Bartosz Kurek

Bartosz Kamil Kurek (born 29 August 1988) is a Polish volleyball player, member of the Poland men's national volleyball team, participant of the Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016), 2018 World Champion, 2009 European Champion, gold medallist of the 2012 World League, silver medallist of the 2011 World Cup, bronze medallist of the 2011 World League, 2011 European Championship and 2015 World Cup, three–time Polish Champion (2009, 2010, 2011), Italian Champion (2014). In 2019, he became the first ever volleyball player to be voted the Polish Sports Personality of the Year.

Bartosz Kurek in 2009.
On 30 September 2011 during the PGE Skra Bełchatów 3:1 LOTOS Trefl Gdańsk match at Ergo Arena, Gdańsk in the 2011/2012 season.
After winning the match at Spodek in Katowice. In the foreground from left: Zbigniew Bartman, Bartosz Kurek, Michał Winiarski and Krzysztof Ignaczak.
Bartosz Kurek
Personal information
Full nameBartosz Kamil Kurek
NicknameKuraś
Nationality Polish
Born (1988-08-29) 29 August 1988
Wałbrzych, Poland
Height2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)
Weight105 kg (231 lb)
Spike370 cm (146 in)
Block340 cm (134 in)
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter / Opposite
Current club Wolf Dogs Nagoya
Number3
Career
YearsTeams
2004–2005
2005–2008
2008–2012
2012–2013
2013–2015
2015–2016
2016–2017
2017–2018
2018
2018–2019
2019–2020
2020–		 Stal Nysa
ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Skra Bełchatów
Dynamo Moscow
Volley Lube
Asseco Resovia
Skra Bełchatów
Ziraat Bankası Ankara
Stocznia Szczecin
ONICO Warszawa
Volley Milano
Wolf Dogs Nagoya
National team
2007– Poland
Honours
Men's volleyball
Representing  Poland
FIVB World Championship
2018 Bulgaria/Italy
FIVB World Cup
2011 Japan
2015 Japan
FIVB World League
2012 Sofia
2011 Gdańsk
CEV European Championship
2009 Turkey
2011 Austria/Czech Republic

Career

Clubs

Kurek began his career in a team from Nysa (2004–2005), where he played alongside his father. He spent the next 3 years playing for a PlusLiga club, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle (2005–2008).

In 2008, he moved to PGE Skra Bełchatów, one of the most successful teams in the Polish PlusLiga, where he quickly became a key player. With PGE Skra he won the Polish Championship three times in 2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 and claimed a silver medal in 2011/2012. He won the Polish Cup three times; in 2009, 2011 and 2012. He also has two Club World Championships silver medals, from 2009 and 2010. In 2010 PGE Skra Belchatów, with Bartosz Kurek, won the bronze medal in the CEV Champions League. On March 18, 2012 PGE Skra won the CEV Champions League silver medal after losing to Zenit Kazan in the final in Łódź, Poland. Kurek received the award for Best Spiker of CEV Champions League 2011/2012.

After the season 2011/2012 he left PGE Skra Bełchatów and signed a contract with Russian club VC Dynamo Moscow;[1] however, due to injury, he was unable to play for his new club for large part of the season.

After one season in Russia, Kurek moved to Italian club Lube Banca Macerata. In 2013/2014, the team won Scudetto (Italian Championship) in the final against Sir Safety Perugia. On October 15, 2014 Lube Banca Macerata, including Kurek, won the Italian Super Cup, beating Copra Elior Piacenza (3-2).[2] On May 4, 2015 Kurek signed a 1+1 contract with Asseco Resovia Rzeszów.[3] After winning a silver medal in the Polish Championship he left Resovia and signed a contract with Japanese club JT Thunders Hiroshima.

On October 2, 2016 he announced interrupting of his sporting career because of physical and mental fatigue. At the same time he terminated the contract with the Japanese club JT Thunders Hiroshima.[4] Later Kurek moved back to his former club PGE Skra Bełchatów, starting from September 2016.[5]

After 2 months in Polish club Stocznia Szczecin, club had a financial issues and Kurek did not receive his payment. On November 29, 2018 his contract was dissolved by both sides agreement. On December 6, 2018 he joined ONICO Warszawa as a free player after leaving from Stocznia Szczecin a few days earlier.[6]

National team

Kurek was in the Polish squad when the Polish national team won the gold medal at the European Championship 2009.[7] On September 14, 2009 he was awarded Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta.[8] The Order was conferred on the following day by the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk. On July 10, 2011 Kurek, with his national team, won the Poland's first medal in the World League. They won bronze medal after defeating Argentina. Kurek received the award for Best Scorer of the finals tournament.[9] Next for Poland was the European Championship 2011, where they were the defending champions. Kurek was his team's key player throughout the tournament and Polish national team won a second medal in 2011 – a bronze after winning the bronze medal match against Russia. At this tournament Kurek won his second individual award in 2011, for Best Server.[10] In November 2011, despite a back injury, Kurek went to Japan to participate in the World Cup and helped his team win silver medal and therefore qualify for the Olympic Games.[11] On July 8, 2012 the Polish team won gold medal of the World League 2012. Kurek received the award for Most Valuable Player.[12][13] Kurek was one of the key players of the Polish team at the Olympic Games London 2012, but Poland lost in the quarterfinal against Russia and was eliminated from the tournament.

In 2014 he was a member of the Polish national team during the 2015 Men's European Volleyball Championship qualification, but then did not get a chance to play in the World League. He was not included in the Polish national team's 14-player roster for the World Championship, held in Poland.[14]

After year of break, he came back to national team on May 28, 2015 during first match of intercontinental round of World League against Russia (3–0).[15] He was top scorer of match (15 points). In 2016, Kurek played in Olympic Games Rio.[16]

On September 30, 2018 Poland achieved title of the 2018 World Champion.[17] Poland beat Brazil in the finale 3-0 and defended the title from 2014. Kurek received an individual award for the Most Valuable Player.[18]

Personal life

Bartosz Kurek was born in Wałbrzych, but raised in Nysa, Poland. His father, Adam Kurek, was also a volleyball player, winning several caps for Poland. Kurek played basketball in his early youth, but later moved to volleyball. He has a younger brother – Jakub. Kurek and his brother appeared together in a Polish TV advertisement for Zott yogurt Monte. Kurek is engaged to Anna Grejman.[19]

Advertising

Kurek advertised as a model for the companies Zott Monte and Land Rover.

Sporting achievements

Clubs

Youth national team

Individual awards

State awards
Awards
Preceded by
Mariusz Wlazły		 Most Valuable Player of
FIVB World Championship
2018		 Succeeded by
TBD

References
  1. Kurek odszedł do Dynama – skra.pl – 06-05-2012
  2. Bartosz Kurek z Superpucharem Włoch – plusliga.pl – 15-10-2014
  3. Bartosz Kurek w Asseco Resoviii – plusliga.pl – 04-05-2015
  4. Bartosz Kurek nie zagra w Japonii. Zawodnik wydał oświadczenie – wp.pl – 02-10-2016
  5. Bartosz Kurek wraca do PGE Skry – skra.pl – 08-10-2016
  6. "Bartosz Kurek zawodnikiem ONICO Warszawa" (in Polish). ONICO Warszawa. 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  7. 2009 CEV European Championships Results – cev.eu – 03-09-2009
  8. Reprezentacja siatkarzy odznaczona przez prezydenta – prezydent.pl – 15-09-2009
  9. 2011 FIVB Volleyball World League Final Report – fivb.org – 10-07-2011
  10. Bartosz Kurek is the man of the day as Poland strikes bronze at EuroVolley Archived 2014-09-24 at the Wayback Machine – cev.eu – 18-09-2011
  11. Poland shoot up World Rankings on back of World Cup silver – fivb.org – 06-12-2011
  12. Poland beat USA to claim first World League title – fivb.org – 08-07-2012
  13. Poland wins historical gold at the 2012 World League – fivb.org – 08-07-2012
  14. MŚ siatkarzy 2014: Stephane Antiga powołał kadrę, Bartosz Kurek nie jedzie na mundial – eurosport.onet.pl – 17-08-2014
  15. Opening victory for reigning world champions Poland – fivb.org – 28-05-2015
  16. Yahoo Sports - Bartosz Kurek Poland
  17. "Poland triumph over Brazil to retain World title for years more years". FIVB. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  18. "Kurek MVP mistrzostw świata! Nagrody indywidualne dla Kubiaka, Nowakowskiego i Zatorskiego!". Dziennik. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  19. Bartosz Kurek został w Polsce. Miłość ważniejsza od pieniędzy? – polsatsport.pl – 25-09-2016
  20. "Odznaczenia dla Mistrzów Świata w Piłce Siatkowej Mężczyzn 2018". prezydent.pl (in Polish). 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
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