Marika Popowicz-Drapała

Marika Popowicz-Drapała (Polish pronunciation: [maˈrika pɔˈpɔvit͡ʂ draˈpawa]; born 28 April 1988) is a Polish track and field sprinter. She won bronze medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 2009 European Under-23 Championships. Popowicz-Drapała earned several major medals as part of Poland's women's relays (mostly 4 x 100 metres relays).

Marika Popowicz-Drapała

Popowicz-Drapała in 2023
Personal information
Birth name	Marika Julianna Popowicz
Full name	Marika Julianna Popowicz-Drapała
Born	(1988-04-28) 28 April 1988 (age 36) Gniezno, Poland
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	53 kg (117 lb) (2012)
Sport
Country	Poland
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 m
Club	Zawisza Bydgoszcz
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Poland World Relays 2024 Nassau 4×400 m relay European Championships 2022 Munich 4×100 m relay 2010 Barcelona 4x100 m relay 2012 Helsinki 4x100 m relay European Games 2023 Kraków-Małopolska 4 × 100 m relay European Indoor Championships 2023 Istanbul 4x400 m relay European U23 Championships 2009 Kaunas 4x100 m relay 2009 Kaunas 100 m 2009 Kaunas 200 m European U20 Championships 2005 Kaunas 4×100 m 2007 Hengelo 4×100 m Universiade 2009 Belgrade 4×100 m relay 2013 Kazan 4×100 m relay

She earned 15 individual Polish national titles.

Personal life

Marika Popowicz-Drapała was born 28 April 1988 in Gniezno, Poland. She is married to a former sprinter, Radosław Drapała.

Career

2005 to 2008

Popowicz-Drapała made her first major appearances in 2005, finishing in sixth place in the 200 metres at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics and helping the Polish women's 4×100 metres relay team to a gold medal at the 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships.^[1][2] She became the Polish junior champion in the 100 metres and 200 m in 2006 and went on to reach the semi-finals of both events at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Beijing.^[3] She attended the 2007 European Athletics Junior Championships and formed part of the relay team which won the bronze medal.^[4] She was selected as a back-up runner for the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, but ultimately did not compete.

2009

Popowicz-Drapała won senior medals for the first time in 2009 at an International Military Sports Council competition: she won the bronze in the 100 m and silver in the 200 m behind Marta Jeschke at the 2009 World Military Track and Field Championship .^[5][6] Representing Poland at the 2009 European Team Championships, she finished fifth overall in the 100 m.^[7] She won a relay silver medal with the Polish team at the 2009 Summer Universiade and repeated the feat at the 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships (where she also won bronze medals in the 100 and 200 m events). She was selected for the 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, but did not start.

2010

At the start of 2010, Popowicz-Drapała took part in the women's 60 metres at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships but was eliminated in the heats stage.^[8] She helped promote the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz by taking part in a pre-championship cross country race.^[9] She won the bronze medal with the Polish 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, breaking the Polish national record.^[10]

Olympic career

She was part of Poland's 4 x 100 m relay teams at the 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.^[11] At the 2016 Games, she also competed in the individual 100 metres.^[12]

Statistics

Popowicz-Drapała (L) with relay team at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona

