Monika Kiepura

Happy birthday to Poland’s hurdler Monika Kiepura, who has taken a national relay medal in each of the last three years.

Three weeks ago at the Polish Championships in Białystok, Monika ran a leg of the 4x100m that took the **silver medal** in 44.85. In 2025 at Bydgoszcz the same event brought her bronze. In 2024, also at Bydgoszcz, it brought her **gold**. Three consecutive national championships, three relay medals, one of each colour. She is also a Polish indoor champion over 4x200m, from Toruń, and has a senior national indoor bronze over 60m hurdles.

The relay is the least celebrated skill in athletics and one of the hardest to be trusted with. It asks an athlete to run flat out while somebody else’s hand is somewhere she cannot see, and the whole race is decided by two exchanges that nobody in the stands is watching. Individual finalists get remembered. Relay squads get built out of the people a coach knows will not drop it, and Monika has been one of those people in Poland for three years running.

Individually she has run 13.11 over the 100m hurdles, 8.17 over 60m hurdles indoors, and 11.92 over 100m, and she was the Polish U23 100m hurdles champion. She races for KS AZS AWF Katowice, the club of the academy of physical education there, and this July she was back in the national final over the barriers as well as on the relay.

Her Instagram bio is two lines long now: hurdler, and a nail brand. Athletes build the second thing while the first is still going, and the smart ones start early.

Wszystkiego najlepszego, Monika! Sto lat, dużo zdrowia i jeszcze wiele medali w sztafecie! 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇵🇱