Maja Słodzińska

Happy birthday to Poland’s national high jump champion Maja Słodzińska, who won the Polish title this summer with a personal best.

Białystok, July. Maja went over 1.88m, took the Polish senior championship, and set a lifetime best doing it. That number had been circling her all season — 1.85, 1.86, 1.85, and then finally 88, on the day it counted most, in a national final. She added the Polish U23 title as well, and two weeks ago she represented Poland at the European Championships in Birmingham, her first senior international championship, earned on the back of that title. Last summer she finished fourth at the European U20 Championships in Tampere.

She jumps for UKS OSoT Szczecin and is described in her home city simply as szczecinianka, which in Szczecin is a compliment. And there is a decision in her past worth knowing about: Maja reached the semi-finals of Top Model and was offered a modelling contract in Paris. She turned it down to commit to the high jump. Twenty-year-olds are not generally famous for choosing the harder road, and then she went and won a national championship on it.

Three days before her birthday she is due back on the runway at the Wiesław Maniak Memorial in Szczecin, on home ground, billed as one of the meet’s attractions. National champion, senior international, and a home crowd waiting — that is a very good week to be having.

Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin, Maja! Sto lat — dużo zdrowia, dużo szczęścia i poprzeczka coraz wyżej. Powodzenia! 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇵🇱