21st Polish Championships, Gniew Castle, March 12-14
Let's take a look at the results, senior category, 57 kg, right arm: the first place went to Katarzyna Martellacci and the second to Natalia Kwiatkowska. The third place, so bronze... a name yet to be discovered: Karina Dziech – a surprise? If I tell you that this athlete's club is MCKiS Tytan Jaworzno... The surprise is no longer as big, right?
The left arm of these championships: Karina Dziech takes the silver. There were numerous more experienced competitors present, too. Okay – remember the name and the club, wait for the next competition – these are the things I tell myself sometimes.
28. Senec Hand, Slovakia, (09-11.07.2021), a prestigious international event, so... let's see the results: left arm, 57 kg, Karina Dziech in the first place. There wasn't much competition but it was an international debut after all. A gold with the right arm as well.
Then... The 10th Hel Championships in Armwrestling (24.07.2021), the female open category, right arm... How did it look? Nine competitors including names like Maria “Marysia” Juroszek, Natalia Kwiatkowska, the previously mentioned Katarzyna Martellacci, Yulia Tochynska – a tough competition. The results?
Karina in the first place! I got the results from Maciej Sośnicki and I instantly wrote down the question: “Who is this girl who won with Maria Juroszek?”. Exactly! It's the same one who proved herself in Slovakia!
So I call Mariusz Grochowski immediately! First he tells me about his extreme runs... but he's going to tell you about that on his own someday. However, that's what he said about Karina:
“She's very diligent in training particular techniques. Similarly, in sparings she does what was planned and she does it very seriously. She trains very regularly even if she has to go 60 kilometers to get to the club. After her losses at the Polish Championships you could tell that she was “pissed”, in the positive, athletic sense, which is always good for everyone in every sport!”
What can you predict about Karina's future career?
Mariusz Grochowski:
“I'm going to be careful; if the progress keeps going as it is now, we could have a...”
Mariusz paused here and I supplied: Marlena?
Mariusz confirmed!
Just so that it's not all too sweet: there's still a few weak points to improve. But if everything goes without troubles, injuries...
Alright! Let's not overthing and pass the mic to Karina herself!
Karina Dziech: I have been in Tytan Jaworzno since last September. By the end of December 2020 I have decided to try my best and prepare for the Polish Champioships in Gniew. Then also my debut at an international competition at Senec Hand, and now the Hel Championships.
PeSzy: Did you do any sports before armwrestling?
Karina Dziech: I did powerlifting for a while but my training was irregular for various reasons. Now my armwrestling trainings look completely different. The club is 60km away from where I live but I still commute a few times a week.
PeSzy: How did you win with Maria Juroszek?
Karina: It wasn't easy. But I hate losing! Despite the pain I don't let go and I couldn't see any other option than winning the Open category to show my “Titanium Strength”!
PeSzy: A cliché question: how did you get into armwrestling?
Karina: Ha, ha, the best thing is that when I first heard about some kind of armwrestling, it didn't interest me at all. But I have a friend who also had some accomplishments at the Polish Championships. He and two other guys who train armwrestling showed me what it's all about. I got into it so much that after a short while I signed up for the club in Jaworzno.
PeSzy: How is training with Mariusz?
Karina: Just how I like it! You know what they say, “I could die” both from exhaustion and happiness after hard training.
PeSzy: I'm going to tell you honestly – I love writing about the success of debuts, about surprises. It's always accompanied by some kind of enthusiasm mixed with worry about something “burning out”, something going wrong. So I'm not going to get enthusiastic, and I'll just note down Karina's first season in peace. Take care! Thanks for the interview!