Relay team puts Olympics behind them and wins world championship

The 4x400 meter relay team of Piotr Rysiukiewicz, Piotr Haczek, Jacek Bocian and Robert Mackowiak, won the gold at the Indoor Athletics World Championships in Lisbon, Poland's only medal in the championships. The relay team had a lot to prove after the team's mishap at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It had medal aspirations at the games in Australia, but they were dashed in an instant after Robert Mackowiak tripped and fell during the team's race. However, in Lisbon the Poles beat the much-favored U.S. and clocked 3:04.47, the best result of this year. "The boys were very well prepared for the Olympics. Now it was enough to keep this form - this was our main task," said Jozef Lisowski, the team's coach. In Sydney, Lisowski shed tears of despair; now, half a year later, he was crying with joy. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.35) T.J.