestly don’t really know. It’s so natural for me that it’s hard to give one clear answer. I think my family plays the biggest role here — I get the sense that at our house it never was and still isn’t sad, and on top of that we turn a lot of things into a joke. I also believe that there’s no point walking around with a stone face a little smile certainly won’t hurt anyone, and maybe I’ll even заразec someone with it.

You’re an athlete born in 2003. What does the opportunity to compete at the highest level mean today for you and other young people?
This is my whole life. Ever since I started training, my parents kept saying: “You train so you can go to the Olympics and win a medal there,” but it wasn’t in a tone suggesting I had to do it. They simply believed in me, so the goal was clear —
I just didn’t know at first that it was even possible. For me, all the great athletes like Adam Małysz or Usain Bolt were like they were from another planet, unreachable. I watched their successes through the glass of a TV screen… but as a child it felt unattainable for me. Now that I’m competing myself and winning medals at the most important sporting events,
I feel great pride and satisfaction with the path I’m on. I know that kid who admired Adam Małysz would look at what I’m achieving now with enormous admiration.

At 18, you made your Olympic debut in Beijing. What was that experience for you?
The Olympic Games have always been something huge to me, even as a fan. After the Beijing Games I thought for a moment that half the mission had been accomplished. I approach the Olympics with a strong focus on results — I don’t get caught up in all the surrounding pageantry — but I have to admit I’m curious what real Games look like. I know that sounds strange, but in Beijing, because of the pandemic, the Games were — let’s call it — “stripped down” and specific. That’s what our older teammates told us. I didn’t actually see Beijing itself until
a World Cup two years later. During the Games we were shut in an area like a big shopping mall, with daily COVID tests.
I try to erase that part a little and remember that standing on the start line and seeing the Olympic rings everywhere, I held up mentally and it didn’t trigger excessive stress or pressure for me. That will also be key in Milan.

Now four years older, you’re preparing to compete at the Games in Milan. Have you matured a lot during this time?
It depends how we look at it. I’ll admit without hesitation that I’m still a guy who struggles with organization, my mom does my laundry, and my room is messy — but on the other hand, I’m no longer a kid who just trains a bit. I’m a fully professional athlete who buttons everything up and devotes almost every hour of the day to being a better version of myself each new day. Something else that has really changed is my mindset. Medals are no longer dreams, but goals I’m pursuing, and I know they’re within my reach.

Despite your young age, you already have quite a few successes to your name — medals at World Championships, the World Cup or the World Tour, as well as junior world championship gold. Do these achievements build your confidence ahead of the most important event for an athlete?
When I’m on the start line, I’m not thinking about who’s next to me, who I’m about to race, and the athletes beside me feel the same way — on the ice the most important thing is here and now. But thanks to the successes you mentioned, and above all the junior world championship gold medal, I understood that it’s possible — that I, Michał, can stand on the top step of the podium and listen to “Mazurek Dąbrowskiego.” That’s when everything changed, because from that moment on I didn’t think before competitions that somehow it would work out… No, I go to competitions to fight for medals.
I can do it, and it’s not even about confidence, but about awareness, because before I joined the national team, there were no men’s medals. We didn’t even know whether it was possible for a Pole to win a medal at a major short track event, and now that knowledge and awareness really helps in the training process.

Do you have a sports idol? A role model you strive for?
I had many sports idols, because we often watched sports at home, especially Polish athletes’ competitions. The first people who come to mind are Adam Małysz, Karol Bielecki, and Tomasz Majewski. I remember sitting in front of the TV and feeling immense fondness and admiration for them. As for a role model, I wouldn’t want to be the second Michael Phelps or Michael Jordan, because I want to be the first Michał Niewiński. I think you can pick up individual things from great athletes, but I’m also aware that what works for others doesn’t have to work for me, and vice versa.

Sport is about victories, but also defeats. How do you deal with them?
The best example will be if I bring up the situation from the most recent European Championships. The 500 m was perfect from the very start — the quarterfinal with a big margin, the semifinal with the fastest time, meaning the final from position 1, which puts me in the role of favorite. I lead the whole race and on the last lap I make a mistake while blocking, I fall, and as if that wasn’t enough, I get disqualified. But after that situation I didn’t feel anger or sadness. I focused on appreciating what was good and understanding where I am. Then I thought that I’m exactly where I’ve wanted to be my whole life — fighting with the best on equal terms.

Your goal for the Games?
Half the plan has been completed, so now it’s time to finish it. I’m going to fight for a medal and I know I’ll be ready, but I’m not putting huge pressure on myself, because in Milan the fate of the whole world won’t be decided — it’s just and as much as the Olympics. Of course an Olympic medal is every athlete’s goal, but you have to remember that at the Olympics it’s the same as at any other competition: the same athletes, the same rules, and the same size track, so I just have to do my job well. Maybe I’m simplifying it too much, but that’s the truth. If I approach it as if my whole life depends on it, I’ll put an unnecessary burden on myself that I’ll have to carry.