Margarita Koczanowa

Last updated

Margarita Koczanowa
Personal information
NationalityPolish
Born (1999-02-01) 1 February 1999 (age 26)
Grodno, Belarus
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event Middle-distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800m: 1:59.90 (Chorzów, 2025)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Flag of Poland.svg Poland
Summer World University Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2021 Chengdu 4x400m relay

Margarita Koczanowa (born 1 February 1999) is a Polish middle-distance runner. In 2023, she became Polish national indoor 800 metres champion at the Polish Indoor Athletics Championships. [1]

Contents

Early and personal life

Born in Grodno to a Russian father, her mother's parents are Polish and she spoke the Polish language at home. She obtained a Polish passport in the spring of 2021 and had to forego her Belarusian citizenship. She had left Belarus for Poland to study in Łódź in 2017 before later living with her sister in Kraków. [2]

Career

In 2018, she represented Belarus in the 2018 World Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland and at that time trained with Henryka Blausz. [3] She was later trained by Zbigniew Król and became a member of AZS AWF Kraków. She was selected to represent Poland at the 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships in Tallinn, but while she awaiting the start of the competition in Estonia she was informed that there had been an issue with her paperwork around her nationality change to Poland and was not able to compete. [2]

In February 2023, she became Polish 800 metres champion at the Polish Indoor Athletics Championships in Toruń. [4] That year, Koczanowa made her senior debut in Polish colours, racing at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey and the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. [3] She won gold in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2021 Summer World University Games held in China in 2023, where she also reached the final of the individual 800 metres. [5] [6]

From January 2024, she began to be trained by Andrzej Giza, and from March 2025, she began to run under the direction of Aneta Lemiesz. In May 2025, she improved her personal best for the 800 metres to 2:00.87 whilst competing at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial in Chorzow. [3] She then ran at the 2025 Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat, part of the 2025 Diamond League. [7] [8] Later that month, she ran a new 800 metres personal best of 1:59.94 at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz. [9] She set a new personal best at the 2025 Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, in Poland, with a run of 1:59.90 for the 800 metres. [10] She was selected for the Polish team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. [11]

References

  1. "Margarita Koczanowa". World Athletics. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 "The problem of Margarita Koczanova: she is already ours, but supposedly still Belarusian". tvp.pl. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Kalemba, Tomasz (24 May 2025). "She wanted to end her career, and after many years she improved her "personal best". She fell in love with Poland". Inertia.pl. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  4. "Polish Indoor Championships". World Athletics. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  5. Hochstim, Paweł (2 August 2023). "Polish evening at the stadium in Chengdu! Domination, five medals including three gold!". Pasja.azs. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  6. "Historic success of the Polish team at the 31st Summer Universiade in Chengdu!". gov.pl. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  7. "A fantastic national record in Bydgoszcz. And the Polish woman was happier than anyone else". Inertia.pl. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  8. "Results - Rabat Diamond League 2025". Watch Athletics. 25 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  9. "7th Irena Szewińska Memorial". World Athletics. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  10. "Results - Silesia Diamond League Kamila Skolimowska Memorial 2025". Watch Athletics. 16 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  11. "Lekkoatletyka. Znamy skład reprezentacji Polski na MŚ w Tokio". Sport.tvp.pl. 29 August 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2025.