Swoboda joins the sub-seven second club
After a season that was ruined by illness and injury, Swoboda made an emphatic statement on her season’s debut with a 7.00 clocking at the Orlen Cup in Lodz
Polish sprinter Ewa Swoboda’s hot streak continued over the weekend at the Polish Indoor Championships in Torun where she became just the third European in history to break the seven second-barrier with 6.99.
After a season that was ruined by illness and injury, Swoboda made an emphatic statement on her season’s debut with a 7.00 clocking at the Orlen Cup in Lodz and the Pole has crested the wave of this newfound form all the way through the indoor season.
Swoboda is unbeaten in eight races, including heats and finals, in 2022 and the former European indoor champion also has ownership of the four fastest times in the world this year with the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia from March 18-20 fast approaching.
From a historical context, Swoboda moves to third outright on the European all-time list behind Irina Privalova (6.92) and Ekaterini Thanou (6.96) and her time is the fastest by a European this century.
Swoboda also moves to tenth on the world indoor all-time list but she is by no means resting on these laurels ahead of the World Indoor Championships.
"I don't understand what happened. I am so happy. I am writing in the pages of history. If everything would be perfect, there is still room for improvement. I have finally learned to run and that makes me happy. But I do not want to predict what will happen in Belgrade," said Swoboda.
And Swoboda won't be Poland’s only medal contender in the 60m in Belgrade. Better known as a sprint hurdler, European U23 100m hurdles champion Pia Skrzyszowska improved her lifetime best once more to 7.12 to follow Swoboda home in second.
