Polish sprinter Ewa Swoboda won the 100 metres at the Wieslaw Maniak Memorial meeting in Szczecin, crossing the finish line in 11.09 seconds to end her 2026 season.
The 29-year-old delivered a dominant performance in the main event of the meet after posting a time of 11.11 seconds in the heats. Her victory in the final came despite sprinters facing a strong headwind of 1.8 metres per second.
The meeting in northwestern Poland honors Wieslaw Maniak, who won the European 100-metre title in 1966 and earned an Olympic silver medal in the 4x100-metre relay two years earlier.
Pursuit of the national record
Swoboda entered her final race of the year still targeting Poland's 100-metre national record of 10.93 seconds, set by Ewa Kasprzyk in 1986. Swoboda holds 29 of the 30 fastest 100-metre times in Polish athletics history, having run under 11 seconds six times in her career.
She came closest to breaking the 40-year-old mark three years ago when she missed Kasprzyk's time by one hundredth of a second. Earlier this year at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, Swoboda ran 11.00 seconds. Athletics News reported that a relatively weak reaction out of the starting blocks cost her the record, noting that an ideal start would have set a new Polish mark.
Medal record and season withdrawal
Swoboda has long belonged among the world's elite sprinters. At this year's European Championships, she won a silver medal in the 100 metres with a time of 11.02 seconds, while also securing relay bronze in Birmingham in the 4x100 metres. Sport.pl journalist Lukasz Jachimiak praised her resilience and determination, describing her as a role model who continues to chase ambitious goals after building a strong collection of medals across indoor and outdoor championships.
Although Swoboda qualified for the Ultimate Championship in Budapest, scheduled for 11 to 13 September, she has opted out of competing. The event invites only the top 8 or 16 athletes in each discipline based on global rankings, but the Polish runner has chosen to conclude her season in Szczecin.
