Poland's men's volleyball team won the Nations League title for the second year in a row and the third time overall, beating the United States in a five-set final on Sunday that was decided by a tie-break.
The triumph carried extra weight because it came without captain Bartosz Kurek, who sat out this season's competition. Coach Nikola Grbić said Kurek had told him he did not feel well and was not playing the way he wanted to. It was the first time in almost two decades that Poland's squad had gone without its experienced attacker, according to Grbić, who said the door remained open for Kurek to return if he regained good physical and sporting form.
Fornal's hopes for Kurek's Olympic farewell
The question of how Kurek's career should end came up when outside hitter Tomasz Fornal appeared on the podcast "W stylu Krychowiaka" ("Krychowiak's Style"), hosted by former Poland football international Grzegorz Krychowiak.
Fornal said it would be nice to win Olympic gold in two years' time under those circumstances. He said he had let himself dream about it a little, that he hoped it would happen, that it sounded beautiful and that he believed it was realistic. He said it would be a dream ending to a career, and that Kurek deserved exactly that: to leave the sport as Olympic champion and Games MVP, signing off with his own casual goodbye of "Dobra, elo!"
"Bartosz Kurek deserves it"
Krychowiak revealed that Kurek had told him personally that he did not need a grand send-off. Fornal responded that this was not the point. He said Kurek was an icon of the national team and, without exaggeration, a legend, and that a figure like him deserved such an ending regardless of whether it came with fanfare. Fornal called Kurek a wonderful person who was owed an Olympic medal, adding that if there is a god of sport, he would grant it to him.
Kurek, 37, has captained Poland through some of its most successful years, including World Championship-winning campaigns, and remains one of the sport's most recognisable figures in the country.
Focus turns to the European Championship
The Los Angeles Olympics are still a long way off, and volleyball fans' attention will now turn to this year's European Championship. As in the Nations League, Poland go in as defending champions. The tournament, hosted by Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Finland, runs from 9 to 27 September.