Popowicz-Drapała at the 2016 Pedro's Cup in Łódź

International competitions

Representing  Poland

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time
2004	World Junior Championships	Grosseto, Italy	7th	4 × 100 m relay	45.34
2005	World Youth Championships	Marrakech, Morocco	6th	200 m	23.93
			4th	Medley relay	2:09.05
	European Junior Championships	Kaunas, Lithuania	1st	4 × 100 m relay	44.65
2006	World Junior Championships	Beijing, China	17th (sf)	100 m	11.96 (-0.6 m/s)
			10th (sf)	200 m	24.00 (-1.2 m/s)
			5th	4 × 100 m relay	44.70
2007	European Junior Championships	Hengelo, Netherlands	5th	100 m	11.67
			–	200 m	DNF
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	45.32
			5th	4 × 400 m relay	3:39.26
2009	World Military Championships	Sofia, Bulgaria	3rd	100 m	11.57
			2nd	200 m	23.32
	European Team Championships Super League	Leiria, Portugal	5th	100 m	11.51
			5th	4 × 100 m relay	44.04
	Universiade	Belgrade, Serbia	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	43.96
	European U23 Championships	Kaunas, Lithuania	3rd	100 m	11.50 (+0.2 m/s)
			3rd	200 m	23.25 (-1.4 m/s)
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	43.90
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	25th (h)	60 m	7.56
	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	27th (h)	100 m	11.80
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	42.68
2011	European Team Championships Super League	Stockholm, Sweden	8th	200 m	24.03
			7th	4 × 100 m relay	43.77
	Military World Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	7th	100 m	11.78
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	44.35
	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	–	4 × 100 m relay	DNF
2012	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	14th (sf)	200 m	23.58
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	43.06
	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	9th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	43.07
2013	European Team Championships Super League	Gateshead, United Kingdom	6th	100 m	11.83
			5th	200 m	23.58
			6th	4 × 100 m relay	43.85
	Universiade	Kazan, Russia	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	43.81
	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	24th (h)	200 m	23.22
			11th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	43.18
2015	European Indoor Championships	Prague, Czech Republic	21st (sf)	60 m	7.38
	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	–	4 × 100 m relay	DNF
	European Team Championships Super League	Cheboksary, Russia	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	43.28
	Military World Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	3rd	100 m	11.50
			–	4 × 100 m relay	DNF
2016	World Indoor Championships	Portland, OR, United States	21st (sf)	60 m	7.34
	European Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	21st (sf)	100 m	11.68
			7th	4 x 100 m relay	43.24
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	52nd (h)	100 m	11.70
			13th (h)	4 x 100 m relay	43.33
2017	European Team Championships Super League	Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	43.07
2019	World Relays	Yokohama, Japan	–	4 × 100 m relay	DNF
	Military World Games	Wuhan, China	3rd (h1)	100 m	11.74
			5th	4 × 100 m relay	44.80
2021	European Team Championships Super League	Chorzów, Poland	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	43.83
	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	10th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	43.09
2022	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	11th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	43.19
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	17th (h)	200 m	23.47
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	42.61
2023	European Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:29.31
	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	6th	4 × 400 m relay	3:24.93
2024	World Indoor Championships	Glasgow, United Kingdom	8th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:28.80
	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	2nd	4 x 400 m relay	3:24.71
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	7th	Mixed 4 x 400 m relay	3:15.32
			6th	4 x 400 m relay	3:23.91

Personal bests

• 50 metres indoor – 6.33+ (Spała 2011)^[13]
• 60 metres indoor – 7.20 (Toruń 2016)

• 100 metres – 11.28 (Bydgoszcz 2015)
  • 100 metres indoor – 11.91 (Florø 2015)
• 200 metres – 23.15 (Kaunas 2009)
  • 200 metres indoor – 23.54 (Toruń 2023)

National titles

• Polish Athletics Championships
  • 100 metres: 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015
  • 200 metres: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
  • 4 × 100 m relay: 2019, 2022
• Polish Indoor Athletics Championships
  • 60 metres: 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2020
  • 200 metres: 2010, 2013

References

1. 200 Metres - W Final. IAAF (17 July 2005). Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
2. 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships results. European Athletics (2005). Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
3. Popowicz Marika. IAAF. Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
4. 2007 European Athletics Junior Championships Medallists by event. European Athletics (22 July 2007). Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
5. RESULTS: 200 m WOMEN (FINAL) Archived 8 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. CISM World Military Track and Field Championship 2009. Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
6. RESULTS: 100 m - WOMEN - FINAL Archived 8 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. CISM World Military Track and Field Championship 2009. Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
7. Results - 100m Women^{[dead link‍]}. European Athletics. Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
8. 60 Metres - W Heats. IAAF (12 March 2010). Retrieved on 31 March 2010.
9. Turner, Chris (5 January 2010). Bydgoszcz braves the cold and takes to its feet to promote 2010 World XC. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2010.
10. "Swiss Timing - Swiss Timing" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
11. "Marika Popowicz Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
12. "Women's 100m". www.rio2016.com. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
13. Z. Jonik (24 February 2010). "HMP '11 w Spale: trzy rekordy Polski" (in Polish). PZLA. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

External links

• Marika Popowicz-Drapała at World Athletics
• Marika Popowicz-Drapała at European Athletics
• Marika Popowicz-Drapała at Olympedia
• Marika Popowicz-Drapała at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
• Marika Popowicz-Drapała at Olympics.com
• Marika Popowicz-Drapała at the Polski Komitet Olimpijski (archive) (in Polish)
• Marika Popowicz-Drapała at the Polski Związek Lekkiej Atletyki (in Polish)