Leszek Blanik

Leszek Blanik
Personal information
Full nameLeszek Robert Blanik
Born (1977-03-01) 1 March 1977
Wodzisław Śląski, Poland
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country
represented
 Poland
ClubAZS-AWFiS Gdańsk
Head coach(es)Andrey Levit
Assistant coach(es)Piotr Mikolajek
Medal record
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Vault
2000 Sydney Vault
World Championships
2007 Stuttgart Vault
2002 Debrecen Vault
2005 Melbourne Vault
World Cup Final
2002 Stuttgart Vault
European Championships
2008 Lausanne Vault
2004 Ljubljana Vault

Leszek Robert Blanik[1] (born 1 March 1977 in Wodzisław Śląski) is a Polish gymnast, World and Olympic champion in vault. He was the first to perform a handspring double front vault in piked position which now has been named after him.[2]

Olympics

Blanik picked up a bronze in vault at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.[3]

On 18 August 2008, he won the gold medal in men's vault at the Olympics in Beijing, becoming the first Polish Olympic champion in a gymnastics event.

World championships

Blanik won a gold medal in vault at the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart, earning him an individual berth to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also has two World silver medals, from 2002 in Debrecen, and 2005 in Melbourne.

Awards

For his sport achievements, Blanik received:
Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (5th Class) in 2008.
Golden Cross of Merit in 2000.

References

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Leszek Blanik". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.
  2. ^ "Leszek Blanik". International Gymnast. Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  3. ^ "2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Gymnastics". databaseOlympics.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-23. Retrieved April 4, 2008.