Golden Spikes 2026: Klaudia Kazimierska and Jakub Szymański named Poland's athletes of the year

World indoor champion Jakub Szymański and European silver medallist Klaudia Kazimierska have won the Golden Spikes (Złote Kolce) 2026, the most prestigious award in Polish athletics. The prizes were presented at the Superauto.pl Silesian Stadium in Chorzów during the 57th edition of the poll, organised by the Polish Athletics Association (PZLA) and Przegląd Sportowy.

Szymański: first hurdler to win since 1989

Szymański became indoor world champion over 60 m hurdles in winter and won bronze over 110 m hurdles at the European Championships in summer. According to Sportowe Fakty, he is the first hurdler to win the Golden Spikes since 1989, when Tomasz Nagórka collected the trophy.

The athlete from Włocławek scored 1,065 points. Behind him were:

• high jumper Mateusz Kołodziejski (900 points),
• javelin thrower Dawid Wegner (745 points),
• hammer thrower Paweł Fajdek (645 points),
• shot putter Konrad Bukowiecki (580 points).

Szymański was also named best soldier-athlete. From the stage he recalled that a year earlier he had said he would not return to the gala without winning the ranking. He added: "I kept my word, just as in sport." He also said his indoor personal best of 7.37 over 60 m hurdles would not last long. He would like to beat it at a meeting in Poland or at the European Indoor Championships in Valencia.

Kazimierska wins by a wide margin

Among the women, Kazimierska, the world leader over 1,500 m, was unrivalled with 1,900 points. According to the source, she dominated this year's Diamond League and the World Athletics Ultimate Championships. She joined the gala from the United States. She said she had grown up aiming for such victories, and that the end of the season had been full of them.

Next were Natalia Bukowiecka (1,295 points), Pia Skrzyszowska (1,215 points) and sprinter Ewa Swoboda (965 points). Katarzyna Zdziebło and Maria Żodzik shared fifth place with 945 points. Kazimierska also received the special Przegląd Sportowy award named after Maciej Petruczenko, an editor who died in 2025.

Other awards

• Coach of the year: Mikołaj Justyński.
• Hope of the year: 19-year-old world U20 400 m champion Anastazja Kuś. She said she had been nominated in previous years too.
• Event of the year: the World Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
• Decision of the year: awarding Poland the hosting of the Silesia 2028 European Championships.
• Para athlete: Magdalena Andruszkiewicz.
• Sponsor of the year: Orlen.

Awards were also given in the masters category (Ewelina Brzezina), road and long-distance running (Elżbieta Glinka) and ultra and mountain running (Patrycja Bereznowska).